The Red Bank Restaurant, Carrick on Shannon

I’m always looking for special restaurants and this one is certainly special. The Red Bank Restaurant is in Carrick on Shannon, Co. Leitrim, and I was hoping to visit when they first opened in March, but of course Covid happened. So God love them they’d only been open for two weeks and they had to close.

They weren’t idle though, throughout the lockdown Michelle, the head chef was sharing videos and recipes on their Facebook page – and they looked fantastic.

Anyway I finally got to pay a visit. I was only in Carrick on Shannon briefly so I just had a starter and a dessert, you know me and cake! Firstly the restaurant is bright and airy – and it’s a really spacious place – so no worries about being close to other diners. They even have rooms upstairs for private parties.

The room I was in was beautiful, a very relaxing green with twinkling lights around the windows and a chandelier in the middle of the room. But I’m sure you want to hear about the food.

Firstly The Red Bank Restaurant has extensive menus, including a vegetarian and vegan one and one for the kids. So whatever your preference you’ll find something on the menu, and it’s impressive to see so much thought has been put into the vegetarian/vegan one – not your average beetroot and goats cheese.

I ordered Grilled Halloumi with Peanut Dukkah for my starter, it was absolutely gorgeous and I usually find halloumi  a bit bland but not here. It was a fusion of flavours and just delicious, the presentation was excellent too.

For dessert (and it was a tough choice as they all sounded fabulous) but I went for the Self- Saucing chocolate pudding, this was melt in the mouth and was served with an espresso ice cream. So if you love chocolate and coffee go for this.

I loved my meal out, it was such a treat and I’d highly recommend The Red Bank Restaurant. Fantastic food, fast friendly service and a beautiful building.