OUR search for good food on the Dublin-Cork road continues, with a stop-off at O'Callaghan's Delicatessen and Cafe, on the main street of bustling Mitchelstown, just past the border of North Cork.
O'Callaghan's is a busy pair of rooms, with a deli counter at the front selling their own cakes and bakes, salads and cooked meats and an assortment of deli foods, while the room then continues with an array of tables. The day's specials were: Steak Sandwich Served with Salad in a Baguette; Roast Chicken with Mash and Peas and Carrots; Roasted Vegetable Sandwich on Tomato Bread with Pesto; Fresh Salmon and Potato Cake.
I chose the roasted vegetable sandwich, one of those things which is awkward to get right, and which demands a lot of care from the kitchen. This had not merely been shown care, it had been shown TLC in abundance. Beautifully roasted courgettes, aubergines, tomatoes and red onions had been arranged on two slices of fine tomato bread which had been smeared with pesto. A little cheese had been sprinkled on top, and the lot had then been shown a grill in order to melt the cheese. For this smashing little lunch I paid a trifling £4.50, which makes O'Callaghan's just about the best value imaginable on the main road.
O'Callaghan's Delicatessen and Cafe, 19-20 Lower Cork Street, Mitchelstown, Co Cork tel: (025) 24657.