We’d been eyeing up Currarevagh before, but given that it’s not too far a drive from home, we were never too pushed about visiting. However, we fancied a last minute night away and not wanting to drive too far, this seemed like the perfect choice.
Currarevagh is located about a 15 minute drive along the Glann road, from the town of Oughterard and about a 40 minute drive from Galway city.
Once off the Glann road, the road continues for a few more minutes, skirting along by Lough Corrib before the house comes into view. From the outside, the house looks inviting, but does look dated.
Once through the large front door, there’s a very small entrance hall which has not changed in decades, there’s also a noticeable musty smell, although not unpleasant.
Through one more door you enter the large entrance hall, which also has not changed in a very long time, lots of old paintings, furniture and ornaments are on display. At first glance, there does not seem to be any reception desk, however at the end of the entrance hall, there’s a small hatch, which is in fact, the reception desk, of sorts. The man of the house, Henry, welcomed us to their family home. He also informed us that although afternoon tea is almost finished, he would leave out the cakes for us to enjoy once we got settled.
Our room was a decent size, with a corner window offering a nice view onto the grounds and the lough. However, the room was very dated as was the bathroom, bar bottles of water, there was no TV, tea or coffee making facilities or other items that are pretty much standard in most guest rooms, although this is not always a bad thing. There was a small writing desk, couch, small chair and table at the window.
In fact, the entire house looks like it could do with a bit of modernisation, however, this is the attraction of the place and overall, it’s pretty clean, except for a few cobwebs here and there.
Once we got settled, we had some coffee and cake in the living room, which were homemade and very tasty. There was a very inviting fire blazing and plenty of books and magazines to read over. The main standout theme throughout the house, is a lot of the decor is of African or Asian influence. I asked Henry about this, he said that his grandfather spent a lot of time abroad and would ship home items or bring them home with him.
Before dinner, we had drink in the living room, all served by Henry, then at around 8:30pm a gong sounds, which is basically a dinner bell to let all the guests know, dinner is served in the dining room. To be honest, I did not hold too much hope for dinner, in part due to the choice on offer, basically there is no choice. When we checked in we were shown the menu for the evening, which consisted of one starter, one main and one dessert, which is fine as long as you’re not a picky eater, although they will try and cater for dietary requests.
The dining room is a good size and everyone has their own table, which were all well laid out, with antique plates, knives, forks etc. There’s about 18 guests in total staying at the house on this occasion although they can cater for a few more. Service, no surprise is by Henry along with two other members of staff. I also found out that it’s Henry’s wife, Lucy, who does all the cooking.
To start we had some smoked salmon, with nori seaweed and some pickled cucumber, it was very tasty. They also have their own sourdough, which was nice. For our mains, it was lamb, with roast vegetables, a mint jus and some roasted potatoes, all well presented and tasty. The lamb was cooked perfectly.
Dessert was crème brûlée, with a raspberrie sorbet and a strawberry ice cream. The dessert was freshly made and very toothsome, the best part though, we were offered second helpings of our mains, we’ve never had that before, needless to say I gladly accepted the second helping.
After all that, there was just enough room for some cheese…….
After dinner, coffee and tea are served in the living room. We ended up staying about 2 hours chatting to fellow guests and enjoying a drink or two before retiring for the night.
Breakfast the next morning was also very enjoyable, I opted for the full Irish and C went with some poached eggs on toast. All very tasty and the best part, like dinner, we were offered seconds.
After breakfast we went for a short walk around the grounds before checking out and heading home.
To finish, Currarevagh house surprised us, despite the dated look and feel of the place, it was an enjoyable evening, with some really good food on offer. The staff were friendly and Henry was a fantastic host. If you’re looking for a quiet night away and like the idea of being welcomed into someone’s home and you can live without some mod cons, you can do no wrong, Currarevagh is worth a trip and we’ll certainly return at a later date.
Bye for now.
C&J
cjfoodandtravel 