Lignum in Galway - an Irish restaurant that hums with heritage, fire and ambition

There's a strong Scandi-Irish aesthetic at Lignum where wood is at the heart of the food and design.

So what do we need to know about Lignum?

If there's one Irish restaurant that's been getting great word of mouth recently it's been Lignum. Not only have we had the nod from numerous Irish chefs about it, but it's also had great reviews in both the Irish Independent and the Irish Times which declared it "The most exciting Irish restaurant, from a young team, in years."

The restaurant opened before the madness of lockdown and has been in and out of Irish covid restrictions ever since. It sees Irish chef Danny Africano returning to his roots. The chef grew up in the West of Ireland - his parents ran a restaurant at this site until they returned to Italy where his father took over his family hotel. Now Danny has built a restaurant that could best be described as Noma meets the Irish countryside via Amalfi.

Outside Lignum on an actually sunny day in Galway.

Although there is help for Galway's regular spring weather. We loved this touch in the car park outside - for any visitors foolish enough not to have a brolly with them.

Where exactly is it?

Good question. The easy answer is the middle of nowhere, but that wouldn't be exactly helpful. You'll find the restaurant in a hamlet called Bullaun about four miles from Loughrea in Galway in the West of Ireland. It's about a half-hour drive from Galway City and the easiest way for Londoners to get there is by flying to either Knock or Shannon airport. If you don't want to drive afterwards you can book an overnight experience which sets you up at a nearby hotel and includes the taxi to and from it.

When you arrive you walk past the pickling and preserving room (they had a LOT of downtime during the various lockdowns to fill this up) and then into a capacious bar, warmed by a wood burner. The whole place is full of cosy nooks and crannies to sit with a drink before you go through to the dining room, which is a large modern affair with huge open windows looking out over the gardens.

The dining room at Lignum, complete with views and wood-burner.

And what kind of food is it?

You'll notice there isn't a menu on the Lignum website. As the restaurant explains, that's because "our food is always on the move, keeping up with our amazing suppliers and growers and what they have to offer." Depending on when you come, you're choosing between a 10-course tasting menu or a five-course set menu for Sunday lunch.

We came for the Sunday lunch - although we may have had a few bits and pieces in addition. Here's what we tried.

A strong start - a single raw Connemara shrimp dipped in a bisque jelly and finished with lemon oil and cedrat

This was followed by a series of more snacks (clockwise from left) - Khlorabi braised in dashi and its own juices, fig leaf oil and imperial heritage caviar; Pork belly aged for 6 months then cured in mirin and white soy, served with pickled fennel fonds and fennel pollen; Neapolitan Ragú Tartlet filled with ragú and topped with 44-month-aged Parmesan cheese and finishing with a fermented black garlic tartlet with smoked crème Fraiche and Toonsbridge trout roe brined in white soy.

Finally, we had a Dooncastle oyster cooked using a flambadou (a fabulously Heath Robinson like contraption we got to see being used in the kitchen) which uses flaming aged pork fat to cook the oyster which is then finished with dashi and brown butter.

Next up is the starter (all of what we had so far was a pre-amble). This was line-caught mackerel which was aged for three days then grilled over ash embers and smoked in hay. It's brushed with a soy sauce made with mackerel offal with smoked Attica cream, scallop X0 paste, charred mustard leaves and wild chervil.

With an Italian father and a grandmother with a house in Amalfi, Danny's Italian heritage comes to the fore with the next two 'pasta' courses. We start with ravioli filled with a sauce made from "mussels and pasta water" and finished with white garlic, parsley and borlotti bean purée. Next is a risotto made with West Cork Lobster with ransom capers and finished at the table with lemon zest.

The main course is venison Loin from Scarrif in County Clare, which is so tender you could cut it with a spoon. That's been cooked over the ash embers and smoked in juniper before being served with Jerusalem artichoke purée and summer truffles.

Then, we enter dessert territory which includes a bowl of toasted hay ice cream with a caramel made from a reduction of Swede juice and hawthorn and clove honey and is finished with blackcurrant wood leaf oil. That was followed by The Amalfi Lemon, a dessert which directly taps into Danny's childhood. The lemons are sent from the Amalfi Coast every week. Inside there's lemon sorbet and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

And finally, the petit fours feature more lemons, this time in the form of chocolates presented alongside miniature lemon trees.

Overall thoughts:

We were blown away by our meal at Lignum. As a full 'experience' this out-of-the-way restaurant delivers such warmth, charm and delight that it's impossible to understand why it didn't get a nod from Michelin this year. If you're thinking of travelling to Ireland this year, we strongly urge you to put this on your to-do list. A truly memorable lunch that we won't forget in a hurry.

More about Lignum

Where is it? Slatefort House, Bullaun, Co. Galway, H62 H798, Ireland

How much? Sunday lunch is 50 euros which is a complete steal for food of this quality. The main 10-course tasting menu is 100 euros on Thursday and 110 on Friday and Saturday. If you want to book the full overnight experience that's 350 euros for two people sharing.

How to book: Book online.

Find out more: Visit their website or follow them on Instagram @lignumrestaurant

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