Still cool after all these years... the Green Onion Café will give you a sense of déjà vu if you remember Limerick from the 1990s. And a very nice, warm feeling it is too, to see that this beacon of daytime deliciousness is back - and just a few doors along from where it all started, at 10 Rutland Steet, in 1994.
And, while they have been plenty busy since then, time seems to have stood still for the owner-chef David Corbett and his partner Ilona, who are walking advertisements for their wholesome fare.
With smart signage, well tended pot plants and even a little bench underneath the window - plus a board promising hand roasted Annam Coffee from The Burren - the charm offensive starts on the pavement, so this would be a hard place to pass by.
Once inside (passing, if you can, an enticing display of those baked treats) you'll find a simple, mindfully designed space with strong artwork, a few individual tables in a cosy recess and - at the far end - a large light-filled area with a long well-weathered wooden table where shared seating offers the perfect spot for enjoying the flavoursome soups, salads and sandwiches which are the mainstay of the daytime menu.
Simple goodness is the order of the day, and it's all down to top quality ingredients carefully prepared - great name-checked local and Irish foods may include, for example, Burren smoked salmon, Shine's Tuna, St Tola goats cheese, Gubbeen cheeses, Toonsbridge halloumi and Crowes Farm ham, among many others guaranteed to get the juices flowing - and the excellent breads and saladings that provide the framework are all full of flavour too.
While mainly a daytime destination, the Green Onion opens occasionally in the evening, when an imaginative Pop Up Tapas Night menu is offered, showcasing some brilliant Irish produce. A superb cheese plate, for example, may include St Tola ash goats cheese, the Grubb family's Shepherd's Store semi-hard sheeps' cheese from Tipperary and the unctuously creamy Ballylisk Triple Rose from Co Armagh...
Terrific Irish charcuterie too (such as Dexter Bresaola from Tipperary, Gubbeen Salami from West Cork and McGeough's Connemara Air Dried Lamb), while interesting hot dishes may include Doonbeg crabcake with pickled kohlrabi & gazpacho to 'Annascaul Morcilla' (with Ashe's black pudding, tomato, chickpea & kale).
All this and terrific service with the personal touch - and some great wines as well - the daytime food is bang on and the pop up evenings well worth keeping an eye open for.
No wonder that the reinvention of this Limerick favourite has gone down a treat with locals and - well located, close to the Hunt Museum - it's a great find for visitors to the city too.
