Situated in the old Yacht Club building on a peaceful stretch of the River Bann outside Coleraine, Lir is the long-awaited brainchild of Rebekah and Stevie McCarry - whose project here was stalled by the arrival of the pandemic, but who achieved well-deserved success (and fame) at the interim fish shop and casual dining operation, Native Seafood & Scran, which they set up at Portstewart while waiting for normality to return.
This riverside building has had a major makeover, now featuring a cool black block with the name LIR standing out in bold gold lettering, a sleekly contemporary 60 seater restaurant inside and a tented outside area overlooking the river and the yachts in the marina...
Menus - which, as stated on their website 'change daily depending on what the fishermen, farm and local suppliers have to offer' - features the kind of innovative dishes that followers of Stevie McCarry's experimental cooking will thrill to. Stunning starters such as a beautiful golden cross laminated monkfish sausage roll with fermented red chilli sauce, for example, and mains that may include a brilliant hake Kiev (we can't see this one coming off the menu). The chips are made from potatoes grown a few miles from the restaurant and are worth the trip alone, while desserts could include the likes of a more-ish blood orange and rhubarb Mille feuille.
In 2023, before opening for the busy summer season, the entire team went through intense training in the kitchen, bar, front of house, fish mongers and the foraging programme, in order to increase efficiency and improve knowledge in every area. In this they were fortunate to receive guidance from James Bevan and Jenny Regenas, head chef and manager of the former Aimsir in Co Kildare - who helped them to create a tasting menu experience designed to showcase their finer and more experimental dishes.
To bring all of this together, Lir now offers an à la carte menu, a Tasting Experience on certain nights, and - in summer - their Native style 'Streetfood inspired seafood dishes' outside under the stretch tent seven days a week. The Tasting Experience gives the team more opportunity to interact with guests, explain the Lir philosophy and technique, and to promote the zero-waste, 'nose to tail' ethos. The Tasting Experience is usually 9 or 10 courses, enjoyed over 3 hours, and optional wine/ seasonal cocktail or non-alcoholic house juice pairings are available
Both menus change daily depending on the catch brought in from local boats, suppliues foraged by the team and the produce their local growers and farmers have to offer. The kitchen and bar team then prepare the ingredients through a variety of processes such as whole fish butchery, juicing fermentation, smoking, curing and pickling keeping in line with their nose to tail, zero waste ethos.
Front of house is taken care of by the cool and unflappable Clare Smyth, whose resumé includes a stint at James St South. The cocktail list is seasonal and features local spirits - Boatyard gin with orange sherbet and bitters is a typical special.
The wine list is very interesting and includes an "off the wall" section with wines from Georgia and Greece and some natural varieties too.
Lir is still something of a work in progress and there are always new plans afoot. Don't miss this gem.
