The Pickled Duck Café on the Quay,
Atlantic Quay,
Foyle Marina,
Derry
BT48 7NR,
028 7125 3198
instagram.com/thepickledduckcafe
Have you ever read The Tiger Who Came To Tea? It’s a delightful children’s book by Judith Kerr, all about… well, all about a tiger who came to tea.
The tiger arrives on the doorstep, uninvited. You’re not going to say no to a tiger, are you? So the little girl and her mum bring the tiger in, and the creature promptly consumes every scrap of food and drink in the house, and then leaves.
My favourite part of the story is when the dad comes home from work, finds the house foodless, and suggests they all go out to tea instead. They go to a café on the high street and have sausage and chips, followed, if I remember right, by ice cream.
Hmmm, sausage and chips. There aren’t many better meals than that, are there? Quick and delicious. And so easy to make at home. Except sometimes you don’t want to. Sometimes you just can’t be bothered or you’re back late from work or a tiger has eaten everything you bought on the big shop.
This Tuesday in question was one of those nights. My daughter was going to Beavers, my brother was going out with a friend, my wife had an evening class and I’d forgotten to get the dinner out of the freezer.
Yes, we could have got a takeaway, but we don’t all like the same thing. Besides, the weather was glorious, and my freezer lapse coincided with the one night a week when The Pickled Duck on the Quay stays open in the evening. So that’s where we went.
Our first time, funnily enough, although we knew we were onto a good thing because the Greenhaw Road Pickled Duck is a big favourite. We got there around five. There were people enjoying a beer outside, watching the world go by. The café overlooks the marina. We’re not talking Monaco here, but the boats make a lovely foreground to the Foyle and the rich greens of St Columb’s Park on the opposite bank.
To the possible embarrassment of my wife, daughter, and brother, I just glanced at the menu and asked for an adult portion of the child’s sausage, chips and beans. Don’t you find the children’s menu is often more tempting than the grown-ups’? Maybe it’s just me, but fancy isn’t what you always want. Going out for a meal doesn’t always have to be an occasion.
And it really hit the spot. The sausages were lovely and peppery, and the chips were fantastic – perfect chip shop fellers, crispy, soft, sweet. None of your oven-baked skinny fries here, thank you very much.
- Squid Shack is nice, but frankly unmagical - Eating OutOpens in new window
- The Focacceria is a brilliant bakery serving up some of the best chips I’ve ever tasted - Eating OutOpens in new window
- Holohan’s Pantry: Unfussy Irish restaurant is well worth making a fuss over - Eating OutOpens in new window
The Pickled Duck on the Quay doesn’t just cater for paupers’ palates like mine, though. My brother chose the buffalo chicken loaded fries. Except he asked for it deconstructed, with all the elements separate, to keep the chips crunchy. The chicken was nicely moist, the coating flavoursome, and the dips and sauces rich.
The jerk chicken skewer was fantastic. The meat was deliciously spicy and perfectly cooked so it just melted in your mouth. The cous cous, so often lacking in flavour, was beautiful, slippery and silky, with a citrus sharpness, while the salsa was sweet and zingy.
We took our puddings home. I really liked two-thirds of the lemon meringue pie, the delicious filling and the well-baked pastry. The meringue, though, was rather dense, and there was simply too much of it: less is s’more. The banoffee pie was lovely and gooey, but it was the Old School cake which was everyone’s favourite. So named because it was just like the desserts served at your old school, there was a real touch of the time machine about it: thick sponge with a layer of icing and sprinkles. Our daughter, especially, loved it.
The Derry quayside is not simply a place of spring and summer. Its character shifts with the seasons, a wonderful, all-year round resource. A café like this enhances it tremendously. Simultaneously ordinary and very special, it offers something for everyone, regardless of who’s coming for tea.
The Bill
- Buffalo chicken loaded fries - £9.50
- Adult’s sausage, chips, and beans - £8.50
- Jerk chicken skewers - £12.95
- Child’s fish, chips, and beans - £6.50
- Lemon meringue pie - £4.00
- Banoffee pie - £4.00
- Old School cake - £3.50
- Coca-Cola x 3 - £9.00
- McDaid’s American Cream Soda - £3.00
