This is a must have cookery book. The recipes are clear and easy to follow - you must try their plum chicken!!!!! A doddle to make and guests are always very impressed

This book contains some great (ranging from traditional Irish to modern fusion and easy peasy to more challenging and time-consuming) recipes that I resort to whenever I'm having a party or need to cater for larger groups, an advantage which also proves to be a major disadvantage when you're cooking for a more intimate group, the mental effort of having to divide a lot of the recipes has just put me off trying them at all. It's not often the average dinner-party cook will have to make a chocolate mousse for 12 or a salmon terrine for 18, as for the industrial quantities of the majority of the biscuits and deserts, nice though they may be, you'll be thoroughly sick of them by the time you've got through them all (unless you have a major sweet tooth of course!). I fail to see the sense in giving a recipe for two loaves of carrot cake, wouldn't it have been better sense to just divide it in two? I find this is a mistake many "caf??-inspired" books make, and written as they are by professionals more used and able to perform cookery calculations than your average hobby cook, a particularly unforgiveable one. That said, it is worth buying for the compliments you'll get for glorious summer fruit tiramis?? alone.

i got this book as a gift at Christmas when I was home visiting family in Ireland. i have made so many recipes from it and all of them have been really yummy - i would recommend the meatballs, fruit tiramisu, lemon tart, tomato, celery and apple soup. i liked it so much that I am ordering a copy online to send to a friend.
oh yes and the curry recipe is the best - the sauce is great as a veggie curry sauce too!

The Avoca Cafes were initially started to provide somewhere for visitors to the Avoca Weavers in Wicklow to enjoy a cup of tea and slice of cake. They were so succesful that they are now dotted throughout Ireland. This is a book of recipes from the cafes. It is a bit like an Irish version of Cranks, with a large helping of wholefood. Although do not be fooled into thinking that this is just for veggies. It does contain a small number of meat recipes Many of the recipes are delicious, particularly such delights as sweet potato and lemongrass soup. My one disappointment is the relatively dated nature of some of the baking. I had hoped that nut roast had been consigned to the 90s. But otherwise a worthwhile addition to any cook's home library.

This cook book reminds me of all the wonderful foods we had in Ireland last year when we visited the country for the first time - all products used are top quality