THERE ARE FEWER sites more beautiful than a plate overflowing with all the trimmings of a roast dinner.
Whether you’re looking to feed a large group of people for a special gathering or looking for a night off cooking during the week, carvery is perfect for all occasions. Everyone has their own preferred methods and requirements that contribute to the ideal roast dinner. For some, it’s roast beef layered with a colourful medley of vegetables (with all of the potato varieties on one plate) and drowned in gravy, while others may go for a more modest combination of meat and three vegetables with their gravy on the side.
There’s plenty to discuss when it comes to what makes a great roast dinner and Emer & Esther’s Sunday Roast is a podcast dedicated to dissecting all of the various elements that make up the perfect roast from the cuisine offering to the overall decor and atmosphere of an establishment.
Season 1 of the podcast, started by writer Esther O’Moore Donohoe and author Emer McLysaght (one-half of the beloved Aisling novels), began in October in 2022 with Grainger’s of Hanlon’s Corner providing the setting for their inaugural carvery review. Since then, their discussions have focused on everything from gravy (should it be a thick soup or a delicate jus?) to their preferred carrot shapes and much more. Their warmth and chemistry in each episode is infectious. Listening to the friends share different happenings in their week before tucking into the main event, makes you feel like you’re with them in the pub with a plate of food in front of you.
Prior to committing their opinions of roast potatoes to mic for the podcast, the pair of friends had long shared their thoughts on roast dinners throughout the pandemic, as they reveal. “On our Daily Walk of Misery during the pandemic, Emer and I covered all the main conversational topics: life, death and what makes a great carvery. Having a podcast dedicated to them started as a joke but, here we are,” says O’Moore Donohoe. MyLysaght continues, “Esther was genuinely passionate about roast dinners and reminded me that I was also a fan, but had lapsed. My appreciation has definitely been reignited! We were also so thrilled when things reopened after all the lockdowns that a carvery felt like such a luxury.”
The luxury of a carvery is one that many Irish people enjoyed during childhood and, as is often the case, many of our earliest memories surround food. For O’Moore Donohoe and McLysaght respectively, both grew-up with homemade roast dinners to bring their weekends to a close. For the latter, it wasn’t until leaving home to attend college that the culinary comforts of a carvery became apparent. “Carveries weren’t really part of my life until I moved to Dublin as a student and you could get a good value Sunday dinner in one of the pubs. The college canteen was an ocean of bain maries and you might get an odd leg of beef there too,” says McLysaght.
Emer & Esther’s Sunday Roast returned for Season 2 of the podcast this month, and it saw the duo travel further afield to Co Mayo to sample Corrib Oil’s contribution to Ireland’s extraordinary carvery culture. Over the last few months, O’Moore Donohoe and McLysaght have done their research and sampled a variety of roast dinners that the country has to offer. But what, in their opinions, are essential for a delicious roast dinner?
“The ideal carvery plate is like a snowflake; no two ever look the same. Personally, as long as the veg isn’t overcooked and the roasties come thick and fast, I’m happy. You should also always request a supplementary gravy boat for mid-meal gravy top-ups,” notes O’Moore Donohoe. McLysaght echoes the importance of gravy: “The application of gravy is key. The best carveries we’ve had have had a double delivery system: meat, then some gravy, and then the veg and potatoes, and more gravy. Otherwise, it can be very dry. The way the carvery is plated can be almost as important as the food itself.”
And what is their favourite component of the hearty dish? “As with life, carvery plates only sing when everyone works together. Yes, a roast potato is one of the most incredible things humans have created but you need all the bits for a perfect forkful; a smidge of stuffing, carrot batons with bite and a whisper of mash to glue it all together,” says O’Moore Donohoe. While O’Moore Donohoe enjoys the medley of flavours that carvery has to offer, for McLysaght, there’s an individual player that stands out for her: “I’m a stuffing gal. It just brings so much flavour. It needs to be perfectly moist without being stodgy. Many places serve it as dry as the Sahara. Better than nothing though!”
With Season 2 taking the pair across the country in 2023, what are their hopes for the podcast in the future? “If we could get a float in the 2024 St. Patrick’s Day parade and fire roast potatoes into the crowd like ships flares, that would be a dream. But before that happens a live show would be great – but one where we could all enjoy a carvery together,” O’Moore Donohoe says.
Finally, where are their favourite places for a carvery in Ireland? “To date, my favourites were FX Buckley on Lord Edward St (not a carvery but we don’t discriminate), The Yacht in Clontarf and The Halfway House, Navan Road. But really, every roast or carvery is our favourite,” O’Moore Donohoe reveals. Amongst McLysaght’s picks, she notes, “The Poitín Stil in Rathcoole, The Coachman’s Inn by Dublin Airport and The Yacht were my favourite experiences. Obviously, we’re expanding a little outside Dublin for Season 2 and looking for recommendations for around the country. There’s lots of passion for carvery out there. It’s great to see!”
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