Review
Carrown Tober House is just outside Oughterard, on the Galway side. Gerry McDonnell and his niece Roisin run a lovely guesthouse with a friendly welcome, a super breakfast spread and some good home cooking in the evening.
A warm welcome awaits you at Carrown Tober House, a superior B&B set in the village of Oughterard, which is a pretty country village on the shores of Lough Corrib. The house is conveniently situated on a quiet lane right off the N59, just before the village.
This beautiful B&B is well-appointed for families, fishermen and tourists alike to enjoy the many sites and outdoor activities around the Oughterard, Connemara and Galway areas
Carrown Tober was recommended to us by a local friend and we arrived on a Friday evening after an overly long drive. We were worried we'd be too late for diner, but as soon as we arrived Gerry and Mary sorted us out with a lovely room, where our little dog Rafa made himself at home while we went into the dining room for dinner.
The dining room is part conservatory, and the glass wall looks over the gardens and the sheep and lambs in the field beyond, who belong to Gerry's sister.
Dinner has a choice of two starters and two mains, so we have one of each and can taste the other. Starters bring us a pear and blue cheese salad and a prawn cocktail. I started with the salad and the pears were ripe and sweet, and the blue cheese added the salty sour taste. We swapped half way so I got some of the proper Galway Bay prawn cocktail with a tangy Marie Rose sauce. Both were really well done and we enjoyed them a lot.
We also enjoyed the glasses of Sancerre that we quaffed with the food, and a bottle of Rioja was on hand to match the red meat main to come.
The main courses were a locally sourced steak from Finnerty butchers in the town, which was perfectly pink and came with sautéed spinach with garlic, lovely baby potatoes and a peppercorn sauce. The other dish was the star though, locally caught brown trout was filleted and simply fried with butter and a squeeze of lemon, the two fillets were more that generous, and Deirdre was delighted with the dish.
We finished with fruit salad and little homemade meringues and some good coffee and went for a walk around the roads to give Rafa a walk, before returning to our bed,
Next morning the breakfast was wonderful, with more fresh fruit, yoghurt, and cereals, as well as a platter of delicious baked ham, thickly sliced and looking too good to pass up. After a bowl of fruit and honey, I had poached eggs and a slice or two of the ham, while Deirdre fancied sausages and eggs.
The other guests were all regulars, and I can see why people return here again and again. Carrown Tober is a little gem and during the summer Gerry does a barbecue on the good evenings.
Oughterard is now a happening spot with great bars and restaurants and with Connemara one way and Galway the other, this is a great base to explore the beautiful west of Ireland. Recommended.
