The Rebound

Excluding the pubs and the man who drives around local events serving tea, coffee, and the occasional questionable sandwich out of his van, there are three places to eat dinner in Clonard that are open all year round.

One is a small greasy takeaway that used to be the ultimate treat as a child.

The second is the local Chinese restaurant that caused great excitement when it opened twenty years ago, and the third is a midpriced Italian place called Roman’s, which used to be a shoe shop.

It’s the fanciest of the options as it has tablecloths and corked wine and this is where I now sit with Louise and Tomasz on what is clearly supposed to be their date night.