Tasty tapas…and much more food at new eatery on banks of the Bann

Successful restaurateurs Sean and Trudy Brolly are opening new eatery on the banks of the Lower River Bann next month.

The new restaurant located between Coleraine and Portstewart draws on their successful experience of running a popular and hugely successful tapas-style eatery in Portrush before the Coronavirus lockdown.

Ocho Bistro, their exciting new venture, is located at The Cranagh marina and will be open for brunch first on July 5 and a week later for dinner. It will carry forward much of the experience and menus from their original Ocho Tapas in Portrush, once Northern Ireland’s first genuine tapas restaurant.

“We’d been looking for a suitable location to develop a new Tapas-influenced restaurant in the area for a considerable amount of time,” explains Sean. “We spotted an ideal site at the Cranagh Activity Complex overlooking the Bann and decided to seize the opportunity it offered to create something deliciously different that still has Ocho Tapas influences. We’ll really excited by the location at the activity centre, so close to accommodation and easily accessible from the Coleraine-Portstewart line.

“The main difference is that Ocho Bistro will offer food throughout the day. There will be a delicious brunch, including a veggie option, then onto to an exceptional dinner menu. It’s the first time we’ve been involved in all-day menus and it’s been really exciting drawing the dishes together for the widest group of diners.”

They will be catering for those taking part at Edge Watersports within the Cranagh Activity Centre, the leading recreational and sports destination for activities such as waterskiing, wakeboarding, paddleboarding, kayaking and canoeing on the north coast. The restaurant, furthermore, will be open to diners from everywhere.

It will offer creative menus featuring both small plates and traditional main courses especially at dinner. There’ll be traditional Spanish tapas like albondigas meat balls, jamon serrano, manchego cheese, calamari, huevos rotos, patatas bravas, and gambas.

There will also be plenty of choice from more traditional main courses such as beef ribeye, burgers, baked salmon and chicken supreme. There’ll be more sharing plates for diners to enjoy.

Trudy, an experienced head chef from renowned tapas restaurants across Spain, has been responsible for developing the impressive and intriguing menus: “The marina, a beautiful, a really spectacular location, makes developing creative and tasty menus a real joy and one, we hope, diners will really enjoy.

“Produce from local suppliers will underpin all the Spanish-style menus. They will include: meats from Hannan in Moira; ham and bacon from Sprotts in Portadown; oils from Limavady’s Broighter Gold Rapeseed; fresh mussels from Strangford; chorizo from Corndale Farm, also Limavady; home-baked sourdough breads; Gracehill black pudding from Ballymena; and Clandeboye Yoghurt from Bangor.

“We’ve always tried to use as much local produce as possible from within the coast and glens especially for our menus. This will continue to be our approach. We’ve great meat, sensational fish and seafood, an abundant supply of fresh vegetables, superb seasonal fruit and a thriving beer business around here. It makes sound sense to use the freshest ingredients from our great local suppliers. We’d keen too to talk to more potential suppliers.

“There’s also now whiskey, gin and even limoncello being distilled around the coast.”

Sean and Trudy Brolly first opened Ocho Tapas, their first eatery here in 2015 on the back of successful careers in catering. Trudy brought her passion for Spanish cooking to Ireland after spending 19 years as a chef in the sun.

She attended the now closed Hotel and Catering College in Portrush and worked in local restaurants as a specialist in desserts. Her passion for Spanish cuisine that led to the novel Ocho Tapas bistro in Portrush town centre stemmed from periods working in catering in Malaga and Alicante and 13 years on the island of Mallorca.

Sean’s family also has deep roots in the hospitality management profession in the north coast. He continued the family tradition with posts in Culloden Hotel, Holywood and two years in Boston’s prestigious Ritz Carlton, returning home to set up an outside catering business and two successful cafes in Coleraine.