Restaurant Review: Wackoz street food in the home of St Patrick nourishes the soul

Wackoz, 38 Belfast Road, Downpatrick

March 04 2022 04:34 PM

There’s a lot of holy ground in Ireland. From cathedrals to mass rocks and countless chapels, temples and meeting houses in between, they are an expression of our love of all that is holy. But it is the calm and misty beauty of graveyards and ruined abbeys, friaries and monasteries that best capture the feeling of lonely, contemplative spirituality.

The histories of these Irish friaries and monasteries are particularly rich and turbulent and in many ways what we see today is the calm after the long ago storms of destruction and upheaval. The atmosphere at Inch Abbey on the banks of the Quoile river near Downpatrick is particularly redolent of monkish lives devoted to the worship of God. The Norman conqueror John de Courcy built it in atonement for his destruction of nearby Erinagh Abbey. Maybe this is what gives the place its deep sense of serenity and tranquillity.

The winter winds blowing through the abbey’s ruined walls and empty windows, the river swollen and dangerous, whipping up waves and rooks cawing in the leafless trees around; it is profoundly romantic, melancholic and wistful.

But today we are here for Wackoz, the new street food shack just down the road selling Korean loaded fries, smash burgers and pulled pork tacos! Yay! Outdoor seating and roadside collection! Yay!

Brunch is served from nine to three, Thursday to Sunday, and the ample car parking, serving as a bridge from the spiritual past to the hungry present, is the new place of contemplation as you wait in your car for your order to be brought to you.

Disappointingly (or thankfully), the extensive menu avoids any themed medieval monks’ gruel or mead. This is distinctly 21st century fodder. And as with any self-respecting new street food shack, vegetarians and vegans are well looked after.

In fact, there is a brunch menu and a separate street food menu. For brunch you can have porridge with Wackoz’s own granola, local honey, fresh fruit and compote; the brioche bap with sausage, streaky bacon, fried egg, hashbrown and Ballymaloe relish; huevos rotos including triple cooked patatas bravas, tomato salsa, spicy mayo, chorizo and fried egg; all the way through to waffles and pancakes, sourdough and avocado, falafel, toasties and satay chicken loaded fries.

Kimchi features in here as does peri-peri and parmesan fries. It is as if Wackos gathered up all existing streetfoody brunch menus from around Belfast and Dublin and then picked out the best bits.

I’m not entirely sure how the street food menu is any less brunchy but the dishes might be slightly more ample. Not that they hold back on volumes in the brunch. The Moroccan spiced heritage salad lasted two days in our house, there was that much of it. Locally sourced heritage vegetables, various leaves, house pickles and a wrap packed out the large box. And it wasn’t just the volume. The quality was impressive too. Plenty of crunch in the salad vegetables, flavour in the charred broccoli and zing in the pickled onions provided great satisfaction as well as health-given smugness.

The chicken focaccia with at least a large breast’s worth of charred chicken pieces, roasted red pepper, sundried tomato, pickles and salad (“artisan leaves”) was all the more remarkable for the lightness of the bread and the depth of flavours bursting from within. The street food menu will offer you those pulled pork tacos, satay chicken bao, honey chilli beef, ramen bowls and quite a bit more.

Wackoz is a welcome sight in a part of Down which is a culinary desert. It might not be a temple to the culinary arts yet, but its food is honest, fresh and tasty, and its very presence nourishes the soul.

THE BILL

Chicken focaccia .£6.95

Moroccan spiced salad .£6.95

Total .£13.90

Restaurant Review: Wackoz street food in the home of St Patrick nourishes the soul

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