10 June 2026
By Tom Collins
tom@TheCork.ie
Local Business & Entertainment News
According to Google Business ORSO is a “Med-style, Lebanese and Moroccan dishes, in a contemporary cafe/bar”… something exciting is happening with its menus this summer
ORSO of Pembroke Street is Cork city’s little gem of a restaurant, renowned for its delicious tastes of the Levant (part of the Middle East) is now spotlighting a key local producer on its menu every Wednesday evening throughout the summer months.
The focus will be on the English Market vendors and producers that the restaurant has worked with for more than a decade. Chef Hannes Von Der Fecht will create a special 2-course menu that will run alongside the à la carte offering each Wednesday, featuring dishes that combine the finest local produce with ORSO’s signature spice and flavour.
Exterior of English Market. Photography by Gerard McCarthy
English Market file photo of interior
Photo: Joleen Cronin
First up is a collaboration with Tim Mulcahy of the Chicken Inn, using his free-range, organic chicken. For starters, there is ‘Chicken Kofta skewer, drizzled with sunflower seed puree and crispy chicken skin’ with ‘Roast Organic Marinated Chicken leg, served with coconut rice in a lemongrass spiced sauce and peanut rayu’ as a main course.
Produce from Ballycotton Seafood will be the focus of the Wednesday specials in July.
Known for its flavour-forward, seasonal approach, you can also expect to see the best of the summer harvest from Churchfield Community Gardens elsewhere on the menu. Fruits and herbs from hyper-local growers are used in-house to make cordials, spritzes, and cocktails that ORSO has developed to complement its menus. As well as a tight wine list ORSO serves beer made by its sister restaurant and brewhouse, Elbow Lane.
Spices are prepared in-house daily, and bread is freshly baked to order from ORSO’s stone oven.
ORSO is part of the Market Lane Group of restaurants, which also includes Elbow Lane Smokehouse and Brewery, Market Lane Restaurant, Goldie, and The Castle Blackrock.