Clifford Mould samples
Ed Cooney's fine cuisine in the
Mornington Restaurant
The
new Merrion Hotel has two fine restaurants,
its own and the Restaurant Patrick
Guilbaud, q.v,
which is independent of the Hotel
management. The Mornington Restaurant is
named after the original owner of
number 24 Merrion Street in whose
vaults it is located. Lord Mornington
was a prominent musician as well
as being the father of Arthur Wellesley,
1st Duke of Wellington, who was born
in number 24 in 1769. As you enter
down some steps from the street,
there is the Cellar Bar whose
atmosphere has been created by skilful
use of the original vaulted brick
arches. Little rooms lead off the
main bar area, as does the Mornington
restaurant which is actually in the
new part of the hotel building. There
is rather good food in the Cellar
Bar, served at very reasonable prices
which may explain its popularity
amongst a gregarious set of young
Dublin professionals.
The dining room itself is pleasant, but the decor is rather bland. One wondered
if caution and sobriety would also extend to the menu. After dinner there with
an old Dubliner friend, I am glad to report that we found it not to be the
case. There were those who wondered if another restaurant in the Merrion as
well as that of Patrick Guilbaud wasn't a little de trop. But not all
visitors to the Hotel would necessarily wish (or afford) to eat à la
Michelin two stars every day of the week. A hotel of this standard has to provide
full room service meals as well as catering for conferences, meetings and private
functions, so a substantial kitchen operation is required. Head Chef Ed
Cooney therefore has the very demanding challenge of providing menus in
his restaurant that are not trying to compete head on with Patrick Guilbaud,
which would be plainly silly, yet he has to maintain the standard of cuisine
expected of a grand hotel dining room.
The Merrion Breakast
My first visit to the dining room was for breakfast. The breakfast
menu is comprehensive: there are several varieties of set breakfasts, from
modest Continental to the
full Irish Monty. Or you can choose individual items from an à la carte
list of goodies from which could be constructed a substantial eighteenth century
hunt breakfast worthy of the Galway Blazers in their prime. I tried the black
pudding which is a wonderfully textured, delicately spiced invention from Clonakilty
in County Cork. On my second morning I had very good eggs benedict. The tables
are so beautifully laid with the stiffest, starchiest Irish linen; the antique
style silverware is shown off to perfection. The tea is poured through a very
pretty silver strainer, and I state categorically that on no account was I
even remotely tempted to nick off with it even though it was such a handsome
little
piece, damn it. Just when it occurred to me that tea can stew a bit, even in
the nicest of silver pots,
my charming young waiter returned with a fresh one.
The Merrion dinner
At dinner the musak is quieter and less robustly jolly than in the morning.
After the buzz of bar next door, the atmosphere was rather dreary, though I have
to say that the staff couldn't have been more
friendly and helpful. The manager, Moira Carrie was buzzing about dazzling
everyone with her smile and grace. She has worked front of house in several
of Dublin's out and out foodie restaurants like The Commons and Conrad Gallagher's
Peacock Alley. Here was a unique opportunity to build up a new team from scratch
in a most prestigious setting. She and her équipe show excellent attention
to detail but have no truck with that old style hauteur so often associated
with posh hotels.
There is a Table d'Hote menu for IR23.00 for three courses including coffee
and petits fours. I know it's a bit vulgar to bang on about price, but we wouldn't
really be doing our job if we didn't let you know what to expect. The à la
carte menu has starters ranging from soups at around four pounds, to terrines
and salads around the six pound mark. Pastas and risottos are available in
starter or main sized portions, at about seven or twelve pounds respectively.
Meat and fish courses range from IR13.95 for roasted breast of guinea fowl
with pancetta and a spicy sausage filling served on braised savoy cabbage,
to IR19.50 for Dover Sole.
I began with a starter sized portion of crab risotto with shellfish bisque,
IR6.95. Risotto is a good test of a chef, it can't be left to its own devices
for more than a few seconds, preferably not at all. The grains should be round,
plump and ever so slightly crunchy. There should be just enough liquor to keep
the dish moist without resembling a paddy field. This risotto scored highly
on all these counts, plus the crab was as crabby a crab as one could wish for.
My genuine Dubliner companion had poached egg with black pudding and sautéed
potatoes. A rather heavy sounding starter perhaps, but he is a very big man
indeed. I had been waxing lyrical about Mrs Clonakilty and her pudding, so
he simply had to try the black stuff for himself. He released the yolk of his
egg to run like lava over the spuds, and I watched the childhood memories pleasuring
his face.
This was to be a good trencherman's meal - we both had beef to follow. Mine
came from the table d'hote menu: chargrilled fillet of beef on saffron whipped
potatoes. This was rather an attractive presentation, served with a sauce billed
as a "pink peppercorn café au lait" - very Raymond Blanc! Irish beef
is specially good, and the rare grilling had sealed in a very juicy interior.
Micheal's beef was also a fillet cut, covered with a green mustard crust on
a herb polenta cake. He asked for it to be medium grilled, and he reported
that it was nicely cooked on the outside with just the right hint of pink within.
Ed Cooney's culinary style is Modern Irish (as opposed to Modern British)
with the currently fashionable Mediterranean overtones moderately applied.
I looked sneakily at dishes on their way to other tables and I was very impressed
by the attractive way in which they were presented. The wine list is not at
all frightening, and makes a feature of what might be relegated elsewhere to
the distant corner of a list that is Vins des autres Pays. There's particularly
good selection of wines from the Southern Hemisphere.
The Merrion Service
We
finished with the Grand Dessert for two, IR 12.95 a very pretty selection of
samples of puddings from the
chef patissier who also makes the most wonderful
selection of breads, some of which I had also greatly enjoyed at breakfast. We
ate home made petits fours in the luxury of the sitting room area of my very
grand hotel room - pictured left.
I found the service throughout the hotel to be both expert and friendly in
all departments. Fresh fruit and chocolates are replenished daily and the finale
to our dinner came with such elegant crockery and napery together with a silver
pot of herbal tea which we had ordered. A very perfect and relaxing way to
end a most enjoyable meal.
The bill for our meal came IR88.50 including the wine.
The Merrion Hotel, Upper Merrion Street, Dublin 2, Ireland
Tel: 353 1 603 0600 Fax: 353 1 603 0700 Email: info@merrionhotel.ie
Website: http://www.merrionhotel.ie
