Having a summer birthday meant I always missed out as a child. School was out, so I never got a day off homework (still getting therapy for this), and all my pals were away on their holidays by the time my August birthday rolled around. Family plans were made for a celebration, maybe a picnic with loads of goodies, which frequently was followed by a visit to A&E. The joys of parenthood and an overexcitable child.
I love birthdays, and as my sister and I have birthdays just six days apart, we decide to celebrate jointly a few weeks early this year. A handful of sunny days indicate that summer may possibly have arrived, inspiring me to book The Garden Room at The Merrion Hotel. As the more casual offering in the Merrion Hotel, it is an all-day dining restaurant – generally the last place I would like to eat – but there is a stunning outdoor terrace here, looking out on to a fountain and Rowan Gillespie’s sculpture of James Joyce. The doors can be swung open and it feels quite the luxurious secret in the heart of Georgian Dublin.
That was the plan. Of course the rain pours down the day we are booked, but our table by the window is still very pleasant. We admire the impressive art hanging on the walls – Roderic O’Connor’s Red Rocks and Foaming Sea, William Scott’s Irish Still Life, and Colm Middleton’s Woman in Red. A number of years ago, I was lucky enough to have a tour of the hotel’s art collection, guided by one of the curators from the National Art Gallery. It was phenomenal.
The menu covers the bases you would expect in a hotel restaurant – meat, fish and vegetarian options. There is a little too much farmed fish on it for my liking, but sole on the bone (€54) is a speciality and is immediately ordered by my sister Olive.
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But first the starters. Green gazpacho with chipotle cream (€13.50) sounds like a soup with proper summer energy (it also happens to be vegan), and turns out to be a delicious choice. The green soup of puréed cucumber, celery, spinach and green peppers is poured over at the table, whisking cubes of cucumber, fine slices of radish and puréed avocado into its wake. Coriander and lemon juice add to the freshness and I discover a harissa sauce lurking below, which hums with a mild bit of heat.
Our other starter, chicken liver and foie gras parfait (€16.50) is creamy and indulgent, full of rich savoury flavour offset with chargrilled pineapple and pineapple salsa with just a touch of red chilli.
The black sole on the bone here is really something special. It is cooked perfectly, golden from attentive basting with plenty of butter, with small native brown shrimp (which you don’t see very often) and crispy capers adding to the flavour. Beneath it is perfectly sautéed spinach, with just a touch of garlic and the right amount of butter. Oven-roast potatoes served in a copper pot are all you need to complete the dish. It works well with our bottle of Domaine Pellehaut Chardonnay (€42).
I have gone for one of the meat options – roasted lamb round with a herb crust (€38), which is served with peas, broad beans, pea purée, micro greens and lamb jus. It is the lean topside roast from the inner muscle of the hind leg, not the most tender piece of the animal but it has good flavour.
For dessert we share a peach and raspberry soufflé (€16.50), a thing of beauty that has risen heroically. Our waitress gently teases it open and pours in a peach sauce. The lightness of the soufflé, the sauce and the accompanying raspberry sorbet make for a very fine end to our meal.
The Garden Room is somewhere a little bit off the radar to go for a special occasion. Somewhere for a quiet dinner, a family get together or a very fine tete-a-tete with a dear sister or gal pal. The prices reflect the level of the surroundings, the relaxed atmosphere, and the sense of absolute escape for a few glorious hours. And if the sun shines, you can dine on one of the finest terraces in Dublin.
Dinner for two with a bottle of wine was €180.50.
- The verdict: Beautiful food on a secret terrace in Georgian Dublin
- Food provenance: Kish Fish, Glenmar, Marine Harvest, and Pat McLaughlin meat
- Vegetarian options: Green gazpacho, and Thai green curry with vegetables and jasmine rice
- Wheelchair access: Fully accessible with an accessible toilet
- Music: Background jazz
