Restaurant Review: Saltwater serving up sauces, sea and sounds

Saltwater’s menu is the creation of chef Karl Whelan who was the chef behind Luna when it was voted best restaurant in Ireland.

• Saltwater
• 97 Terenure Road East, Terenure, Dublin 6W
• Tel: [phone]
• www.saltwatergrocery.ie

Who would have thought 1990s house music would be a soothing backdrop for the very best Irish seafood? It turns out that even Terenure wasn’t safe from Garth Brooks’ music last weekend (it being 8km away), but once ensconced in Saltwater, the 120 beats per minute, four-on-the-floor, thump thump ding of 90s house proved rather soothing.

Saltwater’s menu (and soundtrack) are the creation of chef Karl Whelan who should be a familiar name but, in case you have forgotten, he was the chef behind Luna when it was voted best restaurant in Ireland, was head chef at Chapter One when Ross Lewis and his team cooked for Queen Elizabeth, and more recently he created Hang Dai.

Whelan’s latest adventure is with fish wholesaler and restaurateur Niall Sabongi in Saltwater Grocery which is a sort of fish monger/grocery/sandwich-shop that on a Friday and Saturday evening becomes a restaurant worthy of all the stars and accolades.

The tasting menu costs €65 per person plus €45 for wine pairings. Being fussy I wanted to choose my own wine so opted for a bottle of Guerila Slovenian white (€35) made from the obscure Zelen grape. The rest of the list is similarly innovative with wines from well-chosen producers such as Von Winning and Judith Beck.

Later with the meat course, we drank two fruity-earthy glasses of La Folle Noire d’Ambat (€8.50) red from Fronton near Toulouse.

The first course is Caviar à la Royale which was served as at caviar tastings with a small smear straight from the tin placed on onto the back of the hand which serves to warm the roe slightly so the umami-rich, salty-sweet eggs could taste at their best.

Next up was a delicious one-bite tartlet. Inside the light crunchy exterior was a crab bavarois topped by marinated salmon, trout roe and a touch of lemon and seaweed. The crucial bit was the kick of horseradish in the centre which tied all the flavours together perfectly.

Cured Salmon Tartlet.

Muscat grape flesh plus verjus and sea truffle (pepper dulse) added tiny flourishes of flavour to a pristinely fresh rock oyster, while a deep-fried goujon of Red Fish (a sort of snapper) had some lightly pungent watermelon ‘ketchup’ and a smear of intense soy sauce to play with.

Dry-aged Clare Island Salmon was topped with a gel made from soy and an intense spicy Koshu with some tiny nuggets of candied yuzu fruit to add zing. The genius of this dish was the gel which allowed the koshu and soy flavours to be evenly distributed in every bite of the salmon. Karl told us this is the only item that has been on every menu since he began this venture — I can see why.

Tempura Red Fish.

Goats Curd, Tomato and Seaweed Salad was a welcome palate cleanser after the salmon: slices of fresh sweet tomato with some creamy goat curds and salty seaweed to lift them; nothing else was needed.

Gnocchi and Prawn Sausage sat in a classically perfect lobster bisque, the gnocchi and delicate prawns lifted and enriched beautifully. It is sauces like this that elevate Whelan’s cooking. Anyone can make an Irish prawn taste good; very few can make sauces like this.

Dry Aged Salmon was topped with a gel made from soy and an intense spicy Koshu.

Saltwater used to be Downey’s Butcher shop so our next course was a tribute to that much-missed victualler who were famous for their game. Discs of tender and sweet barbecued venison fillet were served rare with a venison ragu on the side topped with a light and delicate pumpkin cream liberally grated with nutmeg and a cube of crispy potato to add heft.

For dessert, a Bramley apple vacherin, the complex meringue-based dessert accredited to Marie-Antoine Carême (d. 1833) was crunchy without, satiny within and wholly delicious.

Whelan is doing remarkable things in Saltwater, there was assuredness and finely honed technique in everything that we ate with expert saucing perhaps the crucial element. Whelan’s saucing was the backbeat, the drum machine, at the heart of almost everything we ate and the intimacy of the venue (he serves as well as cooks and DJ’s) made it extra special.

The Tab:

A stunning Nine Course Tasting Menu for two plus a bottle and two glasses of wine cost €200.20 including a 10% service charge.

How To:

Open Fridays and Saturdays, 6pm - 10pm

The Verdict:

• Food: 9.5/10
• Drink: 9/10
• Service: 9/10
• Ambience: 8/10
• Value: 8/10

In a Sentence:

Finely honed seafood cookery with immaculate saucing from a chef at the top of his game.