Restaurant Review: Kelly's Sea Rooms ride a wave of success

"The Sea Rooms began as an outdoor barbecue area during Covid and was then built into a handsome two-storey building with a glass-lined dining room offering views of the garden and the sea."

Sun, 30 Jun, 2024 - 11:30

Leslie Williams

The Sea Rooms at Kelly's Resort Hotel, Rosslare, Co. Wexford,
Kellys.ie, @thesearooms_kellys
Open: Lunch: Tuesday-Saturday 12.30-2.30pm, Sunday 12.30-4pm; Dinner: Thursday, Friday, Saturday 6.30-8.30pm
Dinner was paid for in full by Leslie Williams who was a guest of Kelly’s Resort.

The bill: Dinner for two including starters, mains, sides, dessert and an outstanding quality wine cost €180 (note: residents enjoy a reduction of €40)

During my 20-hour visit to Kelly’s Resort Hotel in Rosslare, I must have had five conversations with hotel manager Laura Kelly – she never stops. Kelly’s is like that, it’s like staying in your favourite cousin’s house but with world-famous art all around and better wine.

That stunning Andy Warhol picture of Debbie Harry is worth a visit on its own and, yes, that is a Joan Miró in the dining room, that drawing really is by Picasso and there are, indeed, 60,000 bottles in the wine cellar.

Kelly’s is an immersive experience (hence the ‘resort’ bit) and ideally enjoyed over a few days but there are now two extra reasons to make a day trip. First, you need to dine in The Sea Rooms and, second, consider buying some Burgundy (off-sales are available).

The Sea Rooms began as an outdoor barbecue area during Covid and was then built into a handsome two-storey building with a glass-lined dining room offering views of the garden and the sea.

The barbecue theme has been expanded by chef Chris Fullam, so expect to see words like smoke and embers throughout the menu.

Tasting menus are available but the €58 Table d’Hôte menu sounded perfect. Of course, by the time we had finished, we’d had seven courses, including bread, amuse bouche and pre-desserts.

Speaking of the bread, it was wonderfully crusty and we felt it would be wasteful to leave even a smear of either the smoked bacon butter or the nutty earthy cep butter.

Next, as an amuse, came dollops of the freshest crab on linseed crackers, and a pair of rye tartlet with aged comté and red onion – this last led to a poetic cry of “umami, oh Mammy the umami” from the Engineer.

Barbecued leek came with pistachio for crunch, a delightful purple hued brunoise of violetta potato, and a pleasing tang from buttermilk and yuzu kosho. My terrine of chicken, foie gras and black pudding worked less well as, although each part was flavourful, the pieces didn’t quite knit together – perhaps serving it warm would have worked better.

A bonus starter of scallop ceviche restored our faith, the citrus curing having created a succulent texture in the scallop without overpowering its delicacy, a smoked hollandaise sauce added intriguing extra dimensions.

Lamb rump arrived pink and tender, offset by smoked aubergine caviar for depth and crunchy barbecued broccoli for freshness. What made this dish sing were the intense flavours from a smoked red bell pepper cream and a pitch-perfect meaty-sweet lamb jus.

My barbecued monkfish, meanwhile, was beautifully cooked and came with clams and sweet Chantenay carrots; a nicely balanced koji beurre blanc held it all together.

Our sides were worth their €5 price – smoked ‘pomme purée’ buttery smooth while the vegetables ‘from the embers’ were textured and smoky-sweet.

The wine list in The Sea Rooms contains a fraction of what is available so be sure to ask for the iPad with the full wine list. Prices start at €36 but spend €20 more and you can explore famed village wines from Volnay to Vosne Romanée, often at prices lower than I would expect at retail.

Besides Burgundy, there is value to be found from Beaujolais, Bordeaux and the Rhône (eg ‘Clos des Papes’ Châteauneuf-du-Pape for €88 and La Dame d’Angludet Margaux for €48).

But it had to be Burgundy. I’ll order Ramonet or Benjamin Leroux the next time but this visit I chose Eric de Suremain’s Monthélie Premier Cru ‘Sur la Velle’ 2018 for a mere €54.

Monthélie nestles between the renowned villages of Volnay and Meursault, and this fine example had luscious red fruits balanced by structure. It was silky, supple and delicious, tasted twice its price, and added enormous enjoyment to our meal.

‘The Sea Rooms Cinema’ dessert turned out to be a witty riff on the flavours most of us crave at the movies. Butter-caramel popcorn was paired with chocolate and caramel panna-cottas and excellent vanilla ice cream, with some Coca-Cola jellies added for fun.

My dessert was perhaps more prosaic but just as well conceived –poached rhubarb with rhubarb mousse, a brisk yoghurt sorbet for contrast and a classic crumble with crème anglaise because they taste good.

Dining at The Sea Rooms was a joy, with attentive, engaged staff, a great view, precise cooking and a perfect wine which sprinkled magic dust on every morsel it was paired with. Go ensconce yourself.

THE VERDICT