Restaurant review: Dining in original carriages from the Orient Express overlooking Lake Corrib
The newly refurbished carriages are gorgeous, with peacock feather patterned seats and lots of shiny brass all around, including the luggage racks which are just about large enough for a Chanel clutch bag.
Who doesn’t love a train, and better still an old train? The Pullman is housed in original carriages from the Orient Express, just a few metres from the entrance to the Glenlo Abbey Hotel with a view of Lake Corrib in the near distance.
The newly refurbished carriages are gorgeous, with peacock feather patterned seats and lots of shiny brass all around, including the luggage racks which are just about large enough for a Chanel clutch bag.
Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra are on the Tannoy, and you do feel you have stepped back in time (sit in the back carriage or else the illusion may be shattered by the ugly athleisure outfits on the nearby golf course).
The Pullman’s tasting menu costs €130 per person and is the only option. If you want wine pairings, add €80.
Head chef is Angelo Vagiotis, originally from Greece and who most recently was the chef de cuisine in Terre. Vagiotis brought with him pastry chef Linda Sergidou and his sous chef is Shauna Murphy, who also came from Terre and is a former winner of EuroToques Young Chef of the Year.
The meal began strongly with seasonal leaves and flowers crafted into a pretty bouquet and, sitting on an aerated apple cider vinegar dressing which provided lift and tang. Better again was an airy choux pastry puff filled with fluffy Rockfield sheep cheese; and best of all was the warm featherlight brioche served with seaweed butter, arguably the best brioche I’ve ever tasted.
Next up, a tiny pastry tart topped with thin slices of crunchy Jerusalem artichoke and a small blob of caviar; perfectly tasty, but perhaps needing a kick of some extra flavour or perhaps more intense celeriac notes in the tartlet.
Cured trout from Goatsbridge in Kilkenny had us back in top gear however, the fish layered with beetroot and served on a ‘cultured cream’ in which lots of trout roe bobbed about. The quality of the trout and roe was outstanding, and the sauce elevated the dish nicely providing just a hint of sour and a touch of piquancy.
Celeriac broth with agnolotti was decorated with plump little native Irish shrimp and garlic flowers and while we loved the bursts of flavour in the agnolotti, I was less keen on the celeriac broth which tasted more like a consommé than the warming root vegetable flavours I was expecting.
I asked about the elusive flavour and was told that soy sauce had been used to add umami. It did indeed add umami, but at the expense of nutty creamy celeriac flavours which I would have preferred.
Native turbot was poached in butter and had a delicate subtle flavour enhanced by a finely made Champagne sauce.
The quality of the fish shone, but on the side was a small piece of the frill of the fish which had a lush caramelised intensity. I couldn’t help but wish for more of those flavours. I was also unsure about the earthy morel purée on the side which I felt was too intense for the delicate fish. A similar problem arose with the Skeaghanore duck which was served perfectly pink (a little too pink for the Engineer), but accompanied by a salty rich tamarind sauce that rather overpowered the sweet fleshy richness of the duck.
The Pullman’s wine list is short and absent of any descriptions of the wines on offer, including, in one case, the producer’s name. The reds start at €54 for Septima Argentinian Malbec which I consider far too high for this wine, and the second least expensive red cost €75, including Huia New Zealand Pinot Noir, a wine that costs under €30 at retail.
The white list was considerably better value, starting at €42 and with a glass of Lyrarakis Assyrtiko 2020 from Crete for €14.40. I know the wine and it worked well enough but I did feel it would have tasted better at two or three years rather than five. All was not lost however, as glasses of plush Château le Menotte Lalande de Pomerol at €17 worked very well with our duck.
The dessert courses lifted our spirits considerably, and began with a rhubarb sorbet ‘Colonel’ enlivened with vanilla oil and a couple of dashes of Redbreast Whiskey (a classic Colonel is lemon sorbet with vodka).
This worked well as a palate cleanser and the rhubarb shone brightly, and our final course was another hit. Pink Lady apple compote served with a sweet nutty parsnip mousse and topped with a crisp arlette biscuit and sheep’s milk ice-cream, was one of the tastiest and best thought-out courses of the evening.
The Pullman is only open a couple of months in its new guise and there is oodles of talent and potential; let’s hope they get back on track.
- Glenlo Abbey Hotel, Kentfield, Co Galway
- Dinner for two with wine, €344
- glenloabbeyhotel.ie
