Lucinda O'Sullivan's Ireland

About The Restaurant

Included in the €18m revamp of The Dunloe Hotel & Gardens is their fabulous, spanking brand new The Grill Restaurant. This is a great addition to the dining scene in Killarney offering contemporary food at good prices throughout the day, in a brilliant buzzy setting with jaw-dropping views of the Gap of Dunloe. 

Showcasing local and artisan food, the daytime menu offers really good casual food from snacks and salads to posh sandwiches to more substantial mains. Their vegetarian board is terrific with a beetroot tartare, mushroom croquette, red pepper tapenade, sun-dried tomatoes, marinated artichokes and olives, while the Atlantic seafood platter has Spillane’s oak smoked salmon, prawn cocktail, squid rings, crab and gravlax. Hot chicken wings served with chive sour cream are there, while a roast pear salad is paired with herbed goat’s cheese and candied walnuts – a combination I love. Sandwiches include a ciabatta steak sandwich with truffle mayo, caramelised onions, rocket and chips. Spillane’s oak smoked salmon is with horseradish, capers and red onion, on soda bread, while an open prawn sandwich has cocktail sauce and baby gem on delicious home baked Guinness bread. They’ve got some fulsome seafood chowder along with the ever-popular French onion soup with a Gruyere crouton.

Mains had a prime Irish beef burger with all the trimmings; panko-fried cod with a warm potato and cucumber salad, baby gem, and pumpkin soup. There’s also a choice of tagliatelle with spicy n’duja sauce, courgettes and Pecorino or a green pea and asparagus risotto. If you’re feeling really hungry, the grilled 10-oz Irish sirloin is unbeatable.

We, however, dined as we watched the sun go down over the Gap of Dunloe.

Starters, in the evening, included smoked mackerel fishcake with compressed cucumber and red pepper relish. Carpaccio of prime Irish beef was with truffle oil, rocket, and Pecorino, while fresh local crabmeat was with apple puree, cucumber, buttermilk and dill oil. I kicked off with superb pan-fried scallops, perfectly seared on the outside retaining a lightly cooked silky inside, with light fresh grapefruit and brown butter. Rena had a delicious mushroom croquette with a spinach tuille, onion puree and figs.

Mains included braised short rib of Irish beef with pearl onion jus, champ and chives, while pan-fried seabass is with ratatouille, fish sauce and basil oil. Tagliatelle is with fennel, chilli, lemon zest and a sprinkling of toasted breadcrumbs, while crispy pork belly is with tiger prawns.
Steaks from their Josper grill, which is a big feature here, include 28-day dry aged fillets and rib-eyes, and a fantastic entrecote on the bone for two people. Rena had a top-notch 9-oz Josper grilled fillet served with gratin potatoes, charred onions, baby vine tomatoes and a Bearnaise sauce. I’m a bit of a fishophile, so I went for their superb Josper-grilled monkfish with baby courgette, beurre blanc, and a side of buttered baby potatoes.

Did we pass on desserts? We did not – the selection was too tempting. Tonka bean brulee had hazelnut and coffee ice-cream, while blackberry bavarois was with salted caramel ice-cream. Rena had the most delicious chocolate and apricot delice with a yoghurt ice-cream, while I indulged in a lemon meringue tart with zesty curd, and meringue textures.

It’s a spectacular spot – beat a path.

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