Landline @ The Park Hotel

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The cuisine at the fabulous Park Hotel in Kenmare is second to none, and the mantle of Head Chef at their Landline Restaurant is now worn by James O’Sullivan, a young man from Gougane Barra, who spent three years at Derry Clarke’s erstwhile L’Ecrivain, before transforming the cuisine here and making it a true dining destination. 

With the longstanding and wonderful Mark Golden commanding the room as ever along with Louise Lynn, the restaurant, which I remember as being imposing and beautiful of its time is now stripped of all its former heavy weight embellishments, replaced with ginormous Sean Scully paintings. A stunningly cool space redesigned with striking curved corner dusty pink upholstered seating, and a central line of very clever low-line curved booths, so no one sits anymore as a centerpiece to be stared at in the middle of the room.

I loved the fact that the menu was a la carte with prices that were not off the wall for fine dining in a top notch location. An eclectic selection of starters or small plates  included Spillane’s crabmeat which was given the Spanish Asian twist by way of ajo blanco, yuzu, fennel and fig leaf, while stuffed crown of quail had mushrooms, parsley root, leg kromeskis (Polish style croquettes) and pickled apple. Carmel had a deep deliciously intense green garden pea velouté with the sharp creamy influences of horseradish, ham hock and a split pea dressing, while I had a skilled and stunning presentation of seared scallops interspersed with lardo, crisped Jerusalem artichoke and apple.

To follow, a stalwart example of a perfectly cooked sole on the bone – seared to a golden glow with a confident hand, the right amount of bite, and sitting in a sauce Grenobloise, a tangy combination of browned butter, capers, lemon and parsley. Absolutely ace. Excellent too was a gorgeous risotto of summer pea and broadbean, with girolle mushrooms, which we both shared with our dishes. 

Desserts – incorporating a vegan selection – included strawberries, elderflower baba and basil; chocolate, hazelnut mousse, vanilla ganache; pineapple, coconut, lime macadamia plus, for cheese lovers, an Irish Farmhouse selection including Ballylisk, Durrus, Milleens, Cashel Blue and St. Tola Ash. I went for a passion fruit soufflé served with a sauce Anglaise to break through the baked gossamer foam, while Carmel had a selection of ice-creams.

The wine list is extensive reaching a pinnacle with a Chateau Mouton Rothschild 1er Cru Classé 1986 or a magnum of Chateau Petrus Grand Vin Pomerol 1979 – if you’ve won the lottery.  However, never fear, it’s not an intimidating spot and you can happily choose a good bottle at a much less startling price. We found a lovely Alsace Trimbach Pinot Gris 2017.

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