For my fiancé’s birthday in April 2017 we booked The Greenhouse - the chef Mickael Viljanen holds a Michelin star - for the third time in two years. Originally we had planned to go back in November last year. Unfortunately we couldn't make it due to one of us being seriously ill. The team at the time was concerned and understanding.
When we arrived we recognised the members of staff and vice versa. They were glad my fiancé had recovered.
As on our previous visits we started with a large glass bottle of still Tipperary water and van Nahmen juices. The rhubarb nectar is my favorite, so I had two of those, while my fiancé had one white peach and one quince nectar.
Until now we always had the three course lunch menu, but had decided beforehand to try the 5 course surprise menu instead on this occasion.
We had very good experiences with surprise menus at FG Restaurant (2 Michelin stars) in Rotterdam and Wiesen Restaurant (Juri Wiesen holds 1 Michelin star) in Eindhoven, so it was time to challenge the chefs of the Greenhouse and ourselves.
I brought a print out of our dislikes and allergies, which have all been accommodated with a smile.
The amuse bouche were suckling pig balls, seaweed crackers with mayonnaise - mine included a mussel - and a Parmesan and potato disc. Our favorite was the suckling pig. It was spicy and moreish. My better half wished he could have a main dish with it included so moreish the dish was.
The seaweed crackers were a palate cleanser and the Parmesan and potato disc an indulgence.
In house baked sourdough bread with salted Glenillen butter was served as well and it was extremely delicious as expected.
The first course delighted my fiancé, who had the Foie Gras Royale before. This time it was a slightly different version suitable for spring with apple, walnut and frozen Foie Gras.
I enjoyed it too, it was delicious and refreshing at the same time. A modern signature dish of The Greenhouse.
It was followed by a decadent fish dish with mackerel, eel, crab meat, trout caviar and Wye Valley asparagus. His came without the crab meat due to his allergy to shellfish.
Another highlight was the freshly caught wild turbot, which was gently baked, and served with mushrooms for me, carrots and carrot broth.
We haven't had wild turbot before, so this was a good way to broaden our minds and taste buds. We can add turbot to our items we like. The meat was firm and bright white even after cooking, showing it was high quality.
I liked also the earthiness the mushrooms added to the dish.
Another first for us was the Anjou pigeon breast and braised leg, broad beans and peas. The breast was medium done and something he normally doesn't really like. In this case it suited perfectly well. The best loved component of the dish was the pigeon leg. The skin was crispy and the meat soft.
While waiting for our dessert we were approached by the sommelier, who had heard my fiancé liked Tokaj, especially the Aszu Eszencia, so he had a surprise for him.
The sommelier arrived with a porcelain spoon and a bottle of Oremus Tokaj Eszencia from 2005. The serving was 5 ml. The sugar content is extremely high (over 400 g), so it would be too sweet to have the dessert wine served in a glass and this taster was just right. We appreciated the gesture which was unexpected and added yet another welcome touch at this beautiful restaurant in the heart of Dublin.
My partner had ordered with the dessert a glass of sweet wine Ben Rye 2013 Passito di Pantelleria (Donnafugata) from Sicily. The sommelier explained how the wine was made. The grapes are dried for 25 days in the sun to reduce the amount of water and to increase the sugar content. The notes included cardamom and the dessert wine was delicious and new to us.
Our dessert was completely new. It's new to the Greenhouse menu and delighted us both. It was the citrus cremeux with coconut meringue, pink grapefruit sorbet and a coconut flavored clear disk. We felt the dessert was refreshing, original and well made. We would want to enjoy it again in our future when visiting this memorable restaurant.
The finish line for our lunch visit were two Valrhona hot chocolates with sea salt and honey and two dark chocolate pralines with basil and bergamot. Delicious is the word we're looking for as in all cases/experiences here so far.
Service was impeccable and it was nice to chat with Mickael Viljanen in person and some other familiar faces. We found out for example that the glasses and plates are produced in Germany which was fascinating to learn, in our experience it's indeed important to get some insights into the dishes served as in the restaurant/staff themselves.
The bill came in at 210 Euro (ca. 225 USD). It was money and time well spent and we look forward to dine at the Greenhouse again.
Naturally we will look out for the new Michelin guide and we felt that The Greenhouse could indeed achieve 2 Michelin stars in the future too. The restaurant is consistent, beautiful and the staff makes it even more memorable and enjoyable.
©2017
