There’s a point, early in an eight‑course tasting menu, when you can feel the evening tilt one way or another. An unbearably cheffy kitchen or too many ideas beating each other senseless, and the next two hours drag like a bad wedding speech. Get it right and the plates glide – making you feel you’ve been spared the bother of ordering the whole thing. Even if it costs €175 per person.
In the Lady Helen at Kilkenny’s Mount Juliet Estate – a one-Michelin star restaurant in a grand Georgian room formal enough to mind your elbows but light enough not to stifle you – the tilt goes the right way.
Tiny amuse‑bouches – cauliflower with vadouvan spice, apple and lime in a pastry shell, and mackerel cone with horseradish, lemon gel and N25 caviar – are perfect openers with a crisp white in a Zalto glass, Domäne Wachau (€60) from a classic and deep wine list.
The garden pea course arrives in a pastry case on a stand from nearby Jerpoint Glass Studio – young peas underneath a gougère which releases molten Parmesan. Australian black truffle is shaved over, adding a nutty, earthy note.
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Then the Cevennes onion topped with a frothy spring onion foam. The onions are cooked down till they’re sweet, and set into a delicate chawanmushi‑like custard. Dots of pickled shiitake bring sharpness, a slice of lardo adds that silken richness, and croutons give crunch. It’s a clever dish.
The crescendo moves on to foie gras under dashi jelly, dotted with white, red and treacle-coloured drops. It echoes foie gras I’ve had elsewhere, the velvety richness of mi‑cuit, pushed further by an umami hit, lifted by tiny bursts of pear. Warm brioche with pain d’épices on the side is perfect.
As I listen to the intro for the next dish, I’m reminded that chefs’ memories are currency these days – the blackberries they foraged with granny, the strawberries they picked under a soft July sun. But the chefs I’d actually like to meet are the ones who robbed orchards, shinned fences and lifted apples while a dog went ballistic.
I’ll take the backstory for head chef John Kelly’s Irish salad with salad cream. Thick San Marzano tomatoes sit on a disc of “salad cream” – this one more creamy custard than anything from a bottle. Escarole, estate herbs and flowers, and curls of radish perch on top. The prettiest plate of the night.
Next is black sole with courgette and violet artichoke. The fish course often drifts but sole is a good choice for a small portion. Poached, probably sous vide, but the texture holds. It sits on violet artichoke in a foamy beurre blanc with just enough wine bite. Courgette is sliced thin, fanned on top, dusted with a whisper of espelette. Delicate and classic.
Anjou squab pigeon hides under wild garlic leaves. The leg is confit and the breast is rare. A deep carcass jus has finely chopped vegetables, girolles and black truffle, punctuated with pickled gooseberries. A frothy grapefruit sabayon spooned over at the table is a smart finish.
The pre‑dessert uses Mount Juliet Estate honey – a delicate mousse shaped into a hexagonal hive, flecked with pollen and dabs of honey and Waterford whiskey gel, topped with mandarin sorbet.
The “Strawberry Garden” draws upon the chef’s memories. One dish, a strawberry mousse encased in a strawberry shell, is topped with lovage ice cream the colour of new grass. The other, a bowl of Kilkenny organic strawberries, hides a sorbet underneath. There’s real skill here, but the dishes sit apart. It would work better as one.
To finish, the petits fours trolley is wheeled out. A light box pops up as it is opened, illuminating the treats: cherry bakewell tart, a mango bonbon and mint chocolate. A small flourish of ceremony.
It’s no secret the Lady Helen is chasing a second Michelin star – that means more than flawless produce and technique; it demands the chef’s stamp on every plate. It’s there in the Cevennes onion, the tomato and salad cream, the estate honey – these dishes feel rooted, not borrowed. And for all the eye‑rolling, the backstories help.
In Ireland’s two-Michelin star restaurants, you’ll find plenty of theatre. Chapter One has its Irish coffee trolley, Guilbaud its cheese trolley, Terre, the kitchen intro and digestif trolley, and Dede is unique enough not to need a trolley. Here, it’s the petits fours trolley – a quiet flourish to end on. The consistency and skill are already at two‑star level. If they hold that line every night, the second star isn’t a stretch – it’s coming.
Dinner for two with a bottle of wine was €410.
The Verdict: An impressive tasting menu rooted in place.
Food provenance: Kish Fish, Condron’s Dublin and Artisan Foods Dublin.
Vegetarian options: 8-course vegetarian and vegan menus.
Wheelchair access: Fully accessible with an accessible toilet.
Music: background music at a low level.
