I've heard many
good things about MacNean House in Blacklion, Co. Cavan. Owned and
operated by well known Irish chef Neven Maguire, it's tucked away in the
farthest corners of Co. Cavan and quite a drive from Dublin for dinner. Despite the remote location, it's permanently busy with weekend
reservations snapped up many months in advance. At this stage, I must
confess that I'm not a fan of MacNean's reservation policy. It's all by
phone, no modern email or online reservation system here. The phone lines
opened for business on a Monday in March and if you couldn't get through, then
you didn't get a table. Some may consider this throwback to an old system
charming, I found it to be incredibly customer unfriendly. For starters,
I was in a meeting all day Monday with clients. I could hardly tell them
that it was more important to sit with my phone permanently on redial in the
hope I'd get through. So, I finally got to make a call at 5pm, only to
end up on hold for 45 minutes before eventually speaking to one of the lovely
ladies who have the unenviable task of manning the phones and listening to a a
lot of frustrated people. Surely this antiquated system can be updated?
Frustrations over, our table was booked for the 6pm sitting on a Saturday evening which was to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary (I was 16 when we married, you do believe me, don't you?) and we arrived on the dot of 6pm, after a delayed flight, a mad dash from the airport and the fastest change ever in the B&B next door from crumpled mess to classy ensemble. We were escorted into an elegant long dining room with cream wallpaper on top of grey painted panelling filled with spacious linen draped tables and tweed upholstered chairs.
The dinner menu is €72 per person, with a prestige menu available for
the entire table at €87 (€132 including wine) if you really want to treat
yourself. Dinner began with canapés, to accompany a glass of rose prosecco
(€11). A dark wooden tray held a yuzu salmon meringue. mascarpone shortbread,
curried popcorn and spiced nuts. The bright flavour of the yuzu was zingy
against the silky smoked salmon and the shortbread melted away. I need a
constant supply of the popcorn and nuts as it is the most perfect tv snack ever
invented.
Breads next : tomato twist, cranberry soda, onion focaccia and a pizza
bread with truffled butter. The tiny pieces of each that I sampled were all
excellent. I was, you see, pacing myself for the rest of the evening.
It began with an amuse bouche of sweet potato and pumpkin mousse with a
chicken lollipop was silky and light with deep flavours from the chicken to
balance the sweetness of the mousse.
My starter of quail was pretty with foie rhubarb gel, lemon powder and
egg. The barbequed quail was the winner here, with echoes of subtle smoke but I
found the Parma ham slightly too tangy for the terrine. His Ryefield
Goats Cheese came as part of a light salad with leaves, walnut puree, beetroot
gel and pickled vegetables.
Lobster next, in two parts. The tortellini with Thai sauce was fragrant
and the fusion of flavours worked very well. Not so much with the smoked
lobster which reminded me of a chlorine filled swimming pool from my childhood
but the mango element was lovely. The spring roll was slightly overwhelmed by
all the wrapper. His ravioli of Fermanagh chicken was a very pretty sight
with edible flowers, micro greens and a light sauce.
The sorbet was a much needed palate cleanser : macerated pineapple,
mango & passion fruit with yoghurt flakes. Sweet, tangy and refreshing, it
was time for the main event.
My halibut with mushroom consommé sat on some perfectly turned baby
vegetables and a red wine fregola with gnocchi which were potatoey and pillowy.
Apparently this was a brand new dish and I hope it stays. I had an inch
thick tranche of very fresh fish which was crisp outside and succulent within.
The consomme brought intense earthy mushroom as a grounding point. Fish
purists would call it overdone but it was on the right side of cooked for me.
His dry aged beef striploin arrived in two symmetrical pieces, with
braised beef cheek, creamed spinach and rosti. This was a dish for meat
lovers and he was delighted, begrudgingly sharing slivers of the striploin and
the cheek with me. I loved the braised baby onions on the side, knowing
what a faff they are to prepare and loving them all the more because of it.
Side dishes of sautéed potato, tenderstem broccoli, runner beans, carrot
& courgette were well seasoned but pretty much redundant as we were full
without them.
At this point, I must mention that the floor staff were beautifully
trained. The service was smooth and skilled but also friendly - a
difficult task but very accomplished here. The pace of service filled the three
hour window seamlessly, at no stage did we feel hurried or rushed despite
another sitting at 9.30pm. The sommelier had trained as a chef in MacNean
before changing career and her knowledge of the menu and the wines was
unparallelled.
Soon, our pre dessert of ginger creme brûlée and mixed berry tiramisu served on
Irish slate from my friend Tara Hammond.. I would have been happy to have
the creme
brûlée as my main dessert as it was warm with gingery heat, packed full of
vanilla seeds and had the most perfect crisp top to shatter with a little spoon. He preferred the tiramisu, not being a lover of ginger. His loss.
Finally, time for dessert. Mine was the Peanut Sensation: peanut
parfait, caramel mousse and milk ice cream. With a jug of molten chocolate to
pour over and dissolve the shell. It was exquisite. As was his
assiette of Clarke's strawberries. I stole his cannelloni and he promptly
retaliated by liberating the rest of my dessert.
Did I mention the extra post-dessert dessert? A beautiful
miniature cake on a long white plate to celebrate our wedding anniversary.
I'm assured that it was an excellent treat. I had admitted defeat
by that stage, being utterly replete with food and a very good half bottle of
Portuguese Provia Regia Arinto (€17.50). MacNean thought otherwise and an
assortment of petit fours arrived as a final temptation.
Our bill for three hours of sublime food, superb service and a great
celebratory experience was €186.50 excluding service. Yes, it is on the
high side, but it was a very special occasion and we felt that it was
exceptional value for money.
Blacklion, Co.Cavan
Tel :+353 71 985 3022
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