Mayo magic
At Ashford Castle in Cong, County Mayo, it is the table d'hôte menu that proves to be the most challenging for executive chef Denis Lenihan, sous chef Michael Crowe and their 20-strong brigade.
The George V dining room, where the table d'hôte is served, is the chefs' science laboratory where experiments take place and basic ingredients find themselves in often unfamiliar liaisons.
The result is a wide-ranging, daily changing, four-course menu at IR£38 (£31.66) per person (including coffee and petits fours). Popular items over the past few months have included breast of chicken stuffed with a mushroom farce and served in a pastry cage with cider sauce and ratatouille.
On the fish front, quenelles of white crab meat on a pool of cress sauce and Atlantic salmon steamed on stir-fried Asian vegetables with lime dressing have had a high take-up. For the latter, Crowe makes a caramel with vinegar and sugar, reduces it, whisks in lime juice and serves it with diced cucumber and chillies over the fish.
Crowe says that one of the most surprising aspects of the past few years has been the rise in demand for vegetarian dishes, which now represent about 10% of all orders.
The 84-bedroom Ashford Castle is renowned for its table d'hôte - some 120 guests choose it each night, leaving only 30 to dine from the à la carte menu in the Connaught Room, a quieter and more traditional restaurant. The most expensive item on the à la carte is Beluga caviar, which comes on a special silver dish garnished with grated egg, parsley and salad. At IR£76 (£63.30), it is not on the high volume list and is only ordered once or twice a week.
The most popular choices on the à la carte selection are the traditional dishes, which include fillet of beef wrapped in bacon, roasted with onion and carved at the table on café de Paris butter with game chips, at IR£56 (£46.60) for two people; and free-range chicken filled with two traditional stuffings of potato and garden herb, roasted in a skillet on a bed of root vegetables at IR£50 (£41.60), also for two people.
The Connaught room also features a tasting menu at IR£50 (£41.60) per head for eight courses plus coffee for a minimum of two people. Around six of these are sold per evening.
Like sister property Dromoland Castle, Ashford also offers a wide range of hot soufflés on the dessert menu. These include hot Grand Marnier soufflé with anglaise sauce, and iced chocolate and mint soufflé, accompanied by a mint and anglaise sauce.
Ashford Castle, Cong, County Mayo, Ireland.
Tel: 00 353 92 46003
