The Mill at Lyons, Lyons Estate, Celbridge, Kildare, Ireland 12.02.11

The Mill at Lyons, Lyons Estate, Celbridge, Kildare, Ireland 12.02.11

A wedding invitation from friends brought my wife and I to the Lyons Estate in Co Kildare just outside Dublin, I have never had a good meal at a wedding and would would normally not write about it, however this was different.

Our friends married in a small chapel a mile or so away at 1.30 in the afternoon so after the formalities of photos and general wedding stuff we arrived back at the Lyons estate.

The estate is a huge sprawling area of greenery with converted old mills and various outhouses turned into luxury hotel suites and restaurants. The place is very nice all be it a little over done in places.

After a collection of canapés ranging from goats cheese tarts to shots of white onion soup we were called to dinner in the down stairs dining room.

There was a fixed menu of 4 courses with a choice of fillet of beed or cod for the main course. The bride and groom arrived in the dining room to a cheer then the food was quickly served.

The first course of Hot and Cold smoked salmon with apple and lavender jelly was presented beautifully with the combination of flavours working really well. The lavender jelly added a floral note that brought the whole dish together.

Course two was a curried parsnip soup which turned out to be a pleasant surprise, the last time i had a curried soup it was like eating a bowl of curry sauce so i have never ordered it again. I am glad to say this was different there was just a hint of curry which allowed the sweetness of the parsnips to shine through making for a very nice bowl of soup.

Ten minutes later the waiters and waitresses appear en mass with the main course. I opted for the steak with my wife going for the fish, when they arrived I knew immediately I had made the right decision. The presentation again was excellent with a large fillet of beef served with piped mashed potatoes, root vegetables in a red wine jus. The steak was cooked medium rare to perfection and was excellent, the vegetables were al dente and the sauce was perfect, how the chef managed to do this for so many people at the same time is a real credit to him. This was restaurant quality food for over 100 people.

The desert was a plum crème brulee with shortbread which was a fine end to the meal.

A really good meal made even more special that it was prepared for so many people at once.

Rating Out of 100

79/100