Tom Doorley goes back to the Tea Room, at the Clarence in Dublin, a restaurant that has had its share of ups and downs
Alastair Little is, as far as I know, the only famous chef to have appeared, as a youth, on University Challenge. He is certainly a very bright guy - and an entertaining writer, too. In his book Food of the Sun he enthuses about saffron and cautions us to apply it sparingly. Use a little and the flavour will have a touch of honey and the faint smell of unlit Virginia tobacco; use too much and the dish will smell of dry-cleaning solvents.
I was reminded of this the other night while eating at the Tea Room, at the Clarence hotel, in Dublin. As a saffron fancier, I was dismayed to be presented with a main course that tasted of saffron and nothing else. As the rest of the meal varied from the all right to the almost sublime, I reckon this experience echoes that of many readers who complain that the Tea Room's performance is patchy.
It's a shame that this should be so. The diningroom is one of the most atmospheric in the city. The hotel itself is pretty good, I'm told. And the staff are pleasant and highly professional. The Tea Room should be brilliant, and, if you're interested in such things, it should have a Michelin star. As things stand, that rubbery award is a forlorn hope.
As often happens in restaurants that aim high but don't quite get the act together, the starters were great. Two plump scallops, scorchingly seared on the outside but just done - not underdone, as they often are - on the inside. These scallops tasted of scallops, which is quite a rarity, but their accompaniments made the dish pretty well superb. There was an almond froth, flavoured just intensely enough, and generous slices of black truffle. Crisp prosciutto offered nice salty counterpoint.
Our other starter was really unusual, combining thin slices of a fine warm terrine of braised pig's head with morsels of tender squid, cocoa beans, sun-dried tomato and a salad of herbs. The combination may sound weird, but it was actually pretty wonderful.
Matters went downhill rapidly with the main courses. A rare Hereford fillet steak, glazed in a thick, dark reduction, seemed to taste of nothing more than the glaze. It came with a ring of garlicky shelled snails, dotted about the plate, which somehow couldn't lift the dish out of the very ordinary.
For all I know, the "maize-fed chicken" may have been leaping with taste, and the "herbed marzipan" with which it was lightly stuffed may have enhanced the effect magnificently, but, alas, the "saffron flavoured roasted juices" were all I could taste. The pecan-glazed salsify, which in its unglazed state is sometimes known as the vegetable oyster, tasted like enlarged and rather tough strands of saffron.
It's good to see salsify, and its dark-skinned cousin scorzonera, appearing on Irish menus, but don't get overexcited. I've been growing both for years, and the flavour is pretty subtle. You are unlikely, therefore, to adore or to hate salsify, but do try to taste it as it is, not smothered in a strong flavour. It is also one of the few vegetables that need to be fully cooked; otherwise it can be rather coarse, as it was at the Tea Room.
Our side orders were pretty good. The truffled mashed potato was a bit too liquid, and a bit light on truffle flavour, but so, too, are a lot of the truffles doing the rounds. A delicate green salad was sensitively dressed and very proper.
Chocolate fondant pudding, although a bit of a cliche at this stage (thanks to Nigella) was attractively unsweet. A kind of tropical fruit salad wrapped in wafer-thin slices of star-anise-infused pineapple was as fresh and light as it sounds.
With two bottles of still mineral water, a bottle of Crozes-Hermitage and a brace of double espressos, the bill came to €177.85 before service. If everything had been as good as the starters, it would have been quite good value.
The Tea Room, the Clarence, 6-8 Wellington Quay, Dublin 2, 01-4070813
WINE CHOICE Villiera Chenin Blanc (€23) from the Cape is by far the cheapest wine on the list, but Casa Lapostolle Tanao Merlot-Cabernet-Carmanere (€29) is possibly the best value. Highlights include our darkly delicious Yann Chave Crozes-Hermitage 2004 (€40.50), Sang des Cailloux Vacqueyras 2002 (€43.50), Domaine du Pegau Châteauneuf 2002 (€60.50), Château Montus Madiran 2002 (€52), Meyer-Fonné Pinot Blanc Vieille Vignes 2003 (€32), Mount Difficulty Pinot Gris (€48) from New Zealand, Charles Melton's Rose of Virginia (€38) and Domaine Emilian Gillet Maçon Villages 2001 (€58). I dare say Château Cheval-Blanc 1997 (€334) is at its best just now.