Stitch and Bear

A long-running Irish blog with reviews of the best restaurants in Dublin and throughout Ireland. Some wine and cocktails thrown in for good measure!

Saturday, August 10, 2019

[Review] The Eddison, Dylan Hotel, Eastmoreland Place, Dublin 4

The 5* Dylan Hotel, located just off Upper Baggot Street has recently had a significant refresh. The vibrant jewel colours and velvets of the Celtic Tiger era are gone, replaced by a sleek and stylish modern interior full of light and wood which suits the gorgeous redbrick exterior. The original building was built in 1901 as a home for nurses from the nearby Royal City of Dublin Hospital. Miss Edith Anne Eddison held the position of Matron from 1909 - 1917, during which she oversaw the treatment of soldiers and casualties from the 1916 Easter Rising, and the revamped Eddison Restaurant is named in her honour. 

The dining room itself is absolutely stunning with bright white walls, sage green seating and a eye-catching plant installation at the far end. The room whispers that good things happen here, and I gladly settle in on the comfortable seats with an excellent gin martini from the adjacent Ruby's Room bar. The stated focus of Chef Paul Quinn is to create food which is seasonal, fresh, Irish and clean, and this is reinforced by the menu which changes monthly to take full advantage of seasonal ingredients.
Stitch & Bear - The Eddison - Martini
Pre-dinner martini at the Eddison

The menu is broken down into the usual sections, but also features an interesting Salad Garden section. In addition to the strongly seasonal dishes (we eat at the end of May, so think asparagus, mushrooms, nettles, lamb and rabbit), there are also classics of fish & chips and ribeye steak. Clearly not all hotel guests are into the seasonal vibe. When combined with the lovely dining room, I find myself really looking forward to the seasonal promise of the menu.

I kick off with a dish of green and white asparagus with crispy poached egg, duck ham and truffle mayonnaise (€12). It's pretty good, doing exactly what it says on the tin. However, I dislike the glass plate on which it's served, finding it reminiscent of a microwave turntable. Across the table, the advertised roasted scallops in a lobster broth turn out to be watery pieces of scallop in a muddy sauce served in the half shell on a bed of rock salt (€12). Unfortunately, there's nothing positive to be said about this dish, other than it was a waste of good scallops.
Stitch & Bear - The Eddison - Crispy egg with asparagus
Green and white asparagus with crisp poached egg
Stitch & Bear - The Eddison - Scallops
Roast scallops with cherry fennel and lobster broth
Not realising that my starter was basically vegetarian, I also ordered the vegetarian main of nettle gnocchi with grilled king oyster mushrooms (€28). I love a good pillowy gnocchi and these dumplings did not disappoint. Mushroom ketchup and grilled leeks were tasty but when combined with all the other ingredients, the total effect was a fairly brown and dull looking plate of food. This wasn't helped by the marble effect plate which added to the sense of brown-ness. The dish had all the required flavours but badly needed some touches of colour and vibrancy, plus it featured a fairly hefty price tag for a vegetarian course.

A piece of hake came nicely seared, along with two meaty crispy oysters and a cooling sheep's yogurt (€28). The seasonal and clean eating ethos was clearly reflected in the brightly coloured  green beans, kohlrabi and a nicely balanced hazelnut and nettle pesto. Again though, the patterned plates were somewhat distracting from the food itself.  

I must give a special mentioned for the creative side dish of carrot wellington (€5.50) which combined flaky pastry, carrot and a meaty duxelle into something new and unusual, which we quickly devoured.
Stitch & Bear - The Eddison - Nettle gnocchi with king oyster mushrooms
Nettle gnocchi with king oyster mushroom
Stitch & Bear - The Eddison - Hake
Hake with crisp oyster
Onwards to dessert. Blood orange cheesecake mousse with meringues and various little bits was very good, with a nice refreshing sweetness (€8), while sheep's yogurt featured again, this time combined with vanilla into a panna cotta, topped with poached rhubarb and a rhubarb gel (€8). This panna cotta came set into a flat dish thus lacking the characteristic wibble-wobble but was perfectly decent. 
Stitch & Bear - The Eddison - Blood orange cheesecake mousse
Blood orange cheesecake mousse
 Stitch & Bear - The Eddison - Sheep's yogurt and vanilla panna cotta
Sheep's yogurt and vanilla panna cotta
By the time the meal ended, I was a bit annoyed and a bit disappointed. The combination of the beautiful room and the seasonal menu did not match the meal we had just eaten. The promise of seasonality and freshness hasn't shone through as much as I had anticipated, and I just didn't like the plates used throughout the meal. Service was excellent from our lovely waitress who took great care of us throughout the meal.

The total for 2 starters, 2 mains, 1 side, 2 desserts, 1 bottle of Little Beauty wine, 2 glasses of port and 1 sparkling water came to €167, which I felt to be on the expensive end of the spectrum. At this price point, a diner is reasonably entitled to expect harmony and flawless execution. There's a lot to admire about the Eddison, and the intention is laudable. But there's more work required. 


The Eddison, The Dylan Hotel, Eastmoreland Place, Dublin 4
Tel: +353 (0)1 660 3000
URL: www.dylan.ie/the-eddison-restaurant.html
Insta: @theeddison
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4 comments

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