Little Chan : The Greenhouse revisited

As a belated birthday treat, we managed to get a reservation for dinner at what I would consider the best resto in Dublin, the Greenhouse. Its been just over a year since our first visit (you can read about that here) and it appears the popularity of the resto has not let up. Ringing to make a reservation in October, I was informed that the first table available on a Saturday would be the first week in December whilst the first table available on a Friday was a slightly closer November; we chose the latter :)

This time, we chose to try the 5-course surprise chef tasting menu with no stipulations other than we had already tried the foie gras royal and deer dishes last year (and the fact that JD is allergic to prawns). I'm please to report that the quality of the cooking has not waivered which is encouraging. Service for the most part was good (in particular, the waiter assigned to our table) but things started to falter when the dining room became more than half-full. This was something we noticed during our first visit, and whilst things have improved a little, there is still a long way to go if the resto wants to achieve Michelin star status (sadly, still no accolades this year).

Despite some shortcomings, I would have no hesitation in recommending the Greenhouse as the top resto in Dublin from a dining point of view and it would be the first place I would take any of my gourmand chums if they happen to be in town ;)

One of the highlights of a meal at the Greenhouse is the yummy amuse-bouches which are served :) The glass above was brandade with crispy fish skin

(Apologies in advance for brevity of description of dishes, forgot to take notes at meal!!)

Canapes, the larger one included foie gras (cannot remember the smaller one)

Beetroot marshmallow and fennel meringue

Foie gras creme caramel with a sweet raising reduction - unbelievably rich but oh so good!! (luckily, we were ravenous at the beginning of our meal)

Grilled scallop dish (with possibly lobster risotto?) - absolutely delicious, the scallop was SUPER sweet :)

Wild sea bass with grilled young leeks and mushrooms - lovely but one minor grip that the leek was a little tough to cut with a fish knife (to the point where we needed to ask our waiter for a proper knife to cut said leek)