Lucinda O’Sullivan’s restaurant review: Pricey, disappointing food with an Oirish flavour at Anna Haugh’s Conrad pop-up

By robert dicosta On Nov 2, 2022

My first-night visit to Anna Haugh’s pop-up in Dublin’s five-star Conrad hotel in Dublin 2 was a strange experience. Disturbing in a sense, because I’d been really looking forward to it, and, frankly, was kind of shocked by its failings. I’d had all the PR blurb but already admired this Tallaght-born chef’s success across the water. Haugh has her own restaurant, Myrtle, in Chelsea and is a regular on Saturday Kitchen and now she’s a judge on MasterChef: The Professionals.

ll that goes out the window, however, when you’re sitting in an unlit booth, staring at breakfast tables set up for the morning service, with rain literally dripping down on your head. We were offered the chance to move from under the leaking glass roof, but declined a middle-of-the-floor table.

Staying put, we struggled to find any white or red wine under €15 a glass, or €58 by the bottle, on the ‘Sommelier’s Recommendations’ short list — except a rosé (even though our visit was on the cusp of November) — and facing a tarted-up rissole starter at €18.

Queen Maeve’s beef – slow cooked collar of Dexter beef wrapped around medium rare fillet. Photo: Lucinda O’Sullivan

I asked for the full wine list but found nothing under €40 (besides rosé) and some half-dozen under €50. We settled on a bottle of Luis Canas Viura, Malvasia y Tempranillo Rioja Blanco 2020 at €42.

I was glad to see that, as well as a six-course tasting menu (€90), there was an a la carte, albeit with starters at €16-€18. These included ‘Salmon of Knowledge’ — Kenmare smoked salmon mousse wrapped in Irish smoked salmon; and ‘Kindred Spirits’ of Thornhill duck leg.

A carrot salad (€16) was a colourful presentation of carrots with toasted hazelnuts, pickled raisins, Cáis Na Tíre cheese and a carrot and star anise puree. ‘Crispy Pig’s Brawn’ (€18) was somewhat of a misnomer as brawn isn’t a part of a pig — crispy or not! Traditionally, it’s a type of Austro-German terrine made from pig’s-head meat, pressed with jelly. It’s sold sliced in pork-butcher shops.

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Chef Anna’s carrot salad, carrot and star anise puree, toasted hazelnuts & pickled raisins, Cáis Na Tíre cheese. Photo: Lucinda O’Sullivan

Anyway, this was more like a rissole — a crispy, crumbed patty of what looked like pulled pork. Neither of us liked the strong taste — the little bite I took reminded me of its presence throughout the night. The only good part was the diced apple around it. And at €18…

We didn’t fare much better with our mains (€35-€45). We were surprised there was no wonderful shellfish from our ‘island surrounded by water’ and weren’t particularly inspired by oat-crusted hake at €39; nor by ‘bagún agus cabáiste’ or Dingle vegetable pie, both at €35. We were left with two other options: Queen Maeve’s beef (€45) — slow-cooked collar of Dexter beef wrapped around a medium-rare fillet, which Mary felt only took from the fillet. It was lukewarm, while a stuffed potato farl was cold. I love small plates, but not at €42, which was the case with my two petite pieces of wild sea bass which, topped with crispy potato scales, were overcooked and mushy in texture.

We shared a dessert — a clementine, filled with velvet cloud mousse, the outer skin being ‘crystalised’, according to the waiter, in an orange and cinnamon syrup, and surrounded by clementine segments. It sounded great, but it was soggy-skinned and reminded us of those old laminated ice-cream menu pictures, and again, at €14…

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Clementine cooked in orange and cinnamon syrup, filled with velvet cloud mousse and Symphonia rum macerated clementine flesh and crispy biscuit. Photo: Lucinda O’Sullivan

I realise we were at an American-owned hotel, but Ms Haugh’s upmarket, touristy fine-dining take on Irish food, with a constant relating of each dish to Irish mythology, as regaled by staff, felt cringingly contrived. We’re way past that here. Irish food speaks for itself and doesn’t need fairy stories to sell it. Indeed, when Ms Haugh was dropping by tables at the end of the evening, mentioning her 22 years in the UK, I asked if she’d been around Ireland to see the fabulous food on offer. She hadn’t.

While the staff were pleasant, the service felt scattered, with a man in the next booth walking over to the service point for his water, while we constantly had to ask for our wine to be brought and poured.

Trying to keep our total as reasonable as possible, with a bottle of water (€4) and service, our bill still came to a whopping €199.

Anna Haugh at Conrad Dublin Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2. Tel: (01) 602-8900, annahaughatconraddublin.com

lucindaosullivan.com

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Anna Conrad Disappointing flavour Food Haughs Lucinda Oirish