It had been a long day driving down to County Kerry, so my wife & I were both looking forward to spending the evening, at the Tan Yard Restaurant, situated within the stunning four – star Killarney Plaza Hotel & Spa.

The Tan Yard restaurant comes complete with a smart & sophisticated design & décor, that is heavily influenced by the adjacent Killarney National Park, surrounding woodlands and the old tanyards of Killarney. Dark leather seating & bronze fixtures and fittings, are a reflection of the ancient tanners products & working tools. It was refreshing to see that the Hotel & Restaurant embraces its locality, history & heritage, and is proud of its own association, to the town of Killarney.

Starters:

Atlantic Crab Claws. White wine & garlic veloute, parsley & charred sourdough. An innovative & original crab dish. The six crab claws were served in a smooth & velvety classic French veloute sauce, which had a delicate savoury flavouring. The Atlantic pincers or claws of the Blue crab were a sweet, delicate, and tender meat. The charred sourdough was a delightful way to dip and soak up some of the wonderful creamy parsley veloute sauce. My wife, loved them, stating that it was one of the best crab dishes, she had ever been served.

Gubbeen Chorizo and Manchego Cheese Croquette. Smoked tomato sauce, capers & salsa. A wonderful intro to what was to come. A delicious, Spanish style chorizo charcuterie spicy sausage, straight from the Gubbeen farm smokehouse in west Cork. The Spanish Manchego cheese, made from sheep’s milk, added a nutty, savoury flavour to the creamy bechamel sauce, baked in a deliciously crispy breadcrumb coating. Simply the best!

Mains:

Pan – Fried Silver Hill Duck Breast. Orange glazed rainbow carrots, blackberries, braised red cabbage, curried carrot puree with duck jus. To complete my meal I added Gruyère mash & mixed vegetables. The duck was soft to the bite, and had a rich, succulent flavour, a smooth, lean meaty texture and crispy outer skin. The delicious light fine sauce, perfectly complimented the delicate duck. A culinary masterpiece! The Gruyère mash, potato with Gruyère cheese is a simple dish, yet worked on so many levels. The taste was exceptional, with the nutty, creamy, herby flavours of the Gruyère coming through cleanly. The combination of creamy potatoes, heavy cream, butter, combined with freshly shredded Gruyère cheese, created a side dish that was irresistibly smooth and rich. The whole dish was excellent.

Fillet of Kerry Venison. A 6oz fillet with squash puree, wild mushrooms, potato fondant & blackberries with a chocolate juniper jus. Served with a side dish of cauliflower gratin. Several species of deer are a familiar sight in the adjacent Killarney National Park. The Kerry venison is a very healthy meat dish, high in protein, rich in iron, but low in fat. The dish had a rich, earthy, slightly gamey flavour and a lean, tender texture to the bite. The cultivated, Enoki mushrooms, resplendent in their small, shiny white caps, attached to thin stems, had a mild, slightly sweet flavour & crunchy texture to them. The chocolate juniper jus combined with the blackberries was a match made in heaven. Compliments to the chef and the kitchen staff.

Desserts:

(1) Valrhona Chocolate Fondant with Vanilla Ice cream & black sesame nougatine.

A luxuriant chocolate fondant. Only the finest quality dark chocolate Trinidadian chocolate has been used in the baking of this wonderful fondant, providing an extraordinary texture and delightful liquid centre. An heavenly dessert!

(2) Pecan Pie with a Pâte sablée, or sweet shortcrust pastry, almond biscuit joconde, a light, almond sponge cake & Teeling whiskey ice – cream, offering a mix of vanilla and toffee tones and distinct after-expression of whiskey. A simply delightful dessert.

All of the dishes served to our table were beautifully presented, using whenever possible locally sourced ingredients. The hotels sustainability credentials have been helped enormously with the launch of the Killarney Urban Farm, Ireland`s first hydroponic farm. The modern installation, complete with twelve exclusive Green Towers, produces high quality food on a hyper local level, serving many hotels, bars and restaurants around the whole of Kerry. The table service and hospitality was exceptional, our waiter offered advice, explaining the detail within the menu and ensured our wine glasses were topped up! The food, wine and exclusive service at The Tan Yard, made for a glorious evening to remember.

Amuse Bouche

Drinks:

A bottle of Los Andes: Private Selection: Malbec 2024. Mendoza, Argentina: The Malbec offered a smooth body leading to a granular finish. The fruit notes recalled cassis and blackberry. It was matched perfectly with both the Venison & the Duck breast. We do love a bottle of Argentinian Malbec!

Killarney Brewing Company, Rutting Irish Red Ale. A ruby-hued classic Irish brew showcases a broad spectrum of delicious malt flavours, ranging from caramel and toffee to biscuit and brown bread. It has a very subtle hop character and a balanced refreshing finish. Having recently visited the local brewery for a tour, we came to like this particular ale!

The 5* Breakfast was well worth getting out of bed for, too as there was a wide selection of fruit juices, cereals, various conserves, pain au chocolate, toasts, smoked salmon, pastries, yogurts, continental meats, porridge, poached apricots, croissants, fruit salad, berries & pineapple, as well as the traditional full cooked breakfast and other freshly cooked options.

My stay at Killarney Plaza Hotel and Spa was memorable. The accommodation at the Killarney Plaza Hotel and Spa and meal in The Tan Yard restaurant was first class. The Hotel & Restaurant staff could not have done anything more to make our visit, such a wonderful experience. If you are planning to visit County Kerry, Ireland, I would fully recommend that you check out The Killarney Plaza Hotel & The Tan Yard Restaurant for yourself. Why not stayover for a couple of days and fully experience what the town has to offer, by taking a break at Hotel. I simply loved it!

The Killarney Plaza Hotel must rank as one of the best Hotels in the county & The Tan Yard restaurant one of the finest hotel restaurants & deserves the increasing number of positive accolades it has recently received.

I am already looking forward to my next visit!