Limerick Leader

Hotel and Catering

A visit to a fine dining restaurant should be a memorable experience. Waterman’s Lodge Courtyard and Restaurant in Ballina, Killaloe lived up to that requirement and left a feeling of contentment and well-being that was exceptionally pleasant.

Set snugly in a hillside overlooking the picturesque panorama of lower Lough Derg, Waterman’s provides an oasis of relaxation.

Built in the 1940’s, the house which was formerly the home of the McLeogh family, benefits from a warmth of character that brings you close to home. Old stone steps, high ceilings, timber floors and a beautiful new bar that complements the overall ambience all add to the unique comfort of this country house.

The ten en suite bedrooms, in varying colour schemes, are comfortable and tastefully furnished giving an aura of total relaxation while the beautifully decorated sitting room, with its pale colour schemes, generous drapes and lovely bay windows, is the perfect place to relax and enjoy a pre-meal drink.

Like all good restaurants, however, they are judged on the quality and service of their food and in this regard Waterman’s is already reaching rosette standard.

The dining room is warm and friendly. Candlelit, spacious tables provide ample space for comfort and conversation and a menu, which changes daily, was creative, interesting and particularly easy on the palette.

There were four choices for starter that varied from spinach and ricotta roulade with a Greek style side salad to oven roasted quail stuffed with apricots and wild rice and served with a citrus relish.

My choice of the roulade proved to be a particularly good one.

For the main course I chose the oven roasted breast of Magret duck set on a spiced wine and orange reduction and found it impossible to resist the Strawberry Flambee in Grand Marnier for dessert.

Overall the cuisine at Waterman’s Lodge, which is owned by Marcus McMahon, has a touch of a master chef with the sauces of a particularly high quality. The restaurant is certainly benefiting from the experience and expertise of German chef Robert Becker who has been with the outlet since the end of last year.

Already he has brought a lot of new ideas to the restaurant, some French influence with a mix of European and Oriental cuisine.

“I like experimenting with menus and I would say that Waterman’s is now one of the best fine cuisine restaurants in this region,” said Robert who added that he is enjoying the new challenge.

Born in Cologne, Chef Becker worked in top hotels in Düsseldorf, France, Gibraltar, West Africa, Spain and England and was part of a team of 110 top chefs on a cruise liner that operated out of Miami for a period of 18 months.

An entry in the Waterman’s diary from a visiting couple from Munich in Bavaria reads: ‘Don’t change anything in this house, you can’t make it better.’

Much the same could be said about the restaurant.

Aidan Corr