It was the April Sunday of all seasons and although the sun was peeking through the clouds, it was bitterly cold. Nothing for it but a warming and hearty Sunday lunch and Viewmount House in Co Longford was our destination.

Stepping into VM Restaurant certainly has a wow factor. The dining room was originally stables and the house dates back to 1620. Bought by Beryl and James Kearney in 1989, decorating the guesthouse has been a labour of love. In 2008, they took on chef Gary O’Hanlon from Letterkenny and the culinary experience has grown from there.

Menus arrived and certainly ticked the box of a traditional Irish Sunday lunch. However, with mentions of peppercorn Courvoisier sauce accompanying the beef, and truffled potato crust with venison, it hinted at a meal that could push the conventional boundaries.

A good Sunday lunch is nothing without a hearty vegetable soup and VM Restaurant certainly does it right. Creamy with all the flavours and consistency of homemade stock, the soup arrived piping hot. On the menu it doesn’t promise to be experimental or exotic and that was exactly how we found it. However, that’s more an observation than a complaint. If you wanted something a little different, you could have opted for the puy lentil salad or the Irish Brie tartlet, but the vegetable soup ticked the box for the more conservative diner and did so particularly well. An interesting addition came in the form of the accompanying breads of Guinness and treacle (hands down our favourite), caroway bread and slices of homemade white.

My companion opted to start with the Donegal fish cakes with tartar sauce and dressed salad. The crust was the perfect consistency, crunchy without being greasy and held up well, revealing generous chunks of fish within. Flavours of dill shone through and the tartar sauce was creamy and smooth. Given that Gary is the starters chef on TV3’s, The Restaurant, the first course certainly lived up to our expectations.

Bring your appetite because when the mains arrived, we figured we were going to have to stay the night. I opted for the pork rack chops with crushed sweet potato, barbecue molasses sauce and peppered Savoy cabbage. It certainly had a wow effect with the pork a good two inches thick but cooked perfectly with a deliciously charred flavour. The accompanying caramelised onions added a soft sweetness and there was a real bite to the cabbage. Served on the side were creamy potatoes, red cabbage, and a carrot and parsnip mash. Although it sounds quite heavy, a dollop of fresh pesto with wild garlic broke up the meal, adding a real freshness – definitely an unexpected highlight.

Roast breast of Manor Farm chicken on the bone with herb stuffing, roast chicken gravy and carrot confit was served to my guest. A large crispy potato croquette also featured prominently and along with the herby stuffing, added a crispy texture to the moist chicken. A full marinated carrot was an interesting addition. Aesthetically, it was a bit of a talking point and was beautifully soft with a charred exterior, complementing a well-executed dish.

In both of our main courses, but especially the pork, there were a lot of flavours going on. Perhaps some might find it too much but personally I thought it was like an amusement park of a dish, and I was excited as to where to go next.

Our lovely waitress Ciara gave us a nice reprieve before our desserts arrived. Unfortunately, my dessert wasn’t quite worth the wait. I opted for the apple tart fine with anglaise, butterscotch sauce and vanilla bean ice cream. The puff pastry was exceptionally thin but not exactly elegant. It was a little difficult to eat and I felt I could have done with a knife and fork to pull the pastry apart, rather than a spoon. The saving grace was the accompaniments. The vanilla tones of the butterscotch sauce shone through, complementing the decadent ice cream.

With my guest full of smiles for her own desert, I found my spoon not so discretely sneaking across the table to try the pavlova. With a crunchy exterior breaking apart to reveal a gooey soft filling, it was a welcome change to those chalky meringues that appear far too often in other eateries. It was very eye-catching with the vibrant reds of the coulis jumping off the plate, complementing the fresh fruits of strawberries, blackberries and blueberries, ending the meal on a high.

We eased ourselves back into reality by relaxing in the cosy lounge, but on a sunny day, a walk around the stunning gardens of Viewmount House would be the perfect way to end a delightful afternoon.