THE BARN

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I was on my way into Cork, for a bit of a southern safari of Irish food and drink, when I decided to visit The Barn in Glanmire, which is a little off the main drag, upland on a windy country road heading towards Mayfield. It had already been a longstanding popular local restaurant for some 30 years however, what had been a good solid restaurant has morphed into an ultra-cool, hot and happening hotspot, rebranding its signage to The BARN in confident capital letters.

From babies to grannies, they were flocking in and out in great numbers as we arrived into the spacious high ceilinged urban rural extravaganza, mixing industrial décor with contemporary comfort. With a central bar and large dining area leading onto a conservatory and a restful neo-Georgian room with chandeliers overlooking the garden, there’s something for everyone here.
Serving menus throughout the day, covering breakfast, brunch, burgers, fish & chips, posh sambos, pastas, sweets & treats, there’s also a big carvery counter, and we could see from groups of mighty men chowing down, with plates piled high, that they knew what they were there for!

The brunch menu features the likes of eggs Benny or Florentine, and if you’re partial to homemade pancakes both savoury and sweet, you’re sure to be pleased. Speaking of sweet selections, they also off luxurious Belgian Liege waffles.

If pizza is more your thing, you won’t be disappointed either, with all the usual suspects from Margarita to pepperoni appearing along with a few less familiar pies like their black pudding pizza with grated mozzarella, fior di latte, tomato sauce, black pud and streaky bacon.
Rena had two perfectly cooked poached eggs with smashed avocado on sourdough, while I had a very good smoked salmon salad, plenty of it, with well-dressed mixed leaves interspersed with pickled cucumber & mango, and a honey mustard glaze. It makes such a difference when leaves are properly dressed.

Sweets & Treats at The Barn are excellent too with a four layer chocolate fudge cake to set mouths watering. There’s New York cheesecake too, not to mention Key Lime pie, lemon meringue roulade or a tasty sounding almondy Dime Bar cake.

As I said before, it’s a little off the beaten track, but The Barn in Glanmire is well worth the detour.