I'm back with another food blog! I swear all I do is eat my way through Ireland. On Friday my boyfriend and I decided to check out Ardcarne Garden Café. From an inconspicious neon pink sign on the Boyle road you would have no idea there was a lovely little café nestled inside Ardcarne Garden Centre.
We like trying out different places to eat, and as I'm dairy free and he's a vegetarian it can be tricky to find places that cater to us both. I decided to send Ardcarne Café a Facebook message the day before asking if they had many vegan/dairy free/vegetarian options, and I have to say I was thrilled with the response.
"Our soups are always vegan and dairy/gluten free. We often have vegan mains such as vegetable coconut curries and Tuscan vegetable stew. We have also developed a cheeseless cheesecake. You would have to check ahead and see if we have this. We are looking at other vegan desserts. Finally, we can make you a lovely toasted focaccia with vegan fillings and our salads are gorgeous too.
We're very aware of the need for good veggie and vegan food so if you like you can call ahead by a day and we can make sure to have a vegan main available."
How fantastic is that?! This was the first indicator for me that we would thoroughly enjoy our meal - good customer service before we'd even arrived. A lot of places I find don't particularly care for or cater to different dietary requirements - apart from gluten free - so anywhere that offers dairy free soup let alone vegan cakes gets a thumbs up for me.
The café offers an impressive amount of options for vegetarians, vegans and meat eaters alike. You could go for a soup or sandwich, a fresh salad, hearty stews, hummus and bread selection, or veggie curry. They also had loads of divine looking desserts on display, but none of them were dairy free sadly. I was hoping to try some cheeseless cheesecake!
I went for their veggie curry as I was starving and wanted something warm and filling. My boyfriend Laurence went for hummus served with homemade bread and various salads - we often order something different each so we can share - the best kind of relationship is when you can steal their food!
Our food came really quickly and it was presented beautifully. My curry was huge and packed with all sorts of vegetables - squash, sweet potato, courgette, tomatoes, onions... I definitely got some of my 5 a day! It had just the right amount of spice and a touch of coconut and came with brown rice, which was a nice healthy addition.
Laurence's hummus plate was also really tasty - the hummus was so fresh and zesty. Thick seedy homemade soda bread and pea, carrot and beetroot salad were served alongside. We both thoroughly enjoyed our food - even without dessert! I was absolutely stuffed after mine and found it quite good value for what I got.
So what's the verdict? Ardcarne Garden Café definitely gets our vote. Fresh, delicious food that caters for everyone - what else would you want?!
We had a mooch around the garden centre itself a couple of weeks ago and met their resident cat, Snowball, and a friendly robin. Snowball even ventured into the café for a bit as we ate!
If you find yourself in or passing by Boyle, make sure you pop along to Ardcarne Garden Café - it truly is a hidden gem.
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