I was invited to taste The Granary, Newtown’s new 9 course taster menu. To be honest, i’ve only stopped in Newtown twice in my life. Once for a toilet break in Tesco and the other for a business meeting. I knew nothing about the food culture of Newtown. Never the less, i was excited to find out.
I stalked The Granary’s instagram page, and the pictures look pretty damn good. I was intrigued to know more about the establishment and the chef that was cooking these delights.
After a bit of digging,i found that the Chef was once a member of the Ynys Hir family and that he had also been training in Noma, Copenhagen. Noma - one of the best restaurants in the world and it’s on the wish list.
Now, i was really interested and i was ready to pack my camping gear, jump in the car and drive the 3 hours and a half, pop my tent up and taste Seamus’s creations.
The Granary restaurant
We arrived for our 7pm booking and were asked if we fancied a drink in the garden before we sat down for our meal. The weather was lovely, so it made sense that we sat with a G&T absorbing the last of the sun for the day. The garden was filled with colour, candles, cushions and sheep rugs for winter. The also had a little peaceful snug room on a different floor that you could chill out in the winter or keep cool in the summer. Myself and Nicky were trying to work out, where's the best garden in Cardiff ( think there's a gap in the market for a good garden in the city)
After a G&T chilling out in the sun, our table was ready. Both of us were highly looking forward to taste this menu and hopefully you will be too after seeing the below.
Here's a taster of the menu
I was going to go through every meal individually for you, but i can't because all of the dishes were insanely good. I tasted Ants, fermented treats and foraged flavours. It was hard to choose my favourite dish - if i had to it would be pineapple, coal ricotta, rapeseed and rocked. it was fresh, mouth blowing flavours. Pigs head and Duck breast were insane too. Basically, i had one of the best nights ever and to top it off, Seamus gave us a sourdough to take home ( which was great with our beans ) in the campsite the following morning.
Seamus has gone back to Copenhagen to study and train at the best restaurants and The Granary is hosting tasting menus from the best chefs in Wales until he returns. I can't wait to see what he brings back and creates in the future. He's a one to watch, rising chef star. I will update you when Seamus in back in the country.
Our food was complimentary and would cost £50 each.
For a 9 course taster, that prices is extremely good especially for the quality of the food.
You can also get a taster wine pairing to go with this, we didn't know, but next time me - we'll be on it with the wine. I think the price of the wine tasting was around £35-£40
our bill was £60 for a bottle of wine and 2 G&T ( i think Nicky went for a double)
We paid £100 for our meal and we left a £40 tip for the staff.
To be totally honest, this meal was probably one of the best meals i have ever had.
Contact Details
The Granary Restaurant 17 Parker’s Lane, Newtown, Powys, SY16 2LT
Website: thegranaryrestaurant.co.uk
Phone: 01686 621120