Irish Breakfast Awards 2012 COUNTRY HOUSE BREAKFAST
Ballymaloe House - Shanagarry, Co Cork
Country houses often make a speciality of breakfast, and this year’s winner in this category are probably responsible for establishing a lot of the best breakfast traditions that we now enjoy around the country.
And this year’s visit confirmed that nothing has slipped at Ballymaloe House over the years; ‘delicious everything’ is what you can expect, it’s all as fresh and interesting as ever. Highlights for us included a mixture of back and streaky bacon (and what bacon! So crispy, so tasty), naturally smoked kippers, those wonderful breads, fantastic butter (local, I wondered?) and preserves.
So many lovely treats and all the more enjoyable served by charming staff in a dining room set up with cheerful blue and white cloths.
Ireland’s most famous country house, Ballymaloe was one of the first to open its doors to guests when Myrtle and her husband, the late Ivan Allen, opened The Yeats Room restaurant in 1964.
Accommodation followed in 1967 and since then a unique n ... more...
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