Built in the 1770s by Wills Hill (Ireland’s largest landowner, first Marquess of Downshire and Secretary of the American Colonies), Hillsborough Castle is a splendid late Georgian ‘Big House’ with a fascinating history. Today it is an official UK government residence of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and of the Queen of England.
In 2014, Historic Royal Palaces (hrp.org.uk) took over the running of Hillsborough Castle and Gardens and began an ambitious project to restore the house and gardens to their former glory. Since completion in April 2019, the Castle and Gardens have been open to the public and you can now do a tour of the castle's elegant State Rooms (still used by the royal family), including the majestic Throne Room and the endearingly homely Drawing Room, with its comfortable furniture and family photos and mementoes.
The setting is magnificent and, with 100 acres of beautiful gardens to explore, it makes a great day out for everyone from botanists to family groups - who will all be glad of the sustenance provided at Hillsborough Café (at the Visitor Centre near the car park and open to all) and the Stableyard Tearooms (ticket holders only).
The Yellow Door team (see entries for their bakeries and cafés in Portadown and Belfast) provide the catering in both venues and, in this case, the owner-chef Simon Dougan has partnered with an old hand - and another leading chef - Barry Smyth, who is the Managing Partner at Hillsborough Castle; he made his name at the former Oriel Restaurant at Gilford and has since worked with Simon on many projects.
The Yellow Door philosophy is based on serving quality, locally produced food and drink - provenance and the integrity of food have always been key, so they work with a long-established network of local and artisan suppliers (credited) and use all of the vegetables, fruit, herbs and salad leaves produced in the walled garden at Hillsborough Castle and Gardens. Renowned for their baking, all of the bread, cakes and patisserie are made from scratch each day and they serve Fairtrade coffee (Greenbean) and Fairtrade and organic Suki loose leaf teas.
The Café includes a large cafeteria area, where they can cope with high numbers at busy times and manage large groups when required, but there are smaller, more intimate and comfortably furnished areas off it (and courtyard seating in summer) ,which make it much more appealing to individual visitors and accounts for its popularity with locals who can pop infor a bite at any time.
In the Café the day begins with a good breakfast menu - a hearty ‘Full Ulster Fry’ (with both soda bread and potato bread) for example, will set visitors up for a day’s exploring and, for those who prefer more 'brunch-style' dishes, there's plenty to choose from including buttermilk pancakes, eggs Benedict and eggs Royale (with Glenarm smoked salmon). There's a vegan breakfast too, and lighter options including Clandeboye yoghurt with fruit compote.
Later, there's a daily soup, chowder, pie of the day, vegetarian dish, roast of the day, a free range chicken dish and catch of the day - all on offer in the Café - while the smaller Stableyard Tearooms offers less hot food and the emphasis is more on lighter fare, such as homemade scones, sausage rolls, cakes and patisserie, available all day.
Families are very well looked after with children's half portions and a children's menu available, and baby changing facilities, tap water and microwave provided.
The Yellow Door supplier list reads like a who's who of quality Irish food, with some familiar names on it including Glastry Farm ice cream (Ards peninsula), Glenilen and Clandeboye yoghurt (West Cork and North Down), and Quails sausages (Banbridge). Local drinks are well represented (Armagh Cider company, Longmeadow Cider, MacIvors Cider, Hillstown Brewery, Hilden Brewery...) and there are artisan products on sale at the Café.
Dishes are made daily depending on what is available in the walled garden, but an unusual speciality dish that somehow sums up what's special about Hillsborough Castle is their signature Pineapple Gateau - which was created because the original pineries and hot wall are such a feature at the Visitor Centre. Now there's a USP which will take some beating.
All round, a fascinating place for a day out - and a bite to eat.
