Since 2008 Claire Staunton's popular bakery and daytime café, The Good Room Café, has been one of the many good reasons to make a point of visiting Adare. The pretty 19th century cottage - which is just across the road from another favourite destination,The Dunraven Arms - was part of the original Adare Manor estate and retains many of its original features, including oak beams and a charming thatched roof.
Serving excellent breakfast and lunch menus, weekend brunches and good coffee and teas with temptations from their bakery at in-between times, The Good Room has always been known for its commitment to local and seasonal produce - and a glance at the producer section on their website will tell you all you need to know about the food philosophy, along with a fascinating insight into the quality of the food produced locally and in the wider area.
After a decade or so at the helm of The Good Room, Claire turned her attention to a longheld dream of creating a night time venue upstairs - and so, in 2019, she opened a complementary business, Oak and Apple. A cosy, attractive wine bar, it marries sleek style with cottage cosiness thanks to local designer Tullio Orlandi, who gently eased the old-world space into the 21st century with his elegant décor and lavish furnishings.
Whether you choose to take a place beside the fire, or sit where you can to watch the goings-on of Adare Village through quaint small pane windows that date back over 150 years, it's an atmospheric place to linger over good food and wine - and there's a firm focus on local producers and fresh, seasonal ingredients in everything they do.
The Good Room's daytime menu features a playful selection of brunch and lunch options with everything from the ‘The Full Stop’ Irish to ‘Finger-Lickin’ Chicken’, highlighting a range of quality local produce, including Rigney’s Farm pork, Cahill’s cheddar and Bally goat’s cheese.
As the day slips into evening, the Oak and Apple menu brings a tapas-style offering with plates ‘small enough to just try, but big enough to share’. These dishes have equally whimsical names, including the ‘Beef Afraid’, ‘Getting Piggy with It’ and ‘On the Lamb’. This relaxed approach sets Oak and Apple apart from its more formal neighbouring restaurants, offering visitors and local residents alike an opportunity to enjoy small portions of delicious Irish food in a warm, convivial setting at the heart of one of Ireland’s prettiest villages - and with late night opening as another bonus.
