There are a few places in every city that you can confidently recommend for a variety of eating and drinking pursuits. With its fantastic location right on the mound, the newly-opened Crafters Barn is exactly one of those places that’ll appeal to a mix of folk from day through to night. Decor is a low-key stylish, and picture windows perfect for people-watching. There’s also a lovely terrace which will be a hot-ticket as soon as the evenings warm up.
Drinks-wise, this independent is the latest in the city’s burgeoning ‘beer-focussed’ spots, but the difference is the majority are Belgian beers, with a few local brews for good measure. The beer list is well curated, showing off a fantastic variety of Belgians including amber ales, dubbels, lambics, and some lunchtime-friendly lower abv fruit beers. There’s also an interesting list of speciality house cocktails which include the beers either as tops or reductions.
The menu offers an eclectic journey around a few different themes. A nod to Belgium with kilo pots of mussels (£12.95), a piccolino taste of Italy with thin crust pizzas (from £8), Puddlebub farm buffalo steaks cooked on stones at your table (from £19.45), and tapas-style dishes (£2-6), many of which use beer in the cooking. After extensive perusal, my lunch-date Louise and I were drawn to sharing some of the smaller plates and a pizza.
First thing’s first, everything was really tasty, making for two extremely happy lunchers. A hearty buffalo shoulder stew was the perfect example of the payoff slow-cooking gives meat; tender and concentrated meaty flavour. Goats’ cheese spring rolls with a caramelised red onion jam and pesto were a crisp, light delight, and would match brilliantly with a fruity blond beer. As a teaser to the upcoming summer season, a plate of slender asparagus spears was served with a sweet cauliflower purée, softly-poached duck egg and a luxurious drizzle of white truffle oil. Simple ingredients, left to sing their tune. Our pizza with a Thai theme, and sporting chicken,peppers and crispy noodles was perhaps the least conventional of the available options, but showed off their pizzaiolo’s mastery of his craft in its satisfyingly chewy thin base.
A quick nod to their desserts must be included, as the rich chocolate fondant and silky lemon posset were both exemplary. Crafters Barn is definitely on the list for another visit.
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