In my last post, I shared about the amazingly beautiful grounds of Ballyfin and the exemplary service. In this post, I’m excited to share about one of the things that most compels me to travel – FOOD!! Ballyfin has a vast fruit and veggie orchard, chicken coop, and bee hives from which the chef sources his produce, eggs, and honey.
We were welcome to wander the orchards as part of the grounds, and sample the produce – such as these lovely blackberries:
which later found themselves into my breakfast fruit salad!
How do you like them apples:
Or perhaps you’re more a kale gal or guy?
These sunflowers flanked the artichoke plants – one of my favorites:
Guests can even collect their own chicken eggs each morning for breakfast if they so wish, for scrambled eggs, omelets, or the perfect Eggs Benedict:
Additionally, Ballyfin partners with local butchers for their sausages and meats, duck, seafood, and butter. With this abundance, you can imagine how delicious every meal was during our stay!
Of course, we HAD to have the tasting menu at least once during our stay – and it did not disappoint. The menu provided more detail on the sourcing of all ingredients:
And before we were seated, we were treated to these small bites to whet our appetites for dinner – yum:
We then were ready to kick off our multi-course dinner. I believe the dishes speak for themselves!
Amuse bouche – I believe this was a watermelon gazpacho:
Yellowfin tuna with cucumber, lime, and trout roe (top photo) – the roe was SO flavorful and briny!
Foie gras with apple, blackberry, and walnuts:
South coast turbot with cabbage, clams, and white wine veloute:
Shellumsrath duck with plum, new season swede, and kale:
Smoked Gubbeen (an Irish cheese) with rhubarb chutney on walnut toast:
Vanilla roast pineapple with lime Chantilly, peanut, and puffed rice:
Bittersweet chocolate ganache with hazelnut crunch and milk sorbet:
Ballyfin was a once-in-a-lifetime stay both in all respects – the property itself was unimaginably picturesque, the service unparalleled, and the food out of this world. If you ever pay Ballyfin a visit, definitely stop drop me a line to let me know what you think of it!
