Dovecote Barn – Cafe, Bar & Bistro is located on the edge of Barton at Manor Road adjacent to the Farm Shop. We have been to the farm shop many times but had never eaten in the Cafe so this weekend we came looking for breakfast while we checked out the shop.
On their website they say “Our working farm provides home reared and locally grown produce that we use to create ‘farm to table’ food” and that they ‘pride our farm bistro on using local produce and freshest ingredients.’
That all sounds good and you know me I don’t need any excuse for hunting down and scoffing a cooked breakfast 🙂
BREAKFAST MENU BOARD
The chalkboard menu at Dovecote Barn was offering a Large English and Small breakfast, Breakfast cobs, and for the posher among us you could get an Eggs Benedict or Eggs Royale.
They had a separate laminated menu with many more options including a vegetarian breakfast and a ‘little farmers’ for the kids
Breakfast was served until 11.30am and there was a warning that one should be prepared for a small wait during busy periods as all the food is freshly cooked. Sounds fair enough to me
FARMERS BREAKFAST
I opted for the Farmers Breakfast which was the same price as the Large English from the blackboard but with slightly different amounts of breakfast scoff. The laminated version of the menu listed it all out as being
“2 rashers of bacon, 2 sausages, 2 eggs of choice, baked beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, 2 hash browns, 2 slices of toast with butter” and ‘served with any regular hot drink or fruit juice‘ for £9.25
All too often these breakfasts come with the beans and tomato in pots (or ramekins for the posh). I tipped everything out properly onto the plates and the whole thing was looking much improved.
Highlights on the plate were the sausage, bacon, and hash brown.
The thickly cut bacon was was meaty, nicely smoked and the thin rind of fat was rendered well
The two plump sausages were a cut above your catering level efforts as you would expect as they come from the adjacent farm shop. They did have a little herbiness but not too much to detract.
I don’t like too much flavour in a breakfast sausage and was happy that these one at Dovecote Barn had got the balance just right
The Hash Brown may be one of the crispiest and tastiest that I have ever had. It might look slightly overdone but that nice crust on the outside was excellent and the filling inside was really good too.
The fried eggs were OK with a decent runny yolk and they had that crispy bottom that I know many people cherish on their breakfast plate. Personally I prefer my white a bit softer and less ragged than the two I had today but that is a minor grumble.
The toast could have benefited from a little more colour and I wasn’t keen on the tomato, I would like to have seen a proper grilled tomato slice, especially from a Farm Shop cafe.
The beans were however thick and lustrous, the mushrooms were well cooked and still juicy.
Overall it was a very decent plate of breakfast and one that kept me going all day until tea time. I would certainly consider making a trip back to the Barn for another one.
SMALL BREAKFAST
Just for the record me Mum had the small breakfast which was also quite a feast content wise.
1 rasher of bacon, 1 sausages, 1 eggs of choice, baked beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, 1 hash browns, 1 slices of toast with butter” and ‘served with any regular hot drink or fruit juice‘ for £7.45
We had similar thoughts on the hash brown which neither of us usually bother with on a standard breakfast so that was a win for the breakfast plate.
All things considered this was a good plateful for the money especially with tea and toast included.
Dovecote Barn Cafe, Bistro and Bar can be found at Manor Farm in Barton in Fabis, Nottingham NG11 0AA. It is located next to the farm shop and there is parking available. We went on a Saturday and the car park was pretty full but we did get a space (just about)
As well as breakfast they also offer lunches and dinners with all the classic sandwiches, burgers and pizza available. I read that they have themed nights too where they do a ‘Farm to Table’ menu highlighting the ingredients from the farm and local area. Now that does sound interesting
To find out more you can check out their website, their Facebook page and their Instagram profile