W
L
THE BARN AT MOOR HALL
by Carl Housbey
By the time you read this article the World Cup will be over,
which means we have another four years to wait and see if
England will make it through to the final, so in the meantime
I will find you lots of places to eat. This month I have stayed
relatively close to home with a trip to The Barn at Moor Hall.
Long term readers may remember that last year I wrote about
Moor Hall Restaurant with Rooms which was subsequently
awarded a Michelin Star in October 2017, well The Barn is
the sister restaurant just across the other side of the garden
in what used to be – yes, you’ve guessed already – a barn. The
building is split into two levels, downstairs is a development
kitchen, a meat aging and curing room, a dairy, and micro-
brewery that will supply beer to both restaurants. Upstairs is
the main dining room with about 60 covers and at the far end
is the open plan kitchen where you are able to see the Chefs
preparing your meal.
The style of food in The Barn is more casual than in Moor
Hall itself but is still absolutely delicious and of the same
extremely high standard you would expect of a venue that is
overseen by Mark Birchall. Think of three course a la carte,
steak & chips, or Sunday Lunch for example rather than a
nine-course tasting menu, and you have the added bonus of
being able to dine outside on the terrace if this good weather
continues.
I went for a late lunch and took Mrs Gastro Grazer with me
so that we could try several different dishes off the menu. We
started with a couple of the snacks, a brandade scotch egg
& chive which had a beautifully crunchy exterior and a soft
runny deep yellow yolk in the centre, and a black pudding
fritter with a savora mustard dip that had the perfect level of
spiciness to complement rich black pudding.
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The weather on the day was glorious so two of the starters
instantly jumped out as the ones to choose, I went for the
Heirloom tomato salad with soft creamy burrata drizzled in
a flavour packed clear tomato consommé which was summer
in a bowl, Mrs Gastro Grazer opted for the mackerel with
cucumber and dill. The mackerel had been scorched on
the outside to leave the skin light and crisp whilst the flesh
beneath remained wonderfully moist, and the cucumber with
dill emulsion was the perfect accompaniment.
This was followed by a rack of Herdwick lamb, gem lettuce,
garden pea and mint which was again another superb dish
with the sweetness of the pea and mint balancing with the
beautiful melting fat of the tender pink lamb. My duck breast
had been salt aged which massively increased the depth of
flavour and was one of the tastiest duck breasts that I have
had in many years, the flesh was so tender and just melted in
the mouth.
Dessert was another easy choice as Mrs Gastro Grazer is a
huge coffee fan, so she went for the Tiramisu parfait with
mascarpone & dark chocolate, and I went for Tonka Bean
panna cotta, with strawberries, basil and black pepper which
is a delicious modern twist on that classic British dish of
strawberries and cream.
The whole meal was excellent from start to finish and I can
highly recommend that you visit, so make a reservation now
by clicking on www.moorhall.com or by telephone on 01695
572511.
Why not follow me on Twitter @carlhousbey to see what else
I get up to.