Sunday, August 9, 2015

Wexford’s Archways. More Than A B & B

Wexford’s Archways. 
More Than a B & B.


Piggies in the wood
About four miles before Rosslare Harbour on the main road (N25), you’ll pass a B&B on your left. It is called the Archways and it is much more than your normal B&B. Certainly they get many customers from the ferries, some coming, some going, some both ways (people come back). But it is well worth a call even if you’re not heading to a ferry.


Okay, let us start with the usual B&B. The welcome from Eileen and Chris Hadlington is warm, the place is comfortable, the rooms are spacious, the bathrooms excellent, you have TV in your room and satellite TV in the lounge. And the breakfast is something else and was awarded the Best B&B Breakfast in the 2013 Georgina Campbell Awards.

It is a smallish B&B, six bedrooms, but the breakfast choice is huge and the quality is even more impressive. Where else would you get their own sausages, made from their own pigs? Add in Pat O’Neil’s dry cure bacon, Jimmy Meyler’s smoked fish and you get the idea. Of course, there is orange juice and a choice of cereals, lots of egg dishes too. You’ll be well fed here.
And even better fed if you book dinner. It is, of course, a Table d'Hote dinner, and you eat with the other guests, sharing travel experiences as you enjoy the fabulous food. Chris had been a chef for over forty years and just can't stop cooking.

Take our dinner last week. Starter was Meyler's smoked haddock with linguini and a watercress pesto. And where did that watercress come from? From their own garden, of course, where they have installed a aquaponic system.

Main course was loin of bacon (O’Neil’s of course) with a pineapple salsa and an excellent selection of vegetables including black kale, kohlrabi, parsnips, beetroot and potatoes, all grown locally by neighbour Karl.
Dessert was a Blackcurrant soufflé, the blackcurrants from Jeffares up the road. And the cream? Well Chris doesn't rate the cream sold these days and so he separates his own. Good stuff too. You may bring your own wine (no corkage) or purchase a glass or two from Eileen’s selection.

In the morning, we couldn’t leave without visiting the small herd of pigs in a nearby wood. The pigs, Saddleback Large White Cross, are usually kept from early Spring until late Autumn. In conjunction with two local farmers, they have a Hereford and Limousin in calf to a Wagyu and future customers can look forward to “some really fine beef”.

As I say, not your normal B&B.

See also: Johnstown Castle. Agricultural Museum and so much more!
Mr Jeffares Blackcurrants

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