Lucinda O'Sullivan's Ireland

About The Restaurant

I’ve long been a fan of the high-low dining trend and it seems I’m not alone. By this I mean really ambitious, high end cool and stylish plates, being served in casual and relaxed settings, with excellent service, where you’re not expected to whisper to one another in virtual adulation of what’s on the plate – places where you can appreciate the artwork and talent of the chef very quickly – but you don’t quite have to genuflect as you reverse out the door.

One such establishment is Bearú, in New Ross, Co. Wexford. Named for the River Barrow which flows nearby. It’s the venture of chef Dave Rowley and his wife Siobhan with the concept being daytime café, breakfast and lunch, with dinner on Friday and Saturday evenings. Rowley, a Blackrock boy, is an experienced chef having working in places such as Dali, One Pico, and Juniors, amongst others. He has a feel for food and delivers both taste and style on a plate. It had been the couple’s dream to open their own restaurant and in achieving this ambition they sold their home in Dublin and moved their family – kids, dog, cat and fish – down to the beautiful Kilkenny countryside of The Rower where Siobhan grew up.

Having left Dublin early, we were well and truly ready for a substantial breakfast. Porridge was there with seasonal fruit compote, honey or apple syrup and stem ginger as were Buttermilk Pancakes with vanilla mascarpone and berry compte. A large BLT looked good as did a lovely selection of pastries on the counter.

Rena had a lovely Acai Smoothie Bowl while I had the Bearú Breakfast which had three big fat sausages, streaky bacon, tomato, mushroom, potato rosti, sourdough, and my choice of scrambled eggs. Along with croquettes, sausage rolls are having a moment in restaurants, so they had to be put to the test too! A fine chunky but refined posh specimen ensued, dinner party material one might say, with a good flaky pastry, not in any way greasy, and served with tomato chilli ketchup. It should pass the sausage roll test of the finikiest Instagram ‘influencer’ that will befall them!

We also enjoyed an Americano and some Barry’s tea – you can have Lyon’s either!

The lunch menu offers a daily soup, a choice of three salads such as grilled peach, mozzarella, basil and tomato, or giant couscous, chickpeas, pomegranate and mint, plus four sambos such as beef brisket, mustard mayo and pickles; coronation chicken, sultanas, pickled carrot, black sesame and baby spinach.

Bag a table quickly for dinner, which includes starters like seared scallop, samphire, shellfish cream and herb oil, while spatchcock quail escabeche is with charred asparagus. Mains include braised beef short-rib with crunchy potato, Parmesan and onion topping, and salsa verde, while duck breast is with sweetheart cabbage, summer carrots, dukkah, and spice caramel.

New Ross has got lucky, this is a skilled Chef whose heart and soul is in his love of good food.

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