When we have the 2014 convention in the IOM — we’re going here! We covered it here in January.
The long awaited café and restaurant extension at the historical ‘Milntown House’ is now open to the public and is sure to be a tempting stopping off point on the Lezayre Road travelling into Ramsey. Sympathetically grafted onto the main house with views of the surrounding gardens, food grown within the grounds has now been granted organic status and will be available on a seasonal basis in the café, with menus incorporating home grown salads, vegetables and fruit. Manx produce will be used wherever possible and all food preparation will be undertaken on the premises.
Open 7 days a week 10.00am – 5.00pm between now and the end of October ‘Milntown Café’ will be run by Jen Monro and Simon Child who have watched the project evolve over the past eighteen months. Both Jen and Simon come with hands on experience within the catering industry and have brought their own designing skills to the interior of the building.
Early birds will be able to sample morning tea and coffee with a variety of home made cakes on offer, before heading into an extended lunch break with the opportunity to tuck into a selection of light meals, or something more substantial. But visitors in the afternoon will also have the chance to sample a traditional afternoon tea with a selection of sandwiches, home made cakes served on tiered stands, and scones with raspberry jam sourced from the gardens when seasons allow.
Bookings can be made for large parties and with seating for 60 indoors and over 40 more outside there’s plenty of room for everybody. From 13th March the facility will also be available for booking as a restaurant and will initially concentrate on having themed evenings on Friday and Saturday nights, but with scope available for other events during the week. Additionally diners can also book the original dining room in the house itself which can seat a further 14 people.
With a strong emphasis on home made, organic and fair-trade there will be a large variety of teas available, and customers can also buy a specially blended ‘Milntown Coffee’ to take home. Photographic artwork by Manx artist Vicky Harrop will also be exhibited within the new café.
The extensive gardens at ‘Milntown’ will also be open to the public, but if you just want to visit the café and wander amongst the gardens another time that’s not a problem.
Valerie Caine, © February 2010, (Courtesy of Manx Tails)
