The Barrel & Castle — Restaurant in County Mayo

Yeah you have to come here. Sadly it's a pub hidden in plain sight, easily walked past, and as quickly dismissed. But I promise you this is something you would regret if you didn't at least try. A welcoming and fairly well lit pub. Too often they tend to be dark and ye oldie feel. Well the Barrel and Castle is modern, offers great food and friendly service. Hubby decided on the Ragu Pappardelle and the Wifey tried the Posh Fish and Chips. Wifeys fish and chip was fantastic and full of little extras that made it so moreish. The piece de resistance was the prawn skewers, which Husband cheekily stole a whole prawn, wifey was not happy. But I was because they were extremely delicious. The fish batter was just as good, light and fluffy with a herb mixed through. To top it off the tartar sauce was fresh and homemade, a perfect compliment. Normally hubby doesn't like tartar sauce but again finished it off before wifey knew what happened. The only thing that Wifey didn't like was the mint pea puree. Hubby agrees as it was a little dry, but looked fantastic on the plate. Hubby had the Ragu, I have just been recently looking for a good tomato pasta dish. A mild smokey, mildly spicy sausage meat in tomato sauce with a torn mozzarella ball in the center. Now I am not Italian, and this wasn't what I was imagining this dish to be, but this has to be as close to as authentic as possible. Hubby was pleasantly surprised in the best way possible. There are some surprise dishes here that have "must try" written all over it. One such, the Cauliflower Steak, now I am not a vegetarian, but when I saw it, it really whet the appetite. And that's a vegetarian dish. The gentleman next to us ordered the burger and we almost drooled over his shoulder. There are some really tempting choices we will be back for. Things that are unusual mixed in with some good staples. One such dish I had to try before we left was the Carmel Popcorn dessert, not something you see very often. Honestly I am not as young as I used to be, so the sugar spiked me and thank God there was ice cream to temper it. A dessert of the gods, and the kiddos will love it. This is why this place is a gem of a place to eat. Special and spectacular choices among classic staples, which are absolutely just as good. You just have to try the Barrel and Castle. We...

We visited on Saturday while traveling to Castlebar from Kilkenny. I called ahead to make a reservation, and the lady who answered the phone was very friendly. She mentioned there was a large group booked at the same time as us and kindly checked if that was okay, which I thought was a thoughtful touch.

As a group of six, we were impressed with the service from start to finish—nothing was too much trouble. We started with two portions of spicy chicken wings, which were cooked to perfection. Four of our group ordered steaks, each cooked to different preferences with various sides, and everything came out exactly as requested. The steaks were fantastic, clearly high-quality cuts of meat. We also had the roast beef and the smash burger, both of which were outstanding.

For dessert, we tried one of each to share, and they were all delicious—our favorite was the Bailey’s cheesecake. We also sampled a range of cocktails, including non-alcoholic versions, and they were equally impressive.

I couldn’t recommend this...

Just eat in the Barrell & Castle for the 1st time today. Was impressed. The interior is really stunning comfortable and relaxing and very Art Deco. To eat I had the steak burger and fries. A1 perfect. Tasty, fresh and lots off flavour. Portion size A1. And you feel like you have eaten a substantial meal after. I had the Chocolate Coconut tart, and ice-cream for desert. The ice-cream was delightful, but the Tart for me was the wrong choice. It felt too processed, and heavy and the Chocolate overpowered the taste off coconut. I would replace it with a nice sweet fresh cream light tasting Flan. Staff really nice and friendly and well presented no complaints. Over all the Barrel & Castle is the new kid in town and a well deserved 5 Star Rating. Best off Luck too...