Glenarm Castle Tea Room — Restaurant in Northern Ireland

This place is just beautiful, honestly I just love it. It starts on arrival with the quaint walk to the tearoom filled with the most amazing sounds and smells of nature, it is the perfect recipe to unwind and leave thoughts behind.

When you enter the tearoom you are straight into the fun welcoming buzzing atmosphere of a coffee shop, the hum of chit chat from customers, the sound of the steam wand frothing up the coffees, the smell off food and coffee and the ding of service from the kitchen of bustling chefs all of which is on view for the customer to see and makes it very entertaining for the desired foodie.

The food in here has been developed clearly by a Chef who cooks and plans with passion with everything taken into consideration from local suppliers, including the castles very own short horn beef and the ample selection of fresh seafood, along with crowd pleaser options of toasties, sandwiches and soups. It honestly ticks every box for the perfect go to wether it’s just for a coffee, a sandwich or a beautiful plate of seafood from the specials worthy of being on a menu of a top restaurant.

My favourite dishes that I’ve had so far is The fish and chips - a classic yet done so well, beautifully cooked and expertly seasoned. The scampi - local Portavogie scampi, real good top quality and was cooked to perfection. Salt and pepper tiger prawns- A dish that showed off skill in the kitchen, flavours were exceptional. Salt and pepper squid- equally as good as the prawns and a great addition to the specials board Chowder- elegant, light and packed with fish, fragrantly flavoured, such a beautiful chowder in here. The shorthorn burger- just take a bite and the quality will speak for itself, one of the best burgers I believe you could try.

The staff always have a friendly smile and ready to help and provide a very warm service. This is a beautiful small cafe producing skilful, fresh and exceptional food and service, I can’t wait for my next visit.

P.s an ice cream from the Milk Parlour after is the perfect finish to a day of indulging and in some of the finest local produce and cookery this wee country...

For years, this was one of our favourite places for lunch. There was a large display cabinet full of a wide selection of ciabattas, paninis, croque monsieur etc; also a menu of more substantial meals like burger and chips.

An excellent choice, and everything nicely made. I often had their burger, the best in Co Antrim – actually tasting of beef, and with genuinely crispy bacon on top (every establishment describes its bacon as “crispy”, while in fact usually serving thin rubber).

Unfortunately, for whatever reason, the caterers have been changed this year, and to say the new ones haven't got a clue is an understatement. On our first visit, I had my usual burger (described as before), but was saddened to notice that it was now a tasteless version (presumably cheaper) with no crispy bacon. If you want something of this quality, go to McDonald’s.

The lovely display of paninis etc had gone, replaced by a few toastie options on the back of the menu. My companion had one, which was epically awful. Two slices of cheap pan loaf (rather than ciabatta etc), with no filling AT ALL except a spoonful right in the middle. Presumably this was done to enable the illusion of it being “stuffed” when cut in half. Shameful, not fit to serve to anybody.

Sometimes it’s hard to accept the death of something loved – so, against our better judgment, we visited again after a few weeks, in the hope that lessons would have been learnt.

Sadly no. I had their “langoustine scampi”, which turned out to consist of chunks of oil-sodden batter, with almost no discernible langoustine inside (photo below). Their “salt and chilli chicken” was as bad – thin strips of some kind of deep-fried mixture of batter and breadcrumbs, I think, with the mere trace of chicken internally.

To serve this kind of garbage – for £18 in the case of the “scampi” – is insulting. It seems likely that by doing so, the café hopes to generate high profits – at your...

On arrival my husband nearly lost a front wheel as the pot holes were massive, as we have been to the tearooms several times before we were expecting great food instead it was over priced and underwhelming, smallest scones in all of co. Antrim priced at £3.50 , my husband and daughter both ordered the same toastie ,one from the adult menu and one from kids , adults priced £12.50 kids £6.50 only difference was adults came with a bit of lettuce on the plate, bog standard kingsmill bread, a small pot of maybe 10 chips cost £3.50. The oat flat white was basically an americano and undrinkable, £40 for 1 scone, croissant, 2 toasties, 2 coffees, 1 tea and pot chips , total rip off , will definitely not...