Everybody loved the atmospheric Primrose Café when it opened on Carlisle Road in 2012 and - now that it has moved to bigger premises, with a strong kitchen team headed up by Derek Creagh and with his longtime colleague, Monto Mansour, as Head Pastry Chef - Melanie and Ciaran Breslin’s Strand Road restaurant is the hottest meal ticket in town.
It's a long way from selling cupcakes in the family's butchers shops to running two restaurants - Atlantic Quay and Strand Road - and an in-house bakery, employing a total of 78 staff, but this enterprising couple take everything in their stride and never lose site of their founding principles.
Melanie's true love of cooking is the foundation of the business and, by a happy chance, her husband Ciaran is a butcher so a reliable supply of quality meats is a given - but they have always taken pride in all of their sourcing, using quality seasonal ingredients and making everything from scratch.
Derek Creagh is a like minded chef, so no change there - but the decision to move into evening dining is a change of direction, bringing lucky Derry diners a new and very tempting option for a night out.
Meanwhile the day begins as before with a hearty breakfast menu - featuring sausages and breakfast meats from Breslins Family Butchers, of course - and, along with freshly baked wheaten breads and sodas from the bakery, there will be specialities like homemade pancakes various ways, and a vegetarian breakfast too.
Lunchtime brings a new range of delicious dishes, and the option to purchase from the deli at the front of the restaurant.
Between times, there’s a range of coffees and tea and all those gorgeous cakes, tarts and scones on display to tempt the hungry passer by - and they do outside catering too (look out for their quirky vintage caravan at events).
