Right in the heart of this thriving town of Nenagh, in a corner premises of a small but select shopping precinct, you’ll find Grainne Moylan's bakery-café, long a favourite eating place for young and old, and now housed in bright and attractive modern premises. In good weather you can sit outside beside a paved courtyard, away from the traffic, otherwise you find a table inside, which is bright and cheerful.
Somehow managing to combine selling home baked bread, quiches, cakes and gateaux alongside providing hot lunches, breakfasts, brunches and afternoon teas, The Pantry is a buzzing hive of activity at all times. Open from 8am, it provides home cooked locally sourced ingredients for a varied selection of breakfast options, served up to 11.30am. This includes fresh juices, homemade granola, fresh breads and scones served with homemade jams.
The Pantry’s coffee is Ponaire Monsoon Malabar Indian Coffee which is roasted locally in Newport, Co. Tipperary and achieved 3 gold stars in the Guild of Fine Foods Great Taste Awards (2010). It is a delicious blend of chocolatey (hint of vanilla) Indian Monsoon Malabar Beans and the intensity of Paca and Bourbon varietals from Finca Altamira in El Salvador.
Aside from soups and the hot specials of the day (typically roast beef, salmon in a white wine and chive sauce, roast chicken), you can choose from a range of warm salads (pear, goats’ cheese, pine nuts, beetroot and salad leaves, for example), or go for something quaintly called the ‘hot belly’ experience, where you choose artisan breads and then wait for them to be filled to bursting with all kinds of goodies.
The range of sauces offered include some coeliac friendly options and vegetarians are always catered for – pasta with freshly made tomato and basil sauce liberally sprinkled with parmesan, perhaps - while anyone with a sweet tooth will be very happy with the wide range of home made pavlovas, coffee cakes, tarts and crumbles, which
While home baking and their own range of preserves are specialities, there's a real sense of the surrounding food community and many of the delicious dishes offered showcase local foods - Award Winning Una O’ Dwyer of Cashel Sausages and Crowes of Dundrum bacon in the breakfast, for example.
Offering simple, quality food at modest prices, this a really enjoyable place to take a break.
