Reflections from Crumbly Acres: barley mow restaurant

Showing posts with label barley mow restaurant. Show all posts

Tuesday, 28 August 2018

Carleton Place, Almonte, Clayton

We had missions: library, CP for supplements for JB, lunch in Almonte!

It seems an odd place to stop, unless they had an incident, but there didn't seem to be damage!

We made it to Almonte.

They are still working on the Enerdu hydro project. Hooray for reusable energy. I've been photographing it over the years.

There must have been a day camp or something, lots of kids lined up for ice cream!

They are working on the bridge, the taller building (back left) are condos. A fountain has been added.

We went to the Barley Mow for lunch. After the dogs last week, I was glad to see this sign! It's a lovely old building, with thick stone walls.

For the first time ever, we sat on the upper deck.

This is the pub from the bridge, on another day. We were right on the end watching the water.

Off, on a whim, where to?

Hay!

This driveway is amazing. The huge hanging baskets of petunias must take a lot of water.

Clayton!

We popped in to see what was happening in Clayton. They have a lovely general store!

I really like this old house. There is a nice view of the river, as well as an astounding patio built of stone.

Saturday, 9 May 2015

Restaurant Review: Barley Mow

We took a drive yesterday. It kept me off my feet! I needed more bird seed, and a birthday gift for our granddaughter who turned 5! We like shopping in Almonte.

We had lunch at Almonte Barley Mow (there are several locations). I've featured them before. They had a massive flood in spring, 2014), with a sudden snow melt. It's a lovely spot, with the water rushing by. There is much controversy, as Enerdu wants to harness the power of the water. The bridge, no longer used, is falling apart. I am hopeful, if Ontario keeps going in the right direction, we won't need to wrestle with HydroOne, or use the Athabasca Tar sands anymore. But I digress.

I was so disappointed with lunch. We've been before, quite a few times. We took the kids after the Puppets Up! festival in 2013. Thursday, it was to be grilled veggies, with chicken, but the chicken was overcooked. The veggies were, to quote my ex-late father-in-law, "Burned on the outside, scared on the inside." They weren't actually burned, but that is how he liked his steak! My veggies were crunchy, raw, and hardly grilled. The chicken dry. I love my veggies. In some restaurants it is hard to get veggies, especially in a pub. I was most discouraged. This isn't even the shoulder season, never mind the high summer tourist season.

We arrived at noon, and it appeared that none of us were in a hurry: couples holding hands, family, or good friends having a nice meal. There is no excuse for this. I asked the server, there were two on the patio, if they expected all these people, an unexpectedly hot spring day. She said no, they had lots of time, this is hardly busy at all. (You'd think that would be a clue for her!) That said, they were very slow at bringing drinks, menus, etc. I don't mind waiting for 2nd drink, or a freshly cooked meal. She was juggling several groups. It was a disappointment. I went to their website and told the manager. The tip was not a large one, hubby tells me!

It is a lovely spot, with condos all about. Converted mill buildings.

Wednesday, 23 April 2014

Flooding in Almonte Hydro Dam 2014

I wasn't planning on doing anything for Earth Day. I try to respect the earth every day. I'd had a client Tuesday afternoon but I had a phone call that the gig was cancelled. I had the afternoon off!

OK, I thought, my face is on, I'm dressed, let's go out for lunch. I had heard that the Barley Mow pub in Almonte had a bit of a riptide going. I couldn't believe the power of the water. It was right up over the patio the day before.

I've placed some photos from previous visits, some from exactly a year ago.