Sleepy Hollow,
15 Kiln Road,
Newtownabbey,
BT36 4SU
028 90838672
ONE of the great joys of this place is that no matter where you are, even in the heart of the most urban of sprawls, green is never far away. Sleepy Hollow is about 15 minutes from the middle of Belfast, not far off the M2 and up a country road just short of Ballyclare.
It’s one of those spots where, as long as the wind isn’t carrying traffic noise from the motorway, you wonder how something so close seems so far away.
Inside, there are exposed stone walls and wooden beams, a country pub from the old country. We’re a little further down the back in a more modern dining room, but the décor is still rustic-plus, with an atmosphere to match.
It’s busy on a Saturday afternoon, with three courses from the lunch menu costing £18.50. We’ll soon find out just how good value this proves to be but, right now, it’s proving a problem.
Normally, if I can’t decide what to order, I’ll have a couple of ideas in my head then wait until asked before blurting out my decision. This time there were too many ideas to be able to recall them all when the friendly, helpful, unobtrusive waiting staff returned.
Starter: The lamb belly or the confit chicken and roast garlic fritter? But then there’s the ham hock terrine. And, what’s that? The goat’s cheese roulade has got pecan and brown butter granola with it? God help us.
And your main, sir? I’m starting to sweat here. There’s lamb shoulder and shank shepherd’s pie and pork belly and black bacon roulade and braised rib of beef. Even the fish and chips has got brown shrimp fritters and pea ketchup. I’m up a country road and am completely lost.
In the end, we choose wisely, but you get the impression it would be impossible not to. The lamb belly was crisp and yielding but a little salty on its own. The Young Buck blue cheese cream next to it raised the spectre of the whole thing being brutally over-seasoned, but the cheese mellowed the meat beautifully with bursts of heat from blobs of English mustard and sweetness from a chuck of caramelised onion rounding off a dish of massive flavours, balanced expertly.
The goat’s cheese roulade didn’t provide as much 'oomph', but still, it was a lovely combination of the smooth cheese, sharp pomegranate and cranberry, earthy sweet beetroot and that granola.
By the end of the meal ,it was the one dish that lagged a little behind the rest. But the plate still got cleared.
All those gorgeous sounding main courses you’ve just read about? Well, we had none of those. Instead, there was baked cod – a gleaming brilliant white piece of perfectly cooked fish on a bed of warmly spiced, slightly sweet lentils, creamy and comforting to the point of obscenity.
A just about still soft cod scotch egg provided most of the spice on the plate, with the only problem being there wasn’t enough of the fragrant mousse between the egg and the crumb. Still, I could have gone through them by the dozen.
There was definitely enough of the duck main, with a confit leg collapsing off the bone and a game terrine adding richness that wasn’t needed but was definitely welcome. The faultless potato and leek gratin was the size of a brick. There were broccoli sprouts. It was an exercise in generosity, but deft generosity, with a plum and onion jam cutting through the two meat and two veg.
Desserts are miniature constructions, with two coming as part of the set lunch, and, like everything else, they’ve been put together with care and attention for flavour at the forefront.
Honey and thyme crème brulee and sherry trifle with blackberry jam. Sticky toffee pudding with spiced rum and banana butterscotch and treacle tart with lemon curd.
It feels like I’ve just spent the last 700-odd words just listing dishes. If you’re still with me at this point and haven't given up to look at the menu on the Sleepy Hollow website, I’m flattered – but you’d be much better off heading up that country road and getting lost yourself.
THE BILL
Three-course lunch x2 £37
Sparkling water £3.50
Americano x2 £4
Total: £44.50
