The former Turley’s Bar in Mountmellick entered an exciting new era in 2026, when Chef Barry Liscombe - well known from his years at the excellent Hartes Group in neighbouring Kildare - and his front of house partner, Joanne Deegan, opened a restaurant in this 1950s building beside the historic Lock Master’s House and renamed it The Old Canal Bar and Kitchen. Bringing their experience, high-quality provenance-driven food, reasonable prices, genuine hospitality and terrific service to Mountmellick, it's given a great lift to the small rural town that Joanne calls home - and could be an inspiration to others thinking of opening hospitality ventures outside of the popular tourism areas.
Bigger than it looks from the road, the neatly presented property has retained the old bar (well stocked, with 8 popular beers on tap) but changes have included fitting out a new kitchen and - reminiscent of the Ballymore Inn's big Back Bar - there's a large dining area at the back. Pleasant and comfortable, the focus is on providing a pleasing setting for good food - plenty of natural light, wooden floors, generously sized plain tables and a mixture of banquette seating, bentwood and bucket chairs. Lighting and music are discreet and paintings of the local area include some angling prints - a reminder that 'the goodly Barrow' is not far away. All round a very agreeable setting, underlined by welcoming staff who greet new arrivals promptly, so you'll very soon find yourself reading the menu at your table and with all of the little niceties completed - the iced water, explanation of the daily blackboard specials - and even your server's favourite dishes as suggestions, to get you thinking.
Barry Liscombe's experience and cooking skills combine to create an interesting offering and - unsurprisingly, given the reputation he brought with him from Kildare - they have been very busy from the outset and the original opening hours were soon extended to meet demand. Menus are presented on a wooden clip board and - along with the fresh input of daily specials - provide a perfectly balanced offering for a large bar-restaurant, with dishes catering for all tastes and priced just right for these challenging times and the rural location.
Menus are not overlong - six starters, seven mains and four desserts on the evening menu, with light bites and sandwiches to the fore and lunch time, along with blackboard specials - and, true to form, local producers are credited on menus (plus full details on the website). The cooking style is clean with strong flavours, as would be expected out of a Barry Liscombe kitchen, and the children’s menu is way above average, a proper menu with 3 starters, 6 mains and 4 desserts, with attractive real food options like Little Haddock and Chips, Smash Burgers and Mini Roast of the day.
Appealing starters like Crispy Potato Skins with Knockanore Cheese sauce, Crisp bacon (a large bowl of crispy fried skins, well-seasoned the lovely Knockanore cheese sauce and crispy bacon bits liberally spread on top, about €9.50) and Sticky Pork Belly Bites with soy and chilli glaze (large cubes of melt in your mouth expertly cooked glazed Pork Belly with just the right amount of heat, c.€12) soon became house favourites Among the mains look out for treats 12-hour braised Beef Featherblade with Turnip and Milleens cheese purée, Honey Roast Carrots, Braised Red Cabbage (one of the best tasting and prepared use of the Featherblade cut of meat you'll find anywhere and inspired use of Milleens cheese and Turnip purée, about €26), and Feighcullen Chicken Balti Curry with Apricot chutney, Cucumber Rialta, Garlic Flat Bread, Cardamon and Coriander Rice (excellent version of this style of curry, with background spices blended together expertly, about €22. Great attention to detail too - as in the perfect Pommes Purée - and more-ish desserts such as Bramley Apple Crumble, Oat and Hazelnut topping, Custard (a large portion of piping hot sliced apples topped with very crunchy nuts - delicious with its silky smooth custard, c.€8.95).
To accompany, there's a full bar to choose from but the short wine list is sure to tempt with its good value - bottles are priced from around €28 to €45, and 11 available by the glass, from about €8 to €9.25, which is rare enough these days.
All this and terrific service too - the young, mostly female, local staff (smartly-attired in black blouses/burgundy aprons and black trousers) are friendly, knowledgeable (well trained in both service and food knowledge), polite and very attentive - and Joanne Deegan is ever present on the floor, greeting customers, chatting with diners, discreetly instructing her staff, stepping in to help out as necessary and generally running the large dining and bar area with charm.
All round the experience and commitment brought to their new venture by Barry Liscombe and Joanne Deegan shows in every detail, making The Old Canal Bar and Kitchen a brilliant addition to dining options in the midlands - and well worth a detour.
