After a morning wandering around the beautiful Porters Lodge Garden (I highly recommend a visit if you’ve never been!), we’d worked up an appetite. The garden cafe had temporarily stopped serving food due to the large number of visitors, so we drove down the road to Risby Barn, aiming to grab something to eat at The Nook and explore the antiques centre. The latter is well worth a visit in its own right: it’s a true treasure trove.
Finding a parking space was a bit of a challenge: a sign of just how popular the place is. From the outside, The Nook looks pretty uninspiring, but once you walk in, it’s clear to see that the owners have done what they can to try and make the tiny space look cosier and more welcoming. Tables are close together (not ideal if you’re a little claustrophobic), but there’s an outdoor seating area larger than the indoor dining space, too.
The first thing that caught our eye was the impressive display of cakes along one wall. They looked incredibly enticing…but maybe next time: this time we were there for something savoury. After browsing the laminated menus on the table, we headed up to the small counter to order.
We started with lattes (£3.59 each). They looked attractive and arrived piping hot, though they were on the milkier side – I’d have preferred the coffee flavour a little stronger.
Our son went for the giant sausage roll (£4.75), made with local Edis of Ely sausagemeat. It was excellent: flaky, golden pastry encasing a generous, flavour-packed filling. Across the table, the Cornish pasty (£4.99 – and genuinely made in Cornwall) was quickly devoured, too.
I chose the bacon and egg bap (£6.99): two rashers of bacon and two fried eggs tucked inside a soft white bap. With sauce sachets on the table, it was easy to customise to taste. Both the bacon and the eggs were cooked beautifully, making for a simple but very satisfying lunch.
Overall, The Nook at Risby Barn is a no-frills, cosy little cafe with a homely menu, local produce, and tasty and comforting food. If you’re heading over that way with a buggy or someone with limited mobility, getting inside and comfortable at a table may be a struggle, so bear that in mind. If we head over to Risby Barn again, we’ll definitely be saving space for one of those cakes…