Review
Spearman’s Café and Tearoom is the kind of place that every town needs and wants. Principally this family-run business is a bakery making a tempting array of home-baked cakes and deserts, but the addition of the café raises the bar here somewhat, and is all you’d expect from a family run shop in a busy local town.
Spearman’s have had something of a transformation of late. A refurbishment has seen the traditional look go, and now it is all pale greys and very contemporary. Chairs are still comfy, the food is still as good, and even the range of delicious jams and chutney’s have had a makeover with new labels and packaging.
Cashel iyself has also undergone some significant changes. Works are now complete on the Rock above, and the edifice is looking glorious. Just down the street the old Cashel Palace is being completely transformed and will be a huge destination hotel and restaurant that will attract business to the town.
In the middle of all this Spearman’s is the spot that's packed with locals tucking into the delicious cakes and enjoying some homemade lunch.
Elaine Spearman is the woman behind this business and it is her recipes that produce the wonderful cakes and pastries. There is a selection of food to eat in and the homemade quiche changes daily. We had bacon and onion and it was sublimely good.
A Waterford Blaa with bacon and egg was simple but delicious, and then it was time for a slice of the wonderful coffee sponge cake and a little strawberry tart for Abi.
As an aside, unfortunately the homemade sausage rolls are gone; the health and safety brigade insisted they be stored in a fridge, which would ruin the pastry, so rather than compromise on the quality, they have alas disappeared. Isn't it simply wonderful to live in a country where you can legally die on a hospital trolley, but are saved from the deadly dangers of unrefrigerated pastries?
Console yourself with a homemade salad, and make yourself feel practically euphoric with a slice of homemade cake, all washed down with a pot of proper tea.
Spearman’s is a town institution, and exactly the type of authentic family business that corporations are now trying so hard to imitate, with their artisan this and natural that. This is the real deal, and the people of Cashel are lucky to have it on their doorstep. Next time you feel the need to visit the Rock of Cashel, make this your second stop.
