Orléans Food Spot Review - The Barley Mow

I’m a big believer in the fact it’s hard to beat the ambiance, and copious volumes of comfort food in a high-quality pub. And that’s exactly what The Barley Mow in Orléans is all about. Ambiance coming out of its well-decorated walls, and more delicious pub food than anyone could want. Located across from the Farm Boy at 20234 Tenth Line Rd, we’ve been semi-regular patrons of this pub since our move to Orléans over eight years ago. And in all that time we’ve managed to sample many of its delicious offerings at all times of the day.

So this review is a bit of an amalgamation of all those visits plus our most recent visit for weekend brunch!

With a large and easily accessible location, The Barley Mow is nicely decorated in a mashup of wood, stone, leather, fireplaces, barrels and other rustic decor.

In the summer, a generously sized patio is also nice to sit in, though it’s not the quietest of patios as you will wind up hearing some street traffic from the corner the pub sits on. That said, this pub is always clean, well-maintained and offers a lovely cozy vibe, especially for those months of the year when being inside is probably the best call.

The bar seating area, along with many other parts of the restaurant features a lovely setup with large screen TVs for any particular sports action happening that day. It is after all, a pub. Unfortunately while four other locations in Almonte, Westboro, Merivale and Brockville offer private rooms for booking a private party, the Orléans location does not offer that amenity.

And while the location and interior design are definitely a highlight of your experience at The Barley Mow, the food might even be better. The main menu is a veritable collection of comfort food that’s difficult to rival, and frankly may even lead to some analysis paralysis when deciding on what to eat. The appetizer and shareables section alone features fourteen different dishes, including fries, poutine, wings, nachos, spinach dip, gyoza, pierogies, and more! We’ve eaten a wide variety of food here, and we’ve never had a single complaint.

And while the beverage options are also plentiful, with wine, beers, seltzers, cocktails, mocktails, scotch, whiskey all available, our one wish was for some fancy coffee options. Even just a simple latte would be nice. That minor disappointment aside, the real star of the food at The Barley Mow is the Brunch menu.

The brunch offering at The Barley Mow has got to live in the top 3 of brunch food in all of Orléans. Every item we’ve tried has been fresh, cooked for maximum taste, and simply been the exact right of hitting the spot. In particular, we think that the way most of their brunch potatoes are prepared is sheer perfection and it’s nice to get a side salad with a lot of your brunch dishes as well.

🍳 The Barley Benedict - 4.8 out of 5

⭐️ 4.5 stars out of 5

With a location and food matched equally in excellence, plenty of live entertainment options each week, active participation in the Orléans community, this local pub is a long-time favourite amongst residents of our suburb, and we know exactly why.