Pub Food title for The Market Yard

Pub Food title for The Market Yard

It wasn’t the first time that Limavady venue, The Market Yard, had found itself in the finals of the LCN Awards – but this year, they were finally able to take to the stage as winners. Manager, Anthony Doherty has been talking to Russell Campbell.

 

Previously a finalist at the Licensed & Catering News Awards, eye-catching Limavady venue, The Market Yard – part of the Corner Bar premises on Main Street – finally had its turn in the limelight at our recent gala awards evening in the Europa when it claimed the title of Pub Food of the Year 2016.

Manager Anthony Doherty (47) and his team were over the moon with their win and speaking to LCN afterwards, Anthony said that it was great to see their tenacity and hard work rewarded:

“We were really delighted because we’ve been in the competition before and we’ve made it to the finals, but now, to get the win, it was just great for the team. We’re all really happy,” he added.

LCN independent judges said of The Market Yard: “What a great place to eat! The menu was varied and interesting and the food was excellent.  There was a great atmosphere in the pub and staff really enhanced the whole experience.”

There has been a pub on this spot in the middle of Limavady for decades. Originally known as Danny Mullen’s Corner Bar, the venue itself changed little over the majority of its lifetime. Then, about 12 years ago, hospitality operators Willis and Ryan McLauglin – who also own the burgeoning local pub brand, Granny Annie’s – took the premises on and launched a programme of significant investment.

Although the traditional theme has been retained in the modernised venue, the offering itself has been substantially enhanced. The Corner Bar – which accommodates around 100 customers – has retained the bygone theme with dark wood fittings and a bewildering display of prints and memorabilia on its walls.

Upstairs, customers will find another bar, known as The Old House, and The Dining Room, where a lunch menu is available during the day and a la carte in the evenings.

3

The Market Yard is adjacent to the Corner Bar on the Market Street side and it can accommodate up to 200 diners at capacity if space in The Dining Room and The Old House is utilised.

The building next door to the venue is the house in which Jane Ross was said to have been sitting when she first heard the famous air, Danny Boy, being played by Jim McCurry, a local fiddler, and committed it to paper.

Anthony Doherty, who has worked in hospitality around Northern Ireland for more than 30 years, says that he believes The Market Yard’s reputation for good customer service was pivotal to its victory at the LCN Awards:

“We train our staff here to go out of the way to give the customers a great experience,” he added.

In 2013, Local Woman magazine named The Market Yard its Restaurant of the Year and in 2014, Anthony was named Manager of the Year by the same publication.

Locally, the venue is acclaimed for its steaks, which are sourced from Higgins butchers in Castlerock, but its extensive menu features plenty of seafood, chicken dishes and a better-than-average selection for vegetarian diners:

“Winning awards such as this gives us a better public profile and it lifts the stakes for us because we’re a local restaurant. It lets people know that we’re here and doing our best to promote local produce and provide good service with attractive price points.”

More than 60 staff are employed at The Corner Bar complex and Anthony Doherty says that the aim now is to ensure that standards are maintained.

“We have been number one on Trip Advisor locally for the last 18 months and we want to continue with that,” he adds. “There will certainly be further investment going forward, we’re just not sure where that will be yet.”

 

Our picture at the top shows manager, Anthony Doherty, with staff from The Market Yard in Limavady and their Pub Food of the Year winner’s trophy for 2016.

 

2

 

4