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The Food Barn in Willian - hit or miss?

The Food Barn is in an interesting situation - directly behind The Fox at Willian and practically part of their beer garden in a small converted barn (hence the name). I felt as if I was trespassing as I approached and it is hard to ignore the stares of the locals eating their lunch or sipping their tipple in the garden. However, run the gauntlet I did and stepped inside unscathed, full of expectation.

It is quiet in the Food Barn, extremely so and at first, products seem to be on the thin side. However, the Food Barn tries hard to deliver on its promises. Nicely laid out, the produce on the whole is labelled by name, variety and where it has been grown/produced with the majority indeed being local - a very welcomed sight. There were a few items of produce which did not offer all the information such as where it was grown, which let it down slightly - especially as this is one area where the Food Barn differs from other delis/farm shops in its use of transparent labelling, so that consumers are truly informed about a product before buying. But consistency is the name of the game, especially if you base your business on this concept.

Whilst there, I bought fresh lightly spiced fishcakes which if I'm perfectly honest, did not live up to my expectations at all. Despite looking very good, the texture was gooey with no sign of fish and without the spice they would have been completely tasteless. The fresh breadcrumb coating was good but I would not buy them again simply due to their lack of fish (and taste). This recipe needs to be revisited or the product ditched altogether. That said, there were plenty of other products that I would go back for such as the range of British cheeses and the very locally (the farm next door) produced meat.

I agree wholeheartedly with what the Food Barn is trying to achieve and applaud them, and although products were slightly limited, the quality was definitely there. Be prepared to pay more for locally produced food - the yield is generally smaller and more expensive to produce, but at least you know where it has come from and won't find it on your superstore shelves having first travelled up and down the country.

I'm sure the product range will grow as the Food Barn becomes more established and of course fresh produce will always be governed by seasons and to some extent, the weather. This is a good deli with great aspirations and we urge you to support them.

We wish the Food Barn much luck and hope they continue to grow from strength to strength.

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