People are raving about the Dutch Baby pancake at this new East Cork brunch spot
Start making brunch plans, East Cork foodies.
A brand-new café called LUMI has officially opened its doors in Midleton, bringing a fresh new take on breakfast, brunch and dinner to a familiar town-centre location.
LUMI is the latest venture from Istanbul-born friends Ali Fincan and Halit Aker. After moving to Ireland in 2019 to complete their Master’s degrees, the pair both built careers in tech before deciding to swap algorithms for avocado toast.
They left Apple behind to open Tory’s Café in Ballyphehane, a neighbourhood favourite that quickly won over locals with its standout coffee, breakfast and brunch. Now they’ve brought that same passion to Midleton with LUMI, an all-day restaurant serving everything from breakfast and brunch to lunch, dinner and a carefully curated selection of beers, wines and ciders.
Living just outside Midleton with their young families, Ali and Halit have put down roots in the area, and if the menu is anything to go by, they’re off to a very strong start.
Can’t decide what to try first? The smart money’s on the Baby Dutch Pancake – crispy around the edges, fluffy in the middle and topped with caramelised banana, wild berry coulis and homemade lemon preserve ice cream. It’s basically dessert disguised as brunch, and we’re absolutely here for it.
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If you’re leaning more towards savoury, the Verde Benedict is giving major brunch goals. Think toasted artisan sourdough piled high with grilled courgette, smashed avocado, basil pesto, asparagus, whipped feta, roasted cherry tomatoes and perfectly poached eggs.
And for those who firmly believe brunch should involve meat, the Butcher Benedict doesn’t mess around. It comes loaded with slow-braised pulled beef, wilted spinach, crispy onions, homemade brown-butter hollandaise, and poached eggs on sourdough.
The duo are sourcing many of their ingredients locally, including rashers from Rosscarbery, sausages from O’Flynn’s, free-range eggs from East Ferry Farm, meat from local Midleton butchers, seafood from Ballycotton Seafood, coffee from Mahers Pure Coffee, and fresh bread from Pana Bread.
They open Wednesday 9am to 5pm, Thursday to Saturday 9am to 9pm and Sunday, 10am to 5pm.
Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’re off to investigate that Dutch pancake.
