Any suggestions as to where to eat near Mullingar and Carlow Ireland?
 

We will rent a self catering cottage near Carlow (Rathvilly) for 4 days, and then we will be staying at Mornington House in Multyfarnham near Mullingar for 3 days. Mornington House does do dinners, but they are expensive ( although apparently well worth it) and also not served until 8:00, which is late for us. We will eat there one night, but would like to eat someplace locally the other two nights. Near Carlow we will eat dinner out all 4 evenings.

Anybody eaten at some nice pubs or restaurants in those areas that they can recommend?

Neither of the locations you are staying in are familiar to me and off the beaten path. I would not expect people to have a lot of info on this area. What I would say is Mullingar Town will have several places as rerstaurrants, carverys etc. Many pubs do not serve carvery after lunch and some nothing at all after lunch. I wouls ask the locals or owner of the place you are staying. there must be places closer than M<ullingar town so you will not have to drive far.

In Carlow ....haven't a clue. Tullow looks closer on the mapo and is a big town. Carlow town has a good few places with the main hotel Called the Dolmen I think, there is a good Asian place across from it near the river called Lemon grass and a few smaller restaurants that loook good on the main street. Its a buzzy little country town and Mullingar would be similar as lots of houses are going up in the area increasing the population.

Have fun

S

I'm not really of much help with either area, but I just noticed this morning in an article about new Michelin stars that The Sha Roe Bistro in Clonegal, Co Carlow was a new addition to the Bib Gourmand award which is given to restaurants that offer three courses for less than €40.

Actually, by checking out The Sha Roe Bistro I came across some new ( to me ) websites with additional restaurants. On some I was able to put in "westmeath" instead of "carlow" in the URL and get some restaurants for Mullingar.

Near Carlow so far I have The Lord Bagenal Inn, The Sha Roe Bistro, Ballykealy House ( fancy), La Napoletana (italian/pizza) and Lennon's Cafe Bar

In Mullingar so far I have Greville Arms Hotel, The Terrace Restaurant at the Mullingar Park Hotel and Oscars. One problem with our stay in Mullingar is that we will be looking for places to eat on a Sunday and Monday night, so we may have to resort to Hotel restaurants.

There's a nearby restaurant called Crookedwood House, I'm not sure if it's even still operating. When you go to accomodation the rates are from 2003, and most of it's awards are in the 1990's

http://www.crookedwoodhouse.com/

This is my first post but I have been "lurking" on these message boards since my first trip to Ireland in 2003.

My family comes from the Mullingar, Westmeath area and I have stayed in Mullingar three times so far. I am just starting to plan another trip for Fall 2008 or Spring 2009. As SiobhanP says Mullingar is somewhat off the beaten path and not many tourists pass through there. It is a market town and you could spend a pleasant day there walking around and seeing the sights- the Cathedral, the Royal Canal and the busy shops.

Since you mention that you like to eat early and you will be there on a Sunday and Monday, here are my suggestions:

The Belfry Restaurant, 4 miles north of Mullingar on the Castlepollard Road, serves Sunday lunch until 4PM. I have eaten there and the food,ambiance and service are excellent. They are not opened on Monday or Tuesday. They have a website.

There is a gorgeous new hotel right in town,the Annebrook House Hotel. That is where I hope to stay when I return there. They also have Sunday lunch until about 4PM in the Brook Restaurant. Also, you can get food in their Brosna bar all day. The website says that they have music there on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings.

Oscar's has delicious food and lovely owners but I do not know if they are opened on Sunday or Monday. I could not find a website for them.

Sagaar's is an Indian restaurant with places in Mullingar, Athlone and Dublin. They get very good reviews but I have not yet eaten there. The are opened for dinner every evening from 5:30PM until 11PM. They have a website.

I have stayed and eaten at the Mullingar Park Hotel and was very pleased. It is, however, a mile out of town. That may be OK with you if you have a car.

Another option would be to spend some time at Belvedere House and Gardens which is a few miles outside Mullingar. It is a very interesting place and it has a Courtyard Cafe that is open every day until 4:30PM or 5PM depending on the season.

Finally, you will be spending time in a very special part of the country. Take some time to see the lush fields and beautiful lakes that are just as awe-inspiring as the West and Southwest.

Good luck!

Roisin1 thanks so much for the reply! It really helps to hear from someone who has been there.

I did see the Belfry Restaurant, looked fun and it won't really be out of the way, but I assume we will be out and about until dark, which might be around 5:00 in Late September/early October? So the lunch would be a little too early.

I found some hours for Oscars on Georgina Campbells website

http://www.ireland-guide.com/establi...rant.4083.html

Open 6pm-9.30pm Mon-Thu, 6pm-10pm Fri & Sat, 6pm-8.15pm Sun


We will be visiting Belvedere and possibly the following

~ Tullynally Castle
~ Strokestown House
~ Clonmacnoise
~ Loughcrew

We are going to a lot of places with large trees in their gardens or grounds. If we don't get to Tullamore and Birr Castle when we stay in Carlow, we'll go there from Mornington House.

Do you know anything about Greville Arms or Crookedwood House? When are you going this fall?

Thanks again for replying, appreciate it!

Roisin1 I forgot to tell you, I did email Annebrook House to find out a little more about their dining options on Sundays and Mondays. Thanks for the heads up.

There should be no problem eating Sun and Mon??? All places will be open sunday as its a night/afternoon that m,any families eat pout. Onluy a few places would close on a monday and they would be smaller.

I read a nice review on the Lord Bagenal recently.

SiobhanP ~ Thanks for letting me know about the recent review on Lord Bagenal, stuff like that is always good to know.

Annebrook House Hotel in Mullingar does not serve dinners in their restaurant on Sundays and Mondays , but they do serve food in their bar area. They very nicely sent a menu as an attachment, looked fine.

Hello again!

Roisin1 this is where we stayed when near Mullingar. One of the nicest cottages we've ever stayed in. (We ended up not staying at Mornington House)

http://www.clonleason.com/

While staying there we ate 2 nights at Cross Street Bistro in Kells, it was absolutely wonderful.

Near Carlow the best 2 places we ate at were Sha-Roe Bistro in Clonegal, and Lautrecs Brasserie in Carlow

Lord Bagenal was incredibly crowded and noisy, good food, bad service, excellent oatmeal bread of some type.

And you were right, it is a pretty area. We enjoyed Belvedere and Birr Castle and had a great visit at Tullynally Castle, more later!

I highly recommend the Greville Arms Hotel in Mullingar.