27 Best Restaurants in Ireland

JP McMahon has caused quite a stir in the Galway dining scene with his tapas at Cava Bodega and the recently opened casual spot Tartare, but award-winning Aniar (meaning "from the west") is his flagship restaurant. A minimalist Nordic decor provides an unfussy backdrop for the chef's equally unfussy approach to food. Each course in the daily menu, ranging from 6 to 10 dishes, is designed to either complement or contrast with the local produce. For those brave enough, try a dillisk starter with its overwhelmingly briny flavor, while awaiting monkfish in a bed of lush foraged salad.

Prosecco on tap sets the tone for fun at this wine bar and restaurant in the heart of Kinsale. There's a bar in the funky front parlor, along with some tables beside its street windows, supplemented by a more private back room. The eight-course tasting menu has a bouquet of carefully chosen indigenous produce: pigeon, rabbit, seaweed-infused potato, cured mackerel with ginger pickle, and sweet fruit with homemade sorbet---all offered with an imaginative take on traditional recipes.   

When Michelin-starred chef Mickael Viljanen partnered up with this venerable Dublin dining institution, great things were expected. We weren't disappointed. This wonderful, culture-vulture favorite gets its name from its location, downstairs in the vaulted, stone-wall basement of the Dublin Writers Museum; the natural stone-and-wood setting makes it cozily cavelike. The daringly modern French, four-course, set dinner menu is the talk of the town and W. B. Yeats himself would have loved the roast pigeon, brussels sprouts, pear, offal tart all with sauce perigourdine. The only downside is the place is so popular you have to book well in advance.

Ahmet Dede, formerly of the exquisite Mews just down the street, bestows his culinary magic on his in season tasting menu that can include Wagyu beef, black sole, red mulberry, and brown butter—or even brown butter ice cream for that matter. This chef is living proof that with talent, a restaurant does not need the pomp and trappings of fine dining to offer a feast of flavor---because he's wowing critics both nationally and globally with his local ingredients served with Turkish flair in his stripped-back, casual eatery in the delightful seaside village of Baltimore.

Chef Derek Fitzpatrick creates a refined and concise menu from local ingredients that have been foraged, or grown by local artisanal suppliers or on the restaurant's rooftop garden. There's a choice between an evening tasting menu (sensibly priced at €60 given the options) with six courses that could include scallops, beef, or fresh catch. Top-notch à la carte menu choices include venison loin with maple squash, spiced lentils and sausage, or wild halibut with crubbeen chorizo, peas, and mussel sauce. The setting is full-on white linen in one of Ireland's finest country mansions, with views through sash windows across the wooded countryside or over the tumbling waters of the Shannon. Allow time to view the Visual Art Collection at Plassey House, which includes the works of Jack B. Yeats and Paul Henry.

Originally a café in a fish shop, this place has moved up in the world, now located in a sumptuous two-story former art gallery in the town park. TV chef Martin Shanahan, who trained in San Francisco, brings California pizzazz to his dishes. There is an unrivaled selection of seafood available here. Stylish young staffers seem thrilled to be part of the show. Lunch is the big event, although service does continue until 9 pm (except for most of January).

Named after the street in Queens where chef-owner Sandy Wyer grew up, Forest Avenue is a star on the Dublin food stage. The menu is a five-course taster, and while choice is limited, quality and value are off the charts. The open kitchen gives the place a lively vibe and Sandy and her Irish husband, John, are only too willing to discuss each dish with interested guests. A floor-to-ceiling glass frontage allows the light to flood in across the elegant white-brick walls. Try the confit cod with pumpkin and crab velouté. They do a cheaper three-course lunch menu Thursday to Saturday.

Gourmands come in droves to the ruby-red dining room at Dunbrody House, where celebrity-chef Kevin Dundon serves up foie gras with toasted brioche and balsamic-marinated strawberries, pan-seared Hook Head monkfish with garden courgettes and lemon butter sauce, and a chocolate "selection of indulgences." The weekend eight-course tasting menu is a parade of culinary delights. If you're a hands-on type, you can learn how to cook the Harvest Room's delights yourself; Dundon runs a cooking school on weekends. After a memorable dinner, sit back with a goblet of Irish Mist in hand and catch a dramatic sunset fading over the Hook Peninsula. Sunday lunch here is the stuff of legend.

The compact, award-winning dining room of the Cliff House looks out over the crashing sea, and the dramatic location clearly inspires the menu. The food is locally sourced---including foraging raids on nearby woods and beaches---but prepared with dashes of modern and experimental cuisine. Dinner is a fixed-price, eight-course affair including such delights as the Bantry Bay salmon with cured cucumber, beetroot, and horseradish or Ardmore lobster with carrot and oyster sauce served with a milk bun. And you can't go wrong with the butter-poached turbot, Ardmore potatoes, and duck egg sauce. Go in summer, when you can dine on the expansive terrace, which winds its way down toward the sea. The staff will even match the perfect glass of wine to each delicious course.

"Ichigo Ichie" translates as "a once-in-a-lifetime encounter" and a special, once-in-a lifetime dining experience is exactly what this dramatic, Michelin-starred kaiseki restaurant delivers. Japanese chef-owner Takashi Miyazaki brings the traditional Japanese multicourse tasting ritual to Cork in the kappou style (meaning the sushi and sashimi is prepared by the chef in front of the diner) and infuses the 12-course menu with Irish fish and produce. Alternatively, request harmony (dining room) or garden room dining---priced at €120 per person. Once-in-a-lifetime might also nod to the chances of getting a table at this 24-seater buzzy spot.

There is a takeaway menu available and the chef also owns Miyazaki, a restaurant-takeaway shop where he sells bento, udon noodles, rice bowls, curry, and other favorites from the Japanese canon.

The industrial facade and simply furnished interior of this Michelin-starred restaurant and wine bar just off Eyre Square betray nothing of head chef Enda McEvoy's daily creations; he scours, forages, and travels the coast for the finest and most offbeat indigenous ingredients like reindeer moss or trout caviar. Plates are imaginatively presented, and the tasting menu has a cult following across the country (but is fairly priced at from €85 for seven courses). 

Located upstairs at the wonderful French Paradox wine shop, this cozy new restaurant sees celebrated local chef Grainne O'Keefe work her magic on the best of Irish produce. The fixed-price tasting menu changes with the seasons, moving from starters like aubergine tart with goat cheese and pickled walnut to meat courses like Iberico pork, with anchovy, dates, and confit potato. 

This small thatched cottage is just upstream from where the Dunkellin River flows into Dunbulcaun Bay, the epicenter of Ireland's fresh oyster trade. The local oysters make a regular appearance, straight from bay to plate, though smoked salmon, crab claws fried in garlic butter, seafood cocktail, lobster with boiled potatoes and garlic butter, and fresh crab salad are also on offer. The front bar has been preserved in the "old style," which means it's small and cramped, but very interesting if you want to get an idea of what most pubs around here were like 50 years ago.

Inside the Waterford Castle Hotel, the Munster Room's luxe decor—with oak paneling darkened with age and ancestral portraits in gilt frames—hints at one of the most sophisticated menus around. Options include a fixed-price, three-course menu featuring adventurous starters such as ballotine of quail with celeriac foam, winter slaw, and cinnamon and apple jelly. The dress code is smart (jackets for the men) and the surroundings suggest a big night out. Main-course winners include the best of Irish steaks or the roasted goose breast with potato-and-orange stuffing and burnt-orange sauce.

A restored, stone former post office in an elegantly landscaped garden, the Olde Post Inn has won a clutch of awards and, as a result, is often booked solid. Sea bass, steak, game, and bacon and cabbage terrine are main-course favorites and highlight local and seasonal ingredients. The wine selection will appeal to Europhiles: Valpolicella, Pouilly-Fuissé, Sancerre, or if you feel like a splurge, try the flamboyantly fruity Puligny Montrachet at a cool €85. Artwork by some top Irish artists decorates the redbrick and stone walls. Staying overnight is strongly advised; six guest bedrooms, all in the original part of the postmaster's residence, have been modernized with fabrics in bright jewel tones alongside contemporary bathrooms. Special events such as gin evenings or a French wine and game night are held and are available for guests as part of a package.

Chef-owner Eamonn O'Reilly cuts quite a dash, but it's his sophisticated, daring, contemporary cuisine that tends to seduce visitors to his little restaurant tucked away in a quiet lane only a few minutes from Stephen's Green. As is usual with Dublin's luxe eateries, the fixed-price lunch and pre-theater menus offer great value. Try the incredible scallop ceviche to start. Dishes such as pigeon with chicory, salsify, and baked celeriac puree demonstrate the mix of traditional and cutting-edge cuisine. 

Stationed on the grounds of Glenlo Abbey Hotel, overlooking Lough Corrib in the outskirts of Galway, is Ireland's most unique restaurant: two intricately restored train carriages that starred in Sidney Lumet's 1974 film, Murder on the Orient Express, starring Ingrid Bergman. Fully equipped with brass luggage racks and mahogany paneling, the carriages are as impressive as the menu, which highlights wild game, fish, and beef. The origins of all ingredients, from the goat cheese starter to venison, are fully traceable. Diners opt for a two or three-course set menu, priced at €63 or €72.

The last thing you would expect to find behind the typical, small pub facade located along a long street filled with a row of modest vernacular buildings, is a heightened level of dining experience with a sophisticated, inventive menu. Schull man Rob Krawczyk runs the kitchen a few miles from his hometown in Ballydehob, and he's impressing professional food critics and novices alike with his inventive taster menus. Expect the unexpected: butter comes with a turf-infused flavor, quail eggs are accompanied with caviar and oysters, while herbal tea to clear the palate has a snap of whiskey. Restaurant Chestnut opens from 6 pm, and you should plan to park yourself for just shy of three hours to sample all nine offerings on his daily changing menu.

Also known as "Dublin's finest restaurant," this Michelin-starred place on the ground floor of the Merrion Hotel boasts a menu described as French, but chef Guillaume Lebrun's genius lies in his occasional daring use of traditional Irish ingredients—so often taken for granted—to create the unexpected. The ambience is just as delicious, if you're into lofty, minimalist dining rooms and Irish modern art (the Roderic O'Conors and Louis le Brocquys are all from the owner's private collection). The best dishes are flawless, such as the roast red leg partridge. Follow that, if you can, with the assiette au chocolat (a tray of five hot and cold chocolate desserts). Nearly as impressive are the 70-page wine list, the view of the Merrion's manicured gardens, and the two-course lunch special. Soaring white vaults and white walls won't make you feel warm and cozy, but you can always go somewhere else for that.

Claiming to be Ireland's first "certified organic restaurant," this idyllic spot is tucked away in a rural valley as part of the BrookLodge Hotel. Dunmore East cod with dillisk and wild woodruff, and wood pigeon with crispy coppa and white tomato foam are part of the feast. The glossy decor—midnight-blue walls, mirrored ceiling, and gleaming mahogany furniture—comes as a surprise, but cues you to the creative menu that awaits. The Big Table, which seats up to 40, is perfect for large parties or people who want to eat family-style. After dessert, check out the spectacular wine cellar.

Local culinary wizard Paul Flynn whets quite an appetite in the flocks of Dubliners who besiege every weekend what is commonly regarded as one of Ireland's leading restaurants. The menu is rustic but whimsical and always seasonal. Check out the crab crème brûlée with pickled cucumber or the quail and foie gras pie, with cabbage and quince jelly. Fanatical foodies who want to stay as close to the culinary action as possible can now overnight in the adjoining guesthouse.

Unassuming Thomas Street is the last place you'd expect to find a Michelin-starred restaurant, but that's exactly where celebrated chef Keelann Higgs set up shop. Inside, you're greeted by the smell of wood smoke, and the narrow dining room is dominated by an open kitchen where cooking is done over a blazing fire. The menu is short and prix fixe, so you select five to seven dishes. Choosing is the only problem when faced with starters like salt-baked celeriac with grilled cabbage, stout, lardo, and an aged cheddar mousse. The pearl barley risotto with soft egg and crispy shallots is another standout. Finish with the blood orange cake with lemon curd and vanilla creme fraiche. Note: Does not offer a vegetarian menu or dairy-free options. 

A must stop for Kinsale's more carnivorous visitors, but while locally sourced meat (directly from the owner's farm) is center stage on the Finn family's menu, there's a good offering of fresh catch, too. Talented owner--chef John Finn runs the restaurant with his wife, Julie---but "Bertha" (an imported charcoal-burning oven) is second in command. The front room is quiet and luxurious, with white table linens, Villeroy & Boch platters, and extra-large wineglasses for the outstanding wine list. Another room is used for small groups and private parties.

Although only minutes by foot from the main road and Goleen's village center, this harborside retreat is a peaceable kingdom—expect to see herons outside the window. "Fresh fish and wine on the harbour" is the motto here. The restaurant, in Sue Hill's modern house (she also offers B&B) is well run with great service. Off-season (September–April) dinner must be booked in advance.

Irish owner--chef Denis Cotter has won awards for his cookbooks, which have added greatly to the fame of this simple, café-style restaurant. The Mediterranean–Eastern fusion-style food is locally grown, and is known for its imaginative combinations, so tasty that even dedicated meat eaters forget that it's vegetarian. 

Local produce and stunning views are the stars of this hotel restaurant, with the Wicklow lamb a thrilling house specialty in season. Low ceilings give the very formal dining room a slightly overbearing feel, but floor-to-ceiling windows look out onto the serene Sugar Loaf mountain. The food focuses on Wicklow produce with a twist, and a favorite starter is the pheasant consommé with fairy ring mushrooms (also known as Scotch bonnet mushroom). You can follow that with the pan-fried halibut with purple potato chips, mussel and mushroom puree, citrus hollandaise, and seaweed salad.