The Green Barn in Burtown House and Gardens, County Kildare is a must-stop
Ask a chef
Brian Donnelly is the fine-dining chef turned ramen fanatic behind Belfast’s Bia Rebel. He’s not the only one bringing new international flavours to the city, however, and Yügo has become his personal favourite for “a fantastic mix of Asian cuisines, all served in this achingly cool dining room … You feel cosmopolitan just sitting there. If you go there and order the fried rice as a side dish, it is simply perfection.”
Ox restaurant is “much-acclaimed for very good reason”, with a really impressive wine list and “flawless cooking, served by staff who give you just the correct amount of attention” in an “elegant yet relaxed” dining room. “It’s a great date night restaurant.”
Holohan’s at the Barge is his “go-to for Sunday dinner with my family, or to bring visitors to experience traditional boxty [potato pancake]”, ideally coinciding with a wintry Sunday sunset over the River Lagan. “And there’s a tiny pub called Bittles Bar right in the heart of Belfast that has a very impressive selection of whiskeys, and really captures the spirit of Belfast.” Just outside the city, Noble is another favourite for its “deceptively simple menu and hugely knowledgeable staff – and its beef-dripping chips!”
Ask a food blogger
Patrick Hanlon and Russell Alford – AKA the Gastrogays – relocated from London in 2017 to Drogheda, County Louth, which is the gateway to the bucolic Boyne Valley. They adore Drogheda’s Eastern Seaboard, “whose menu is a love letter to local produce imagined in creative ways with global inspiration”. Also in Louth is another favourite of theirs, the Strandfield cafe near Dundalk, “a quirky cafe-tea-rooms-florist-general store for green rice, avocado and hummus vegan bowls, and superb pizzas with phenomenally fresh-tasting toppings”.
The couple travel a lot for their food blog. One destination is Moira, County Down, where Great British Menu chef Chris McGowan and his wife Davina “run an incredibly tight ship at Wine and Brine, with a modern dining room serving classic dishes with contemporary flair”.
Further afield, the Green Barn in Burtown House and Gardens, County Kildare, is a must-stop when hungry for “flavours that sing on the plate, thanks to horticulturist Dermot Carey who grows organic fruit and vegetables here with the utmost care and attention”. The Two Boys Brew cafe is “the best place for brunch in all of Dublin, for colourful, fresh, high-quality and beautifully plated brunch dishes and exceptional coffees and cakes”.
Ask a restaurateur
Máire Flynn is the front-of-house half of the dynamic duo (with chef Paul Flynn) behind the Tannery restaurant, guesthouse and cookery school in the pretty seaside town of Dungarvan, west Waterford. “During the summer on blue-sky mornings, we often take an early drive along the beautiful Copper Coast to Tramore,” she says, “where Sarah Richards of the Seagull Bakery has queues out the door for her amazing sourdough and cinnamon buns.”
Dungarvan is also a short hop from Cork and Kilkenny. “There is no better place in Ireland to experience luxury food than Campagne in Kilkenny – and the concise and excellently priced wine list is second to none.” Yung Ming Yuan in Cork city is the Flynn family’s number one for the reasonably priced dim sum afternoon menu.
In Dungarvan itself, the unique seaside chipper, Andchips, is a Flynn favourite for ling goujons, proper scampi and chips. They’re all delivered with owner Eunice Power’s inimitable style and standards of excellence. Flynn also loves Cass and Co deli, for great coffee, interesting wines and “unreal sandwiches – try the Reuben”.
Ask a food creative
Cliodhna Prendergast is a professional chef turned freelance food writer-photographer, and co-founder of Lens and Larder, which offers food styling and photography retreats in glorious Irish country house settings.
Close to her home in Connemara, Guy’s Bar and Snug in Clifden is a favourite for “steaming bowls of mussels and a brilliant seafood chowder”. Nearby, DK Connemara Oysters offers an unmissable oyster farm visit in a stunning location. “Owner David Keane does a wonderfully informative talk-and-walk along the oyster beds, followed by a tasting, and you can buy more of his plump oysters to take away.”
In Galway city’s west end, Prendergast loves the Universal, a “beautifully decorated bar with small or large plates perfectly complemented by fresh cocktails and well-considered craft beers”. Nearby at the tasting rooms of America Village Apothecary, Claire Davey creates “glorious cocktails, ferments and uplifting drinks” from her own wild flower and herb tinctures, bitters and elixirs. Ard Bia at Nimmos, by Galway’s Spanish Arch, is an institution of a local restaurant that “somehow manages to infuse their team, food and space with the vibe of an exciting, evolving project; you leave feeling light and inspired, and like you have developed an insight to the city.”
Fill your heart with Ireland
From the Causeway Coast and the Wild Atlantic Way to Ireland’s Ancient East, and the 11 cities in between, Ireland has plenty to explore. Now’s the time to start. Get inspired at ireland.com
