Spiritual Culture and Beliefs in Ireland
Ireland understands the power of ideologies to divide communities due to its a troubled relationship with its nearest neighbor in the North...
Read moreThe Best and Most Popular Restaurants and Foods in Ireland
The Irish restaurant scene is evolving and improving all the time, with new places opening in the country’s major cities all the time. There are fabulous restaurants in the capital city of Dublin as expected, but Galway too has some superb locally sourced foods for you to enjoy on a trip to Ireland.
Chapter One
18-19 Parnell Square North, Dublin 1
Follow Ross Lewis on Instagram, and you will know what’s on the menu before you get there. This is a consistently good restaurant with professional, efficient staff with a healthy dose of Irish charm, which means there is not the slightest hint of pretension. Not all staff in Chapter One are Irish, but it feels like they are. Whilst it is not the cheapest place for lunch, the beautifully sourced and cooked food and the wine actually makes it good value, which gives it top marks for.
Kai
22 Sea Road, Galway; 091-526003
New Zealander Jess and her Irish husband, David, opened their restaurant in 2011. Kai, meaning food in Maori, offers high-quality organic or wild produce that is sourced locally and cleverly cooked, to be eaten in a warm atmosphere. They take a classic dish, add some Galway into the mix to raise a smile. Whatever you choose, from a pigeon in Buckfast (the tonic wine beloved by Galway’s student population) or rillette of rabbit, it will likely be the organic Orla potatoes on the side that may almost overshadow everything. Be prepared to fight over them. In Ireland, you expect the potatoes to be right. Here they are more so.
The Legal Eagle
1-2 Chancery Place, Inns Quay, Dublin 7
Opened in 2017, this revamped pub under the talented restaurateur Elaine Murphy is a cozy pub that has a focus on Irish products and the provenance which listed on the menu. The lunch menu features soup with homemade sourdough, Ballycotton smoked salmon on brown porter and treacle bread with crab cocktail, pickled cucumber and leaves, Killybegs tuna salad and more. They also have Irish potato flatbreads from the wood fire oven, including a cabbage and bacon flatbread with parsley sauce plus dishes from the kitchen and snacks including Irish fish and the meat platter.
Loam
Geata Na Cathrach, Fairgreen Road, Galway
At first glance, Loam is not much to look at, but there’s nothing like it. The tasting platter is superb and will set taste buds alight. Enda McEvoy is totally focused on his ingredients, knowing people who grow, catch, and farm his food. He cooks only food from Ireland and prioritizes vegetables above meat, which he treats almost like a luxury condiment. The desserts are also sublime and through he is able to create amazing flavours distinct to the area, which marks him out as one of the very best chefs in Ireland.
L Mulligan Grocer
18 Stoneybatter, Dublin 7
It’s worth searching out this gastropub in the Stoneybatter district of Dublin. In 2010, Seáneen Sullivan and her business partners Colin Hession and Michael Foggarty took on what is at its heart a community pub. The homely restaurant with tables like old Irish kitchen tables has a nostalgic menu with scotch eggs made with organic Irish pork meat and free-range eggs, and chicken kiev made with Irish butter mixed with wild garlic from Phoenix Park and chickens from Athenry. There are 150 beers, 24 of which are on tap, plus 200 Irish and world whiskeys, fresh apple juice from Louth, Irish gins, and Irish mixers from Poachers.
Dela
51 Lower Dominick Street, Galway
Living up to its Latin name for “little pleasures” this husband-and-wife team of Margaret and Joe Bohan specialize in farm-to-plate food from their organic farm in Moycullen in Co Galway, which means that greens and eggs can be just minutes from being taken from plot to plate. This is a restaurant that emphasizes the local, the seasonal and the wild, with ingredients from the farm including padron peppers, yellow pear tomatoes, and cucamelons, as well as garlic, kalette and celery to accompany delicious bread and generous, beautifully arranged dishes in a relaxed atmosphere. If the beetroot chocolate mousse is on the menu, order it.
Other Posts
Currach Racing in Ireland
A Currach, sometimes anglicized as Curragh, is a sturdy, light and versatile boat unique to the west coast of Ireland.
Read more