The best restaurants around Ireland for a long, leisurely lunch
23 Pembroke Street Upper, Dublin 2;
dax.ie
After 20 years in business, Dax still oozes quiet class. Graham Neville's superb classical cooking is a joy – seared Castletownbere scallops with coral bisque,
Tipperary
beef, and a mille-feuille of Irish rhubarb are textbook examples. Owner Olivier Meisonnave has compiled one of the country's great wine lists – from smart biodynamic finds to serious Grand Cru.
Corinna Hardgrave
Mamó
Harbour House, Harbour Road, Howth, Dublin 13;
mamorestaurant.ie
Mamo_Dublin
Since opening, Killian Durkin and Jess D'Arcy have worked tirelessly to deliver wonderful hospitality and modern Irish cooking from their seaside restaurant. Killian uses local and Irish ingredients such as 'lamb lobster' (lamb neck), Winetavern Farm pork and Howth honey to great effect. Don't miss the iconic cod chip or their exquisite tarts.
Joanne Cronin
mrDeanes
28-40 Howard Street, Belfast;
michaeldeane.co.uk
Pasta at mrDeanes Bistro, Bar and Social. Photograph: Rachel Taylor/mrDeans/Michelin
Recently refurbished, mrDeanes is a bistro-style restaurant that encapsulates the very best of chef Michael Deane's 28 years in business, and
this year received a Michelin Bib Gourmand
. It's exactly what a busy city bistro should be, serving up Portavogie crab on toast, entrecôte au poivre, sugar pit pork chops and fish and chips. Look out for their new own label white wine.
JC
Ruchii
9 George's Avenue, Blackrock, Co Dublin;
ruchii.ie
Ruchii: Six-tastes non-veg thali. Photograph: Alan Betson
Ruchii is a riot of Indian flavours and bright jewelled colours. Marinated jumbo prawns are cooked to perfection in the tandoor oven while the slow-cooked lamb shank nalli nihari is sheer warmth. Chef Sateesh Sayana also serves up authentic South Indian specialities including rava dosa, masala uttapam and a Sunday special of Hyderabadi chicken dum biryani.
Read our full review
here
.
JC
READ MORE
Thyme
Bridge Street, Athlone, Co Westmeath;
thymerestaurant.ie
John Coffey does not stand still but continues to develop, always cooking with flair. The focus here is on quality produce, resulting in a glossy golden pithivier of potato, onion and Mossfield cheddar; roast cod with cauliflower, capers and golden raisins or a dark chocolate and sesame ganache.
JC
Umi
57 Strand Road, Derry, Co Derry;
umiderry.co.uk
The words 'Asian fusion' can sometimes strike fear, but diners are in safe hands at Umi. Owners Seán Lafferty and Gary Moran have created a fun atmosphere that seamlessly marries great Irish produce with Japanese techniques. Think binchotan grilled steak or crispy dumplings made with local pork and a fiery rayu sauce. They even offer their own wine, a fresh Austrian Blaufränkisch made by ex-employee Jack Mcateer.
JC
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Irish Times
a day ago
- Irish Times
This county town is the home of Fab Vinnie, tortilla chips and novelist Laurence Sterne
The lovely Comeragh mountains are visible from pretty much anywhere you look when in Co Tipperary's county town, Clonmel . The Suir river runs through Clonmel itself: two assets of natural beauty any town would surely be happy to have. It's population in the last census in 2022 was 18,369. During the time I spend in the town (a few weeks before Tipperary's historic All Ireland hurling victory), every person I talk to eventually comes out with an identical statement: something they collectively confess they learned in primary school. 'Clonmel was the biggest inland town in Ireland.' The first person I hear it from is estate agent Pat Quirke, whose family have occupied the same premises on Gladstone Street for decades. 'But while we are the county town, we are definitely not the biggest inland town any more,' he says. Quirke, who has spent his entire working life in Clonmel, points out that the town always had a good percentage of a transient population. 'We had multinational organisations here early on. Digital. Boston Scientific. There's a big engineering footprint in the town. There was a large influx of people from outside the town as well, who lived and worked here. Unlike a lot of other Irish towns, we had immigration long before they did. From the early 2000s, we had Lithuanian, Polish and Indian people.' A transient population has meant the rental market in Clonmel was long the strongest of any town in the county. He fetches a ledger which has handwritten entries, and consults the records within. In 1989, he tells me, it was IR£270 a month to rent a four bed in the town, and IR£140 for a three bed. READ MORE Quirke consults the ledger again. 'To buy in 1989, a four-bed bungalow was £55,000 punts, a three-bed semi was £31,500 and a four-bed detached new house was £54,000.' [ The ancient Irish town battling against decline: 'It used to be the centre of things, but those days are gone now' Opens in new window ] And today? 'There's been a 10-fold increase. The average is €300,000 for a three-bed second-hand house. And all the while, new properties are getting smaller, as are gardens, because higher density development is favoured. That's when anything gets built.' I've noticed that the former Clonmel Arms Hotel now, partly demolished aside from some striking facades, has left a literal huge absence at the centre of the town. The hotel itself closed in 2005. Clonmel, with the Comeragh mountains and the Suir river, 'two assets of natural beauty any town would surely be happy to have'. Photograph: John D Kelly 'Clonmel feels abandoned at the moment by people who should be trying to develop the town,' Quirke says. 'I see no initiative to further develop the town centre.' He points out the empty Market Place shopping centre, which I had walked through to get to his office, noticing several shuttered units as I did so. 'People got a deal on rates for 10 years, and then the exemption ceased about 2009, and shops started shutting down one by one. It was very shortsighted.' He shakes his head. 'Then what happened? Permission was given for the Showgrounds, an out-of-town shopping centre. Why not redevelop something already existing?' [ A US couple in Clonmel: 'America is me-me-me-me. Ireland still has that community feeling' Opens in new window ] It's true that there are several vacant premises in the town centre, but it's also true that those that are operating have plenty of charm. Many lovely original shop fronts still exist. The paint shop, Power & Co. The double-fronted J Hickey 'Fancy Bakery'. At Bob Fitzgerald's Hardware, the pavement outside has a display of everything you could possibly need for your garden without going to a generic out-of-town outlet: lawnmowers, wheelbarrows, compost, flower pots, ladders. Natasha and Pat Quirke outside their estate agent premises on O'Connell Street, Clonmel. Photograph: John D Kelly At Martin's well-stocked Fruit and Vegetables shop, there's a chalkboard sign outside saying Dungarvan strawberries have arrived. 'They can have more Vit C than oranges!' the board declares. Inside, I find a stand with Blanco Nino tortilla chips, and realise they are made in the town. The chips are new to me, so I buy a large pack of Chilli and Lime to try them out. (Two days later while on holiday, when I produce the bag along with some salsa, family members devour the chips in under five minutes.) The striking West Gate archway at the end of O'Connell Street has a stone plaque set into it, marking the fact that novelist Laurence Sterne was born in the town in 1713. Sterne went on to write The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, often described as the first modern novel. The Laurence Stern plaque, on Clonmel's West Gate. Photograph: John D Kelly When I go to take a picture of the plaque, I realise my phone is missing. I retrace my steps and find that a customer at Martin's had handed it in to the shopkeeper, after finding it by the Blanco Nino stand, where I had set it down during my happy deliberations on which chip flavour to choose. At The Hub, a large cafe and deli, I meet Michelle Aylward and Noel Buckley. Aylward is the chief executive of Co Tipperary Chamber of Commerce and Buckley is chair of the town team. There are 600 members across the county, and 100 in Clonmel town. I ask them if people ever make a point these days of formally referring to Clonmel as 'the county town.' 'No,' they answer in unison. 'But growing up, it was known as the largest inland town in Ireland,' Aylward says. [ Ireland's county towns: 'There were 300 people living on this street. Now it's 17' Opens in new window ] 'Something we were all told at school,' Buckley adds. 'There was always investment in the town,' Aylward says. 'This town, with its rich agricultural hinterland, became a centre of commerce before the Famine when the Quakers settled here. The Grubbs were one of those families. They helped the Irish during the Famine. They invested money back into the community. The river Suir was the town's highway prior to mechanised transport.' 'In the 1980s, the unemployment rate was at 38 per cent in many towns in Ireland, but in Clonmel, it was 17 per cent,' Buckley says, citing companies such as Digital, Bulmers and Clonmel meats.' What about the town now? 'Town centres are changing all over Ireland, 'Alyward says. 'There are a high number of vacant properties in Clonmel town centre now; 17 per cent. There about 10 people living on O'Connell Street, but the ambition is to have 60 or 70 people living on the street again.' The town has a regeneration officer, who is currently looking at how to develop and update vacant spaces over shops. This process is deeply complicated by modern planning regulations. Clonmel: Denis Burke Park and the river Suir. Photograph: John D Kelly Clonmel's landmark Main Guard building, formerly a courthouse, at the top of O'Connell Street. Photograph: John D Kelly What does Clonmel need to survive and thrive in 2025? 'People in the town centre,' the two agree. 'It needs to be a place where people come to socialise with each other,' Buckley says. Sligo, for instance, has long made much of its connections with poet WB Yeats. Has Clonmel looked at how they might highlight the town's connection with Laurence Sterne? 'No,' Buckley says. 'But maybe it will now. Clonmel was making so much money until the crash, it didn't need to think about attracting tourists.' Clonmel has an island in the centre of the town; Suir Island, where a camper van park has been established in the past year, Buckley tells me. Later, I cross the bridge and walk around Suir Island. Sure enough, there are a number of campervans parked at their designated spaces, close to all the town's facilities. Marie McMahon is the managing curator at the lovely Tipperary Museum of Hidden History in Clonmel, and has lived all her life in the town. 'Growing up, we always knew we were the county town. There was always a sense of pride and identity. We knew we were the largest inland town in Ireland. We weren't a city, but we had a big heart.' The jersey of footballer Michael Hogan, shot dead on Bloody Sunday, in the Tipperary Museum of Hidden History in Clonmel. Photograph: John D Kelly The museum opened in 2000, and was the first such custom-built county museum in the State. It focuses on items local to Co Tipperary. 'We have 20,000 items, with about 1,000 on show,' says McMahon. At the time of visiting, she is in the process of setting up a social history exhibition on the 1980s, with its terrible fashion and great music. The exhibition includes a special tribute to the late Vincent 'Fab Vinnie' Hanley. A Clonmel native, Hanley scattered rare stardust upon Ireland's recession and emigration era of the 1980s by appearing on Music Television USA. We stop at a glass case. Inside is a thick hand-knit white woollen jumper, striped with green, with 'Tipperary' in yellow stitched across the chest. 'This is one of the museum's most popular items,' McMahon explains. It was 'allegedly' worn at some point by Tipperary Gaelic footballer Michael Hogan, who was shot dead by British forces at Croke Park on November 21st, 1920: Bloody Sunday. Outside the museum, there's a bronze statue of the late tenor Frank Patterson, who was born in Clonmel in 1938. 'It is given in loving memory by his many friends and admirers in the United State of America and Canada,' an inscription reads, along with another which says the plinth was provided by 'Clonmel Borough Council.' The Frank Patterson statue, in Mick Delahunty Square. Photograph: John D Kelly Joe Ormonde works as a chauffeur for small visiting groups of tourists, mainly Americans, with the rest of the cohort composed of Canadians. 'Anything from two to six people. I pick them up in Dublin and drive them around.' He's currently driving five women friends from Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas around the south and southwest. Ormonde has lived locally in his original family home all his life, and seen the town change significantly over time. Joe Ormonde outside Clonmel Town Hall on Parnell Street. Photograph: John D Kelly 'All the shops in town were full back in the day. Clonmel was thriving. Now some of them are vacant. Moroney's has just closed. [A shoe shop in a landmark building on O'Connell Street, established in 1908, which ceased trading this summer.] I used to buy shoes there. Shops are critical for a town. Clonmel was a very thriving town. It has lost some of its county-town clout, but local politicians and councillors wouldn't want to admit that.' 'There were four nightclubs in Clonmel in the 1980s and now there is not even one,' he says. 'The Clonmel Arms hotel. The Minella Hotel. Barry's on the Main Street. Danno's. You could hardly get in the door there, it was always mobbed.' According to Ormonde, more than 20 pubs have closed since the 1980s. One of them is the atmospheric, but derelict, R O'Donnell's Select Bar on O'Connell Street. Might it be a business opportunity for one of Ireland's newest residents, the American former talkshow host Rosie O'Donnell? Next week: Rosita Boland visits Carlow
Irish Times
a day ago
- Irish Times
Evidence of difficult year for Irish tourism continues to mount
It might not be the annus horribilis augured by the Central Statistics Office's (CSO) data in the early part of the year, but 2025 is probably going to be remembered as a down year for Irish tourism . As the summer season reaches its zenith, a couple of interesting reports this week shed further light on the situation. First up was AIB on Wednesday with its July purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the services sector. The headline index indicated that the wide-ranging services sector remained in expansion mode – albeit at a relatively subdued rate of growth compared with May – as businesses reported growth in activity levels, employment and an easing of cost pressures. READ MORE Tourism, transport and leisure businesses, however, are of decidedly less sunny a disposition. Survey respondents from within this subsector reported a fifth consecutive monthly decline in business levels and 'at a faster pace' than in recent months, AIB said. They also reported a marginal decrease in hiring and – in contrast to their peers in, say, technology, telecoms or financial services – higher input costs and output prices. If the drop-off this year is primarily being driven by softer demand from international tourists, it appears the industry isn't getting much relief from domestic holidaymakers either. In a separate release on Wednesday, the Central Bank said that for the first time since it began collecting the data in 2022, Irish credit and debit card users spent more on foreign hotels and accommodation in June than on domestic properties. [ Has Ireland become too pricey for tourists? An economist and a tourism industry representative debate Opens in new window ] In fact, more than half of the card spending by Irish consumers on lodgings was recorded outside the State in June, the Central Bank said. Visitor spend was down 22 per cent in March, 31 per cent in February and 28 per cent in January, according to the CSO. The good news is that those precipitous declines seen in the early part of the year – both in the volume of international visitors and their expenditure – appear to have eased up in the early summer going. Still, foreign visitors spent a total of €646.5 million here in June, down 5.5 per cent on the same month last year, while the overall number of trips to the Republic was down 2 per cent. What the rest of the summer holds for the sector remains to be seen. But evidence that Ireland has been a more difficult sell to foreign visitors and domestic holiday-makers in 2025 continues to mount.
Irish Times
a day ago
- Irish Times
Conor Murray: After sharing their playbook with the Lions, now it's time for Ireland to evolve
This Lions tour will not automatically benefit Irish rugby . You have to earn everything, all over again. In theory, a record number of Ireland players and coaches coming off a successful series bodes well for the 2027 World Cup back in Australia. In reality, two years feels like a decade to most athletes. Anything can happen, and it usually does. All the players want now is an uninterrupted break, far away from anyone who knows anything about rugby. They want to spent time with their family and friends, without the daily routine of buses, training and airports. READ MORE They want to stop sharing a hotel room with another grown man. I bet the players will miss Aled Walters' intense yet entertaining sessions. Lads love going to the gym when Aled is holding court. Andy Farrell and Simon Easterby used to pop down to watch the best S&C coach in the business do his thing. It might be August already but next season is not on the agenda. Never mind the 2027 World Cup. We wrongly presumed that winning a Grand Slam in 2018, followed by the series win in Australia and going unbeaten through the calendar year (when we had the All Blacks' number in November) would drive Ireland into the 2019 World Cup. There are no guarantees in elite sport, particularly international rugby. Remember how good the Wallabies were at Twickenham last year, and how poor they were in the first Test in Brisbane before finding their sea legs in the second and third Tests. If we flipped the schedule on its head, people would be calling it one of the great Lions tours. The players who benefited the most, from an Irish perspective, are Jamie Osborne and Tom Clarkson . Neither made the match day squad when Northampton beat Leinster in the Champions Cup semi-final last May. Thomas Clarkson and Jamie Osborne after the Lions' win over the First Nations & Pasifika XV at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne. Photograph: Billy Stickland/Inpho Two months later they are Lions. Osbourne is a natural footballer who excels at fullback or centre. There are serious players ahead of him, like Hugo Keenan , Garry Ringrose and Robbie Henshaw , but I suspect Osborne will find a way into the Ireland team sooner rather than later. Same goes for Clarkson. Dan Sheehan was the star on tour. Nothing fazes him. I remember when Rónan Kelleher first came into Ireland camp. He had all the tools a world-class hooker needed. And then Sheehan arrived a year or so later and kicked down the door. Now they are a pair of interchangeable Lions test hookers. Some going. Most of all, I was delighted for Tadhg Beirne to be named player of the series. I know early on tour he was worried about making the Test 23. And not because of external opinions – he was not hitting the standards he expected of himself. He set the tone after 16 seconds in Brisbane with a trademark jackal over Joseph Suaalii. Penalty. 3-0. The Lions never really looked back. Beirne has a habit of getting his hands on opposition ball when they are threatening to cut open our defence. He did it in the URC final in South Africa two years ago. He does it every other week at Thomond Park. Tadhg Beirne in action for the Lions during the second Test against the Wallabies at Melbourne Cricket Ground. Photograph: Dan Sheridan/Inpho I expect Sheehan and Beirne to be shortlisted for world player of the year. Ireland can be a better for this Lions tour. Of course they can. They can evolve from 2023 into an even better team in 2027, that are capable of… I better not start making predictions in the middle of a World Cup cycle! We also need to accept that Farrell and the other Irish coaches weren't holding back on the Lions tour. From the expertise of Easterby's coaching to Garry Keegan's focus on performance, Jac Morgan will bring a wealth of information back to the Ospreys and the Welsh camp in November. But so will Joe McCarthy after partnering Maro Itoje in the second row. The only way the Lions can work is when every player and coach, from the four countries involved, are open to sharing ideas. The Scots and English return home with precise details about how an Andy Farrell team will attack and defend. Ireland will have to evolve. But that was always going to be the case. Lads are not getting any younger. Having said that, I started this column last month by waxing lyrical about Jamison Gibson-Park . He did not disappoint. To my mind, even at 33, Jamo is the Ireland scrumhalf through the next World Cup. Craig Casey during Ireland's captain's run ahead of the game against Portugal in Lisbon last month. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho Sure, Craig Casey and others will challenge him for the nine jersey. Casey captained Ireland this summer, he won't take his foot off the gas. Ben Murphy had an unbelievable season for Connacht. Fintan Gunne, the Leinster young fella, looks fairly decent. Nathan Doak in Ulster too. Paddy Patterson, with more opportunities, can show how much of a threat he is around the ruck. Paddy's quick, and so agile. My suspicion is that a 16- or 17-year-old from a hurling area or one of the Leinster schools will burst through in the next few years. We don't know his name yet, but this Lions tour has inspired him to become a professional. To improve his weaker side. To head into the back field by himself to perfect box kicks until it's too dark to see the ball. From an Aussie perspective, the hope is that Joe Schmidt used the Lions series to ready his players for victory over South Africa at Ellis Park next Saturday, to win back the Bledisloe Cup after 23 years and to be contenders for a World Cup on their own grass when Less Kiss takes over as head coach. If Schmidt has done anything for the game in Australia, he revived a belief that used to be ingrained in every Wallaby.
