Eating Out in Galway

Where to eat?

Galway is a city well supplied with excellent places to eat well, especially in the mid range and budget categories. It is well known for its excellent pubs, many of which also serve good, and in some cases excellent, food at a very reasonable price.

Partly this is because as a university city there are always plenty of impecunious but hungry students about - use this to your advantage and follow the students if you are on a tight budget!

Visit the Galway Market outside St Nicholas' Church on Saturday morning and you can buy a picnic fit for a king! Small food producers from the region will be there, with cheese, bread, preserves, cake and oganic fruit and veg. It is feast for the eyes as well as all the other senses.

At the higher end there are not quite so many options, but those that exist are generally very good. There are also some very, very good places to eat within a short drive of the city - Morans of the Weir in Kilcolgan and O'Grady's on the Pier in Barna stand out.

Eating Out in Galway on a Budget

Da Tang Noodle House ( 353 91 561443) in Middle St has huge bowls of steaming and tasty noodles at a price to suit the most light pocket and never disappoints. The hot and sour soup is yum.

Cactus Jack's ( 353 91 563838) on Courthouse Lane (off Quay St) specialises in Tex-Mex food, also has great burgers, and serves good sized portions at a reasonable price. Always busy, so you may need to book at weekends.

As it's name suggests, Spud Murphy's ( 353 91 569616) in Abbeygate St pays homage to the potato, with big floury baked spuds served with a wide choice of delicious fillings making a cheap and cheerful meal. They also do a full Irish Breakfast which is popular on Sunday mornings with Galwegians recovering from the night before.

McDonagh's in Galway Photo by Julie70McDonagh's ( 353 91 565001) in Quay St or Conlon's ( 353 91 562268) on Eglinton Street are both excellent fish restaurants where you can eat in the restaurant or choose a takeaway. Both have particularly fresh and delicious fish and go a little further with choice than your standard chipper.

For good quality but inexpensive pub food it is hard to beat McSwiggans ( 353 91 568917). The restaurant upstairs in a little pricier, but still excellent value.

No visit to Galway is complete without at least one visit to Goya's cafe ( 353 91 567010) in Kirwan's Lane, where good lunches are served but people really come for the range of home baked breads, pastries and cakes will have you returning to indulge, guiltily, far more often than you should!

Middle Range in Galway

Nimmo's ( 353 91 561114), close to the Spanish Arch, is a wine bar which specialises in seafood so fresh it nearly jumps off the plate, but there is plenty for meat lovers too. This is as good a spot for a romantic dinner as it is for a night out with a group of friends. Good value.

Oscars ( 353 91 582180) on Upper Dominic St is quite a shocker when you walk through the door, with its red and black decor, tented fabric ceiling and zebra patterned seating. Stick with it though, because the food, with a slightly Asian twist, is really very good and is every bit as exuberant as the surroundings.

Da Roberta ( 353 91 585808) on Upper Salthill Road is a little piece of Italy on Ireland's west coast and serves excellent Pizza and Past as well as more elaborate Italian dishes.

High End Dining in Galway

Glenlo Abbey ( 353 91 526666) is just 4km from the City Centre on the Clifden road, and must have one of the most unusual restaurants in any hotel anywhere, The Pullman Restaurant is in 4 old railway coaches including two from the original Orient Express. Remarkably it works, you really do feel as though you are a pampered guest on a luxury train heading for Venice.

It is worth going to just for this experience, but the food is reliably very good too, if neither cutting edge nor desperately exciting.

The House Hotel is a new boutique hotel near the Spanish Arch, has a good looking menu and early experiences seem positive, but we have not tried it yet. The ultra trendy g hotel, with its stunning and quirky interior decor, has a good restaurant serving Italian style food.

If excitement is not what you want, then the Malt House ( 353 91 567866), just off High St, is a long established restaurant with a traditional menu that may seem a little dull to read but is exceptionally well cooked and served with style. You just know it will never let you down.

Vina Mara ( 353 91 561610) on Middle Abbey St takes locally sourced ingredients and cooks them in a very successful Mediterranean style. The surroundings are cheerful and welcoming and it's the sort of place that puts you in a good mood.

The restaurant at the Radisson SAS Hotel is also good.

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