Eating Out in Killarney

Where to eat?

It's a busy and often crowded tourist town and as a result there are at least as many poor, mediocre and overpriced places to eat as good ones, making Killarney a place where you need to tread carefully.

The more expensive end of dining is very well catered for, with excellent restaurants in some of the better hotels especially, but things are not so easy at the budget end of the market - it isn't that the more reasonably priced restaurants are not there, just that some of them are pretty poor.

A good tip is to follow the locals, they know the good from the bad - if there are only tourists eating in a restaurant, tread very carefully.

Eating Out in Killareny on a Budget

Panis Angelicus ( 353 64 39648) is a small cafe on New St which has excellent lunchtime rolls and sandwiches with imaginative fillings. The bread is home baked, as are the very tempting pastries and cakes. And they sell fabulous Belgian Chocolates.

Charlie Nelligan's Hot Bread Shop ( 353 64 31441) on New St has good value lunch specials and excellent sandwiches and rolls which you can eat on the premises or take away.

Mustang Sally's ( 353 64 35788) is a pub on Main St which serves American style diner food and has great burgers and wings. It is always lively and buzzing, with regular live music and a predominantly young crowd.

Middle Range Restaurants in Killarney

The restaurant at West End House ( 353 64 32271), near the entrance to Muckross House, is something of a Killarney institution and has been serving both tourists and locals with reliable well cooked food for almost 20 years. The food will not set the world on fire with its inventiveness, but it is always good.

Treyvaud’s ( 353 64 33062) on High St was a welcome addition when it opened in 2003 and serves classical dishes cooked to a high standard with good local ingredients. There is quite and emphasis on game, but fish also features and vegetarians are well catered for too. It's good value for food of this quality.

Located over a craft shop in a very old building on High St, the Bricín ( 353 64 34902) serves traditional Irish food - boxty is a speciality and Irish Stew regularly features - as well as a more modern style of Irish dishes. Lighter meals and snacks are available in the day time and it's a popular place with Killarney shoppers.

There are a few pretty good ethic restaurants, including the Sherkin Indian Restaurant on High St which has good Pakistani style food and the West Lake Palace ( 353 64 34466), on New St, a popular and good value Chinese. Robertino's ( 353 64 34966) on High St is an Italian with pretty good pasta.

Just out of town, in Beaufort, the food at restaurant over the Beauford Bar ( 353 64 44032) is open in the evening only and has a well above average menu with carefully cooked if not terribly inventive food and a notably good wine list. Afterwards go downstairs and join the locals at the bar where there will often be traditional music sessions in full swing.

The Old Presbytery ( 353 64 30555) close to Killarney Cathedral, serves really good modern Irish food without losing sight of tradition. The food is always reliable and delicious. They often have traditional Irish dishes on the special menus. Prices are inching towards high end.

High End Dining in Killarney

This is where Killarney comes into its own and nowhere more so than in Gaby's Seafood Restaurant ( 353 64 32519), on High Street, which is a legend. Lobster, prawns, scallops, sea bass, Atlantic salmon, all cooked to perfection and with considerable flair. The Lobster Gaby, cooked to a secret recipe but involving cognac, wine, cream and spices, is expensive but worth every cent - lick the plate delicious. The desserts are wonderful too.

Hotel Restaurants do not always shine, but there are at least three glorious exceptions in Killarney. Fredrick's at the Aghadoe Heights Hotel ( 353 64 31766) has top end prices but you do get what you pay for - exceptionally good classical cooking, great ingredients and a very friendly and unstuffy atmosphere. Add the terrific views over Killarney's mountains and lakes and it is close to perfect.

In the Killarney Park Hotel ( 353 64 35555) the Park Restaurant food features French style cuisine, cooked with a lightness of touch that allows the flavours of the excellent locally sourced meat and fish to sing through.

The new kid on the block, Menton's at the Plaza ( 353 64 21150), in the new Plaza Hotel, is in a quite gorgeous room - high ceilings and with huge windows filling the place with light. The chef takes Irish ingredients and cooks them in a style that has influences from both Asia and the Mediterranean - its is delicious, approachable and definitely different. Considerably cheaper than those mentioned above, this place could almost sneak into Middle range and is great value.

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