2 Best Restaurants in The Southwest, Ireland

If you like good, old-fashioned country service from a bygone era, with a tried and tested traditional menu that pleases guests across the generational divide, the Maigue Restaurant fits the bill. It offers some of the finest local ingredients in a short but crowd-pleasing menu. Rib of beef, a speciality, arrives on its own time upon a trolley (of course!) for carving, along with other local favorites such as in-season game, like pheasant or wild salmon. Similar to its home setting in the Dunraven Arms Hotel, the Maigue is stuffed with antiques and other paraphernalia and has retained the very essence of a provincial village inn.  

Step behind the Victorian arched facade here and you'll discover a buzzing contemporary restaurant, masterminded by the two Treyvaud brothers (one a popular TV chef), that features classic Irish dishes (e.g., fish cakes, sausages, or bacon and cabbage) with a continental twist. The interior is simple—pine floorboards, wood-beam ceiling, lines of red-back chairs—so the food takes center stage. To start try the local smoked salmon, or deep-fried calamari. Follow with bacon and cabbage Treyvaud-style (smoked loin with buttered cabbage and whole-grain mustard sauce), or half a roast guinea fowl with wild forest mushrooms, or the renowned homemade fish cakes with whole-grain mustard, chives, and garlic aioli.