8 Best Restaurants in The Southwest, Ireland

Host Jim McCarthy is often found in the early evening leaning over the red half door of this low, cabinlike stone building. The atmosphere is pleasantly informal (nautical artifacts complement the rusty-red walls and matching tablecloths), but both food and service are polished and professional. Top choices include pan-roasted monkfish with chana masala, toasted almonds, mango and red onion salsa or rack of Kerry mountain lamb. Finish the meal with a selection of Irish cheeses, served with a glass of port, or choose from a range of homemade desserts.

It's not just the food that's made this restaurant the most popular in town: guests also like to drink in the views of King John's Castle (particularly when lit up in the evening) from under the heated terrace over sea bass served with crab beignets, salsa verde, and baby potatoes. Scampi comes with big planks of chips and lemon sole arrives in a bed of leek and onion. Burgers, steaks, and vegetarian option are aplenty on the menu, along with a good selection of beers on draft. Before or after dining, wander around the corner to see the Treaty Stone, the site where the Williamite-Jacobite war ended.

Chef Derek Fitzpatrick creates a refined and concise menu from local ingredients that have been foraged, or grown by local artisanal suppliers or on the restaurant's rooftop garden. There's a choice between an evening tasting menu (sensibly priced at €60 given the options) with six courses that could include scallops, beef, or fresh catch. Top-notch à la carte menu choices include venison loin with maple squash, spiced lentils and sausage, or wild halibut with crubbeen chorizo, peas, and mussel sauce. The setting is full-on white linen in one of Ireland's finest country mansions, with views through sash windows across the wooded countryside or over the tumbling waters of the Shannon. Allow time to view the Visual Art Collection at Plassey House, which includes the works of Jack B. Yeats and Paul Henry.

The dramatic location of this simple bar on the windswept waterfront of the tiny fishing village of Portmagee has led the Bridge to feature in ads as "the quintessential Irish pub." A simple menu with the emphasis on local seafood, fish-and-chips, and lamb is served in the low-beamed bar's rustic pine interior. From May to September the pretty, adjoining Moorings restaurant serves a more ambitious, pricier menu most evenings. There are also 17 rooms overhead and an ace craft shop next door, as well as set dancing every Tuesday and Friday evening during summer and live music on weekends.

Call to confirm availability of bar food between October and April, as the kitchen closes some days during the off-season, depending on how many visitors are around.

Candles and an open fire cast a warm light on Persian-style rugs and dark red walls hung with antique engravings of Killarney at this cozy little eatery set above a ground-floor craft emporium on the main street, while simple country-style wooden tables and stick-back chairs are set within "snug" areas created by stained-glass panels. The good-value menu features boxty (Irish potato pancake) with a choice of fillings, including vegetarian. Other options include baked salmon stuffed with crabmeat, char-grilled beef fillet, and roast rack of lamb. And, in the unlikely event you didn't hit a craft shop in Killarney, you can browse the shelves before making your way to the restaurant.

This busy Victorian-style pub (with guest rooms) was once the coaching inn for the national network of horse-drawn coaches known as Bianconis; today, it serves local seafood and traditional Irish food. Its dark-wood interior has a rambling barroom with a tile floor, leatherette banquettes, and ancient stuffed animals above the booths. The menu includes such favorites as Dingle Bay prawns, local oak-smoked salmon, a steaming pot of garlic mussels in white wine broth, and braised shank of Kerry lamb.

Advance booking is advisable in summer and on weekends.

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.  

Owner Aileen d'Arcy named her restaurant after her grandfather, one of County Kerry's most famous sons, the Antarctic explorer Tom Crean. His backstory sets the scene in this simple blue-plastered pub---with memorabilia aplenty. The menu uses local produce, with an emphasis on vegan options as well as local seafood. Top bets include Sneem black pudding with apple and tomato chutney, baked in phyllo pastry, and local duck breast, panfried and served with roasted root vegetables and Puy lentils, or Sneem lobster, grilled or poached. Known for her warm welcome, Aileen learned her trade at Kenmare's famed Park Hotel and shares the chef duties with her two sons. Ask them about their attempt to follow in Tom Crean's footsteps in the Antarctic: it's a great story. Check out the brewery tour if time permits and there are four simple rooms above the restaurant that can be booked for B&B.