Places to eat in Ireland

On the advice of my evidently not so trusty guidebook, we decided to stop in for lunch at the Bushmills Inn on our way to the Giant's Causeway. The Inn is lovely and the decor nice - if a little dark. Service was also prompt and courteous. We ordered lunch and waited for quite a bit. At the time, we didn't mind since we has discovered that in Ireland this usually meant that our meals were fresh and 'home cooked'. In this case, we were sorely disapointed. We had ordered The Bushmills Burger. Every other Irish beef experience was great. This, however, was horrible. The burger was not fresh - in fact, I've had better frozen patties from my local grocery store. The final insult is when we got the bill. Clearly, Bushmills Inn does not have a clear sense of what should constitute a burger for 11.95 pounds sterling!

After meeting some locals who raved about the food at the Black Bull Inn, we decided to give it a try. The Inn is located in Drogheda which is a lovely little town about 40 minutes north of Dublin. At first we thought we would be turned away since the sign outside stated that children would not be allowed past 7pm, but once we went in we were greeted by friendly staff and seated promptly. The atmosphere was lovely - the place was filled with locals which was a nice break from some of the more touristy fare in Dublin. The menus offered a huge selection and covered everything from steak to lighter fare. Though we were the only ones in the place with children, we were treated very well. Our only complaint is that the tables were a little too small to have 'sides' show up on different plates.

Favorite Dish: While there are many jokes about the difficulty of getting a well prepared steak in Ireland, this was one place that cooked the steak perfectly. The steak sandwich is also very good.

Cúl Gáirdín is a Wholefood Vegetarian Restaurant & Gallery. Check out the covered patio area, garden and marquee and upcoming surprise music gigs in the garden!The food is amazing, lovely Creps,Stir frys, specials, salads,cakes and more cakes.

Favorite Dish: I love the Cúl Gáirdín Salad,its massive with loads of lovely mix of salads, hummus, etc

I have visited many a pub in Dublin, Ireland and by far the best is the Porterhouse. The Porterhouse is a brewery that specializes in making beers that are amazing! They also serve beers from around the world. It's a great place to meet people and they have music some nights. Just be careful of the table flames. I accidentally lit myself on fire by leaning over one! to make it worse I was flirting with someone I just met. Oh well plenty of fish in the sea.

Favorite Dish: Oyster Beer. The Irish have a poetic soul but even Yeats could not describe the excellence of this beer.

Buffets are good places, I think, to get a quick meal when I am in a hurry and usually offer more choices for the side dishes, which I really like. Kylemore is one of the two I found in Ireland that were excellent. The food was well prepared and very fresh tasting.

Favorite Dish: Poached salmon and a huge helping of veggies, with drink cost E10.90. Very good value for very good food.

Fitzer's is an upscale treat well-located near St. Stephen's Green, Grafton St. & Temple Bar. The restaurant itself is elegant and beautiful and the crowd was fashionable and trendy. It was packed when our group of 9 went, so make sure you make a reservation.

The menu is more "nouveau cuisine", but excellent. The service however, seemed a little cold to us. It is not a bargain, so be prepared to spend a little more here than average.

Favorite Dish: You can't go wrong. Everything was good and I tasted other dishes as well and theirs was excellent too.

Mr and Mrs Garry & Eileen O'Boyle have created 2 fine places to enjoy a meal whether a breakfast, a lunch or an evening meal....

They have called this restaurant-Sandwich Bar THE APPLE TREE because it is located at the ORCHARD LANE and yes, there are orchards....

THE PENINSULA IS A PARADISE.....

Favorite Dish: Dingle is the City Dingle on the Peninsula Dingle in the South West of Ireland, in County Kerry.

Yes, Garry & Eileen O"Boyle are the owners of this place too!

And they do a fine job: they have a restaurant & Snack Bar and this place: Specialised in FISH AND CHIPS...

So fish and chips it was and I can tell you it was great!!

Favorite Dish: You will feel at home there and enjoy whatever you order....

Not expensive......good value....