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Run by Neven Maguire, one of Ireland's top chefs, MacNean's is one of the best restaurants in the country; in fact, there's a waiting list of up to two years for weekends. The Menu Prestige, at €98 (€153, including wine), delivers a staggering selection of courses. Winning appetizers include partridge breast, quail, or Castletownbere sea scallop. Top mains include quail, strip loin of dry aged beef, or hake; for dessert, strawberry plate or chocolate crémeux will linger long on the palate. An eight-course vegetarian menu is also available for €98. Maguire also opened a cooking school featuring classes for all skill levels. Breakfast is served.
Given the remoteness of this Cavan town, consider reserving one of MacNean's 19 guest rooms as well as a table. The 65-km (40-mile) detour to Blacklion makes a lot more sense if you are heading from Dublin northwest to Sligo or Donegal.
Main St., Blacklion, Co. Cavan, Ireland
Known For
- Delicious local duck
- Eight-course dinner menu
- Very difficult to get a table
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Mon. and Tues. No lunch Wed.–Sat., Reservations essential, Jacket required
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One of Athlone's culinary highlights, this bistro is noted for its early-bird menu, which runs through the evening (except Saturday, when it ends at 6 pm), filled with such delights as bacon and colcannon mash with cider sauce, or chargrilled pork fillet. Later on, the beige-on-brown dining room fills up for the main dinner menu, which favors steaks, monkfish, duck, and rack of lamb. For lunch, the most popular dish is tandoori chicken breast on focaccia with sautéed potatoes, although the open sandwich of French brie with tomato chutney on brown bread (€9.95) runs a close second. Irresistible desserts include mud cake, banoffee pie, and lemon-and-lime cheesecake. Ask joint-owner Annie McNamara about the Left Bank dressing, a specially bottled vinaigrette that people come from all across Ireland to buy.
Fry Pl., Athlone, Co. Westmeath, Ireland
Known For
- Value early-bird menu
- Innovative food
- Minimalist style
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun. and Mon.
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A restored, stone former post office in an elegantly landscaped garden, the Olde Post Inn has won a clutch of awards and, as a result, is often booked solid. Sea bass, steak, game, and bacon and cabbage terrine are main-course favorites and highlight local and seasonal ingredients. The wine selection will appeal to Europhiles: Valpolicella, Pouilly-Fuissé, Sancerre, or if you feel like a splurge, try the flamboyantly fruity Puligny Montrachet at a cool €85. Artwork by some top Irish artists decorates the redbrick and stone walls. Staying overnight is strongly advised; six guest bedrooms, all in the original part of the postmaster's residence, have been modernized with fabrics in bright jewel tones alongside contemporary bathrooms. Special events such as gin evenings or a French wine and game night are held and are available for guests as part of a package.
N54, Cavan, Co. Cavan, Ireland
Known For
- Outstanding venison
- Impressive wine selection
- Dreamy rural location
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Mon. and Tues. Closed Wed. off-season. No lunch Wed.–Sat., Reservations essential, Early dinner menu available €49
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Originally a standard public house with low ceilings, this Shannon-side resting place on the main street of a tiny village to the west of Longford Town has been transformed into a gourmet's delight—a special gastropub, bustling with locals and tourists alike. Specialties include Thornhill duck, baked sea bream, and renowned John Stone steaks from an artisanal butcher specializing in Irish grass-fed beef. Potatoes and vegetables are abundant and even served al dente. The good-value early-bird menu stretches from Tuesday to Thursday 5 to 9:15 pm, Friday and Saturday 5:30 to 7 pm, and Sunday 4 to 6 pm (when the restaurant is also open for lunch). It's worth leaving space for the Toblerone cheesecake, which has become the sweet talk of Longford and has been a fixture on the dessert menu since 2000. An upstairs gallery has work by some of the finest and best-known Irish artists, including Paul Henry, Graham Knuttel, and Kenneth Webb, the latter noted for his expressionistic, thickly painted landscapes of Connemara.
Main St., Tarmonbarry, Co. Longford, Ireland
Known For
- Duck and artisanal-butcher steaks
- Delicious Toblerone cheesecake
- Good-value early-bird menu
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Mon. No lunch Tues.–Thurs., Reservations essential
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A tempting array of both savory and sweet delights are on display at this central daytime café and deli counter. Nourishing soups at lunchtime, such as colcannon (cabbage and potato) or mushroom come with freshly baked brown bread. Other breads, including ciabatta, bagels, or panini wraps are filled with cured meats or cajun chicken and salad, while a selection of fruit and gluten-free scones deserve to be smothered with delicious raspberry jam.
31 Main St., Birr, Co. Offaly, Ireland
Known For
- Colcannon soup
- Meat-filled sandwiches
- Superfresh scones
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Recommended Fodor’s Video
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In the center of town, Flynn's is worth visiting to appreciate its light and spacious Victorian-style design. The lunch menu includes sandwiches, salad platters, and dishes such as red Thai curry, chicken Milanese, or Irish lamb stew. It's worth saving space for the renowned apple pie.
Main St., Banagher, Co. Offaly, Ireland
Known For
- Quality roast beef
- Scrumptious apple pie
- Irish coffees
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"Lovage at the Gate Lodge," as it's known locally, overlooks the river and serves the best coffee in town. Pastries, wraps, baps, and burgers are common on the menu, but make sure to check the blackboard for daily specials.
Bridge St., Boyle, Ireland
Known For
- Wide variety of coffees
- Beautiful riverside location
- Generous portion sizes
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Just across the road from the Midlands Park Hotel, Kelly's Steakhouse expertly prepares cuts of Irish beef in all shapes and sizes, from a 20-ounce porterhouse T-bone to a more modest 10-ounce rib eye. The chef knows a thing or two about gradations, but if you want to try your own hand, the steak house offers the unique chance to cook the meat yourself over a volcanic black rock hot stone. The dinner menu also includes pasta, fajitas, lamb shank, and hake.
Jessop St., Portlaoise, Co. Laois, Ireland
Known For
- Prime cuts of Irish meat
- Cooking your own steak over a black rock hot stone
- Ma Kelly's cheesecake
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Mon. No lunch
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Many regard this as the leading Thai restaurant in the Midlands, if not all of Ireland. Adam Lyons runs a slick first-floor operation in a 650-year-old building on the west bank where the extensive menu features dishes from the Isaan region of northeast Thailand, including the Crying Tiger (grilled fillet of beef on a sizzling hot platter with a hot chili sauce). Typical dishes include the signature steamed chicken curry while others come with beef, lamb shank, duck, and pork served with jasmine rice. It also serves a range of fish and vegetarian dishes. Main courses from €17. Ceiling fans and balloon bamboo lights help create the perfect gastronomic scene—it's not hard to imagine yourself in Chiang Mai.
Keep the water jug handy as the smooth richness of coconut milk doesn't offset this fiery food.
1 Abbey La., Athlone, Co. Westmeath, Ireland
Known For
- Flaming curries
- Extensive menu of authentic dishes
- Best Thai food in the Midlands
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: No lunch Mon., Tues., and Sat.
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One of the Midlands food heroes, chef-owner Feargal O'Donnell uses fresh, locally sourced ingredients at his popular Irish restaurant in the town center, where you can sink into comfortable orange chairs made of cowhide leather for signature dry-aged steak. Starter nibbles to excite the taste buds might be crispy pig's ear or silver darlings (herring), while main courses may include panfried cod fillet, 30-day dry-aged beef tenderloin with a scene-stealing pepper sauce, or honey roast farmhouse chicken. If you have space, try the strong-flavored Young Buck blue cheese from County Down; for a divine dessert, an affogato with moondust espresso and a dash of Bailey's liqueur will leave a long afterglow on your taste buds. A notice on the wall advises "Keep Calm and Drink Wine," a small exhortation to sample the recommended French house red: Lue Lapeyre Amour Grenache Syrah, a rich and concentrated blend where the ripe tannins are said to dance across your palate and at €36 won't leave a large dent in your wallet.
Church St., Athlone, Co. Westmeath, Ireland
Known For
- John Stone dry-aged Irish steaks
- Young Buck blue cheese
- Calm, contemporary atmosphere
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun. and Mon.
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Imaginative food and a warm welcome await at this 300-year-old bar and restaurant, its thatched roof (completely redone in 2017), exposed wooden beams, and brick walls adding to the intimate country atmosphere. Main courses may include half honey roast duck, braised lamb shank, grilled aubergine with goat cheese, or chicken with black pudding. Leave room for the apple and mixed berry crumble. The pub is run by Des Connole, who brings a long pedigree: he is the sixth generation of his family to own it.
Military Rd., Crinkill, Co. Offaly, Ireland
Known For
- Steaks
- Huge portions
- Flawless service
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Mon. and Tues. No lunch Wed.--Fri.
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Clusters of smoked glass pendant lights, aromatic candlelit tables, green banquette furnishings, and smooth music add luster to this always-busy riverside restaurant hidden down a side street beside the bridge. Tuck into some truly creative Athlonian food which might include glazed ham hock, Castlemine free-range pork loin with sausage dumpling, lamb with sheep's cheese polenta, Wagyu beef, or featherblade of beef (sourced from the shoulder blade of the cow). Craft beer, such as American Amber Ale or Seeking Sunshine IPA, comes from the Dead Centre Brewing company next door. The value menu is €38 and €58 for five courses.
Custume Pl., Athlone, Co. Westmeath, Ireland
Known For
- Wagyu beef
- Sticky toffee pudding
- Craft beers
