7 Best Restaurants in The Ring of Kerry, The Southwest

Previously a pub, the wood-clad restaurant is intimate and contemporary chic with brown leather seats at small wooden tables, and a menu starring fresh Irish produce and Asian influence. Start with sushi and sashimi, or wild-mushroom pearl-barley risotto with aged Parmesan, and follow with roast halibut with mussel, bacon, and clam cream or veal cheek ravioli. The food is plated with flamboyance and highly Instagrammable. Chef Bruce Mulcahy runs a tight ship, and many people in the know reckon he is one of Ireland's most talented chefs.

Innovative, exciting, and original, No. 35 is a laid-back little restaurant with big ambition. Proprietor Dermot Brennan is a pig breeder of note, whose rare-breed free-range pedigree saddlebacks are the stars of Tony Schwartz’s menu, which is spangled with the best of Irish ingredients. Pork collar, Stonewell Cider--braised cabbage, apple purée, and a savory pickled mustard jus might follow a starter of Dingle Gin--cured Goatsbridge trout with coriander, lime, and apple or maybe a vegetable dish of wild and cultivated mushroom lasagna with St. Tola goats’ curd.

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.

Located in a former church, 10 Bridge Street is a spacious and atmospheric restaurant and wine bar with beautiful stained-glass windows illuminating the room. The menu is split into nibbles, small plates, and larger portion sizes and features quality Irish produce like hake, braised beef, and Glenbeigh mussels---and mixes contemporary regulars such as skewers with old Irish favorites like colcannon or Guinness bread. An exciting wine offering includes stars from lesser-known Spanish varietals.

An open fire, stone walls, and a minstrel's gallery above the main room lend considerable character to this restaurant, while the chef--owner’s imaginative ways with local produce result in memorable fare. Built in 1823 as a schoolhouse, it is located in its own leafy gardens near the Park Hotel (where many of its staff trained). The food is elegantly plated and served on plain wooden tables set with white Irish-linen napkins. In the long summer evenings light streams in from tall windows. Try one of the creative vegetarian options, such as goat's cheese croquettes with beetroot chutney, or roast rack of Kerry lamb, with warm crepes with vanilla ice cream and butterscotch sauce to finish. 

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.

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.