We spent a couple of weeks in Ireland in the summer and we tried a number of the finer Irish eating establishments. Our overall opinion is that it seemed like Irish cuisine is in the mid-point of a transition from country style to fine dining. We have had finer meals in Vancouver, San Francisco, New York, London, etc. But those are top of the line cities and restaurants. Ireland seems to do the bistro style well, but not "amazing". The beef consistently tasted better than expected, and the lamb was worse than expected. Sheep dominated the country-side, so that was a bit unexpected. We could only guess that they let the lamb get too old, or the lamb is too tough from the environment. We did not try the fine french restaurants such as Patricks.
The service was different than we expected. One measure that we have of the quality of service is whether wine and water glasses are refilled just before the bottom and without any interruption to the meal. In some restaurants in Ireland, they never refilled our glasses. There is a big difference in tips with NA usually around 15-20% and Ireland is around 10-15%.
Rating the restaurants is extremely difficult because of the population and size of the island. Given the population of some areas, like Pangur Ban in Connemara, the food was amazing. Connemara has maybe 150 000 people in the county with about 60 000 in Galway. In north america, the equivalent population centre would have a couple greasy spoons, MacDonald's and Dairy Queen. But yet we have to rate straight up against other restaurants, which really doesn't seem fair.
Dublin
Gueuleton 4/5
The food was good with a nice ambiance. We had the Slow Roast Pork Belly which was a bit fatty and the Toulouse Sausages were good. Wine list was decent.
Café Bar Deli, 2/5
Interesting Ambiance but the selection of only pizzas and pastas was disappointing. No Guiness on tap.
Canal Bank Café 3/5
Great steak, unexpectedly good. Too simple a menu and wine list. I made the mistake of ordering a Beaujoulais because it was listed as a Rhone, so that affected the meal.
Winding Stair 4/5
A very popular new restaurant. Great use of the old room. Food was good, wine selection good. We had the fillets of Mackerel and the smoked Haddock which were ok but maybe we just aren't fish fans. Cheese plate was good.
Ely Wine Bar 3/5
The wine selection was very good. We had a great discovery of wine, Mauro, a Tempranillo. The server was an Aussie who seemed drunk. He brought us 4 different glasses to try before we settled on the Mauro, and we really enjoyed that trial. We had a tough time deciding on food because the options seemed limited. We had the fillet steak and bangers and mash. The food held the restaurant back from a 4/5.
Connemara
Lough Inagh Lodge 2/5
Our lodge in Connemara had the best Lobster either of us has ever hard. Steak was very nicely done. That saves it from a 1 out of 5. However, service was some of the worst we've ever had. The server was a german gal who seemed just off the farm and was very clumsy. We always had to refill and my crepe dessert was burnt.
Pangur Ban 3/5
A good meal for a very remote location ih Connemara. The food options and wine list were good but not great.
The Malt House 4/5
A great meal. We had the seafood platter for 2 which was excellent.
McDonagh's 4/5
Allegedly the best fish and chips on the west coast of ireland. It was great fish and chips. Slightly too oily.
Kenmare
Lime Tree 4/5
A very good meal. The vanilla ice cream in the crepe was some of the best ice cream I've ever had. The wine list was a bit short and seemed to be missing a few items, but I really did enjoy the focus on inexpensive wines.
Purple Heather 4/5
Very nice little lunch spot. Very friendly. We had a great grilled ham sandwich.
Packies 5/5
Wonderful food and meal. The toffee bread pudding desert was amazing. The wine list was good and prices were outstanding. Our favourite restaurant in Ireland. Definitely worth going out of the way for.
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