The Best Cork Restaurants and Places to Eat and Drink in Cork Ireland

Impression of the St. Colman's Cathedral in Cobh near Cork, Ireland

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Where to eat in Cork
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Cork's cuisine: 10 things we love

English Market

A Cork institution, the English Market has been feeding our city for centuries. Trading since 1788, it’s one of the oldest covered markets in Europe and sells some of the very best produce Cork has to offer. It’s made up of independent stall holders and retailers, from multigenerational butchers and fish and cheesemongers, to purveyors of fresh fruit and vegetables.

Coastal influence

Cork Harbour is among the largest natural harbours in the world, and is home to scenic beaches and small fishing villages with access to incredible seafood. Cork produces some of the best shellfish, so be sure to sample the local mussels and oysters.

Ireland, Roaringwater Baby coastline, mussels cultivation

Spiced beef

This is a Cork speciality, made with cured, spiced beef. At Christmas, we’ll have spiced beef cooked in stout, but it’s available (and enjoyed) year-round. The process dates back hundreds of years, and was originally designed to preserve beef for export. A good spiced beef sandwich rivals that of any traditional pastrami counterpart.

Tripe and drisheen

A duo that’s always served together, tripe – the honeycomb-like lining of a cow’s intestine – and drisheen – a sausage made from beef and sheep’s blood – is a quintessential Cork dish that you won’t find on many menus in the city. The tripe is typically braised in milk and onions, and the drisheen is warmed through in the same sauce. Head to the Farmgate Café upstairs in the English Market to try it for yourself.

Farmhouse cheese

Veronica Steele kick-started the Irish farmhouse cheese movement in Cork in the 1970s with her cow’s milk cheese, Milleens. Now, Ireland produces world-renowned farmhouse cheeses all over the country, and Cork is home to many of the best. Look out for Durrus, Coolea and Hegarty’s cheeses.

Honey

Cork produces truly delicious honey. There are many beekeepers throughout the county who are as committed to the conservation of the native Irish honeybee as they are to producing the glorious wild nectar. There are also plenty of beekeeping workshops for hive enthusiasts to try for themselves.

Check out our best honey recipes f0r sweet ways to put it to good to use.

Breweries

Cork has a long-standing tradition of brewing. There are now three microbreweries in the city centre, with Elbow Lane being one of the smallest in the country. All offer excellent guided tours and tastings. You can sample the local brews in the many pubs around the city.

Smoked fish

Sally Barnes is the owner of Woodcock Smokery in west Cork, the last smokehouse in Ireland that exclusively smokes wild fish. Located 10 minutes from Skibbereen, it produces the finest smoked wild salmon, haddock and tuna. Sally also offers masterclasses in smoking fish and coastal foraging.

Farmers’ markets

Cork is famous for its farmers’ markets, which are dotted all over the county and host local famers, food producers and delicious food trucks and craft stalls. It’s always a morning or early afternoon well spent. The Saturday farmers’ market on Cornmarket Street in the city centre is not to be missed.

Cork on a Fork

This annual five-day food festival is the perfect opportunity to explore the county’s dynamic food culture – there are lots of pop-up dining events, workshops, guided tastings and cookery demonstrations to enjoy. Plan ahead and attend next August. corkonaforkfest.ie

English Market Walkthrough: Pictured Kelli Oldham from the Olive stand, One of the renowned local producers with stalls in the English Market. A walk through this famous culinary Mecca is a must do during the 5 day Cork on a Fork Festival in Cork City. For more see www.corkonaforkfest.ie Picture by Chani Anderson www.capturesbychani.com Cork City 17/08/2023

Where to eat and drink in County Cork

Franciscan Well Bar & Brewery

Based on the site of a medieval monastery, this multitasking space offers its own selection of craft beers in the Brew Pub, as well as woodfired pizza from Pompeii Pizza and expertly crafted cocktails in Monk bar. Live music, pizza-making classes and weekly brewery tours are also available. franwellbar.com

Goldie

Aishling Moore’s award-winning restaurant champions a gill-to-fin approach to cooking fish, which sees the menu change daily depending on the catch landed that day. Additionally, clever use of the whole fish massively reduces food waste and results in inventive dishes like hake tail schnitzel with celeriac and gherkin remoulade and soy-cured egg yolk, or pibil monkfish cheek sope with pickled red onion and salsa verde. goldie.ie

L’Atitude 51

Part wine shop, part wine bar and restaurant, L’Atitude 51 offers a huge selection of natural and organic/biodynamic wines by the glass in a buzzy, airy space with a terrace for fine-weather drinking. In the evening, a menu of snacks, small plates and sharing platters of cheese and charcuterie is served. latitude51.ie

The Glass Curtain

Housed in the former Thompson Bakery building on MacCurtain Street, the restaurant’s ingredient-focussed menus are inspired by its top-notch suppliers, and influenced by the chefs’ travels. Expect open-fire cooking and inventive plates like fermented potato pizzette, smoked lamb shoulder and taramasalata, or gurnard, squid noodles, spiced broth and salsa macha. theglasscurtain.ie

Hayfield Manor

A short stroll out of the city brings you to this luxurious boutique country house hotel. Hayfield Manor’s signature restaurant, Orchids, overlooks the beautiful private gardens and has developed a reputation for its fine dining, offering contemporary Irish cuisine. Refined dishes like Skeaghanore duck with confit Parisian potato, celeriac purée, rosemary gel and apple highlight the great sourcing of produce. hayfieldmanor.ie

Cask

Cask is a low-lit temple to finely crafted cocktails. The interior is a mix of plush and stark with deep blue velvet chairs and booths, and warm exposed brick walls fitted with twinkly filament lights. The cocktail menu is updated every 12 weeks to make the most of seasonal herbs, fruits and foraged ingredients, including rhubarb, bramble leaf and sorrel (and there’s always a seasonal shrub on the menu for non-drinkers). We tried With the Fairies: a heady mix of whiskey, blanco tequila, lustau blanco, burdock, spruce and soda. If you want something to buoy up the booze, there’s generous cheese, charcuterie and antipasti boards to share, as well as a small plates and street food menu (try glazed chicken wings, sourced from Cork’s English Market, with blue cheese foam). caskcork.com

Arthur Maynes Pharmacy

Housed in a 120-year-old chemist shop (the old sign still hangs outside), every inch of this quirky bar is lined with original cabinets that house vintage medicine, perfume bottles and make-up. The bar is the old glass counter, where the very first chemist ledgers can still be found. As well as various craft and traditional beer offerings, there’s a decent wine list and food served until 1am for late nighters. Climb up narrow rickety stairs to find an even smaller candlelit cocktail bar, Arthur’s Upstairs.

A shop front has black tiles and a glass window. In the window is a red lit sign reading 'mayne'

Toons Bridge Dairy

Making mozzarella in West Cork countryside might seem like an odd choice for a cheesemaker, but Toons Bridge Dairy doesn’t just stop there. Oozy, creamy burrata, smoked scamorza, fresh ricotta and caciocavallo are also made here using sheep, cow and buffalo milk. Founders Toby Simmonds and Jenny-Rose Clarke travelled to Italy to learn the craft, and they employ both Italian and local cheesemakers in the dairy today. The duo supply some of the best restaurants in Ireland, as well as selling at The English Market, online and at their own dairy shop. A wood-fired pizza oven is in action from 12.30 on a Friday, Saturday and Sunday, for Neapolitan-style pizzas, tapas boards, flatbreads and salads. toonsbridgedairy.com

The inside of a small restaurant with two men cooking pizzas in a small wood fired oven

Ballymaloe Country Hotel House and Restaurant

Ballymaloe in its current incarnation encompasses hotel, restaurant, kitchen garden, shop, grain store venue and cookery school. Dinner at the house is an occasion: a five-course celebration of the food produced in the walled garden, farm and locally (the evening menu isn’t totally finalised until Brenda’s 4pm fish van visits with that day’s catch). The dining room is a warm, welcoming, tranquil space with no hint of country house stuffiness, although the crisp white linen and twinkly glassware give a hint of the refined dining experience to come.

The food, as you’d expect, is really special. A simple salad of St Tola goat’s cheese comes with roast beets, a hazelnut dressing and leaves from the garden; and East Cork lamb is perfectly blushing pink with a mint béarnaise and leek mousse. Dessert is a revelation – a trolley loaded with a selection of puddings including chocolate torte, caramel ice cream, pears poached in cardamom syrup, crisp little shortbread biscuits and a traditional carrageen moss pudding that has never been off the menu. You’ll be encouraged to try everything, so save space! ballymaloe.ie

A grand country house is covered in green foliage. There is a lawn and driveway leading up the house

Fishy Fishy

This harbourside restaurant in Kinsale serves only spankingly-fresh fish caught in the Irish Sea and landed in Kinsale, so the menu changes according to what’s good that week. There’s plenty of simple classics (including fish pie and fish and chips), as well as more adventurous dishes such as lobster bisque – a deeply savoury seafood base with a little cream added. Other winners include pan roasted scallops with cauli purée and delicate fillets of plaice in a buttery caper sauce. There are two bright and airy dining rooms (one upstairs, the other downstairs), and in the warmer months crowds spill out onto a sunny outdoor terrace. fishyfishy.ie

A restaurant has wooden panelled walls and a long wooden bar with black high stools

Where to stay in Cork

The Metropole Hotel

Bang in the centre of Cork’s buzzy Victorian Quarter, with its myriad pubs, restaurants and cafés, The Metropole is perfect for a stay in the heart of the city. Built in 1897, the grand hotel is full of historic, elegant charm, and has recently undergone a smart update. Plus, it’s within walking distance of foodie attractions like the English Market. The Met bar and restaurant supports local producers, such as Union Hall Smoked Fish and Gubbeen Farm cheese and charcuterie, and the seasonally changing themed afternoon tea is a great way to experience its food offering. In the evening, the bar is bright and welcoming, making it the perfect pitstop for a cocktail before heading out on the town. themetropolehotel.ie

Gabriel House Guesthouse

Set in an elevated position, with views over the Cork skyline, and just a short stroll from the city centre, this small boutique guesthouse has luxury touches. For breakfast, resident chef Martin creates classics like eggs florentine and benedict, as well as a full Corkonian fry-up or stacks of fluffy American pancakes. Eggs are sourced from the Gabriel House chickens, while veg and herbs come from the organic, sustainable kitchen garden (which is also part of the Irish Bee Conservation Project, working to preserve native bee species in the country). gabriel-house.com

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