Pack an appetite. Kinsale’s food scene is big, bold and impossible to resist – and there’s always another seafood chowder, fresh oyster or local pint with your name on it. 

1| Bastion  

Whether you swing by for some bubbles and a bite from their all-evening snack menu, come early for a lighter Discovery tasting menu or later for the Bastion tasting menu, there are many ways to experience chef Paul McDonald’s assured cooking at this one-star Michelin restaurant run with his wife Helen Noonan. 

Photo credit: @endlesseatz

2| Rare at The Blue Haven Hotel

Also, Michelin-listed, Rare is indeed an unusual offer: West Cork’s seasonal larder reimagined through the culinary lens of southern Indian chef Meeran Manzoor and elevated by his classic French training. The optional wine, cocktail and non-alcoholic pairings are equally well conceived. This award-winning boutique hotel also has a popular Blue Haven Bar & Bistro menu for indoor or outdoor dining. 

3| Saint Francis Provisions 

Punchy local flavours and natural wine are the order of the day on the hyper-seasonal menu at the tiny, beloved Saint Francis Provisions, with its Michelin Bib Gourmand. Sit inside to immerse yourself in its unique gastronomic world, or outside on the heated terrace in the heart of town to watch the world go by. 

Photo credit: @stfranciskinsale

4| Prim’s Bookshop

Come for the wonderfully curated second-hand books at Prim’s Bookshop, stay for the daytime coffee bar that subtly shifts into an evening wine bar. As the sun dips, the table-top books make way for simple, elegant settings. Out come the lovingly sourced sherries, carefully chosen wines and perfectly paired small plates. You might even catch one of their intimate gigs – part of an eclectic calendar that’s as curated as the bookshelves.  

5| The Black Pig 

With over 100 wines by the glass and several times that on the full list, The Black Pig is a treasure of a wine bar and restaurant, run by wine lovers for wine lovers. The seasonal, local menu plays a wonderful supporting role.  

Photo credit: @elizabradyeats

6| OHK Cafe

A former family-run pub has been stylishly transformed by the cheerful O’Herlihy siblings into OHK Cafe, an urban-cool cafe with true small-town charm where the brilliant breakfasts, brunches and OHK house bakes are an excellent excuse to hang out in this loveliest of rooms.  

Photo credit: @ohkcafe

7| Kinsale Mead Co Tours

Forget your preconceptions of mead and discover a honey wine that is light, refreshing and fermented off-dry to 12% ABV. At Kinsale Mead Co, Ireland's first meadery in 200 years, you’ll get a primer on the long history of mead. You’ll learn about the Tech Midchuarta, the Great Mead Hall of Tara, as well as the ancient Bechbreatha, or Bee Judgements, a set of rules governing the protection of bees and honey. You’ll also uncover details of a thriving modern mead scene before tasting this meadery’s award-winning selection in their oak bar tasting room, sipped like a wine or mixed into contemporary cocktails. 

8| Kinsale’s annual festival season 

Kinsale’s festivals run from literature and music to heritage and regattas – topped with not one annual food event but three, thanks to Kinsale Good Food Circle and Kinsale Food Tours, who also run walking town tours, foraging picnic tours and private yacht picnics.  

The season opens with February’s Kinsale Restaurant Week menus, where all participating restaurants in town cap their prices. April’s Kinsale Street Feast brings street entertainment and stalls serving signature samplers from award-winning eateries. In early October, Kinsale Gourmet Food Festival’s ever-popular Mad Hatters Tea Party sees Alice and friends like the Mad Hatter himself lead giddy walking tours to sample the best of local restaurants.  

From farm-to-table menus and family-run hotels to craft beer pubs and Ireland’s most famous black pudding, Clonakilty blends great food with real local spirit. 

9| Field Kitchen

The bucolic indoor-outdoor setting of Field Kitchen restaurant at Camus Farm just outside the Mighty Clon (as locals dub Clonakilty) is a charm. Field to table dining doesn’t get better, with set weekend menus starring produce direct from their organic cattle farm and kitchen garden – which you can also explore along nature trails. 

10| Fernhill House Hotel & Gardens 

A short stroll from Clonakilty is Fernhill House, a delightful Georgian country house estate surrounded by gardens, orchards and woodlands. This Blue Book-member hotel run by the O’Neill family has a restaurant and bar that are both open to non-residents. Local ingredients and classic dishes like West Cork seafood chowder get an elevated turn; don’t miss their Fernhill Garden Gin. 

11| Monk’s Lane

Take the detour to sleepy Timoleague to discover what has Monk’s Lane hopping. Tucked beside a 7th-century abbey, this old-school pub features a proudly stocked bar with over 20 craft beers – many very local – and excellent cocktails including imaginative alcohol-free offerings. The food menus are rooted in local produce given inspired international twists.  

Photo credit: @monks_lane

12| Clonakilty Blackpudding Visitor Centre 

The Irish love their black pudding – at breakfast, at lunch, even at dinner. During a self-guided, interactive audio tour at the Clonakilty Blackpudding Visitor Centre, discover how this town became synonymous with one of the nation’s most beloved brands thanks to a secret recipe from the 1800s. 

Where creativity meets community, Ballydehob’s cafés, pubs and restaurants showcase the best of West Cork produce with plenty of flair and heart. 

13| Restaurant Chestnut

An intimate 18-seater restaurant in a former village pub is the stage for Michelin-starred cooking from local chef Rob Krawcyck, who learned skills of curing, smoking and fermenting from his Polish father, Frank. Menus at Restaurant Chestnut range from a casual two-course Prix Fixe dinner to the Chestnut signature tasting menu. 

Photo credit: @thechestnutwestcork

14| Levis Corner House 

It seems as traditional as it gets: a village pub-grocers in the same family for over 100 years. But catch one of their regular gigs from touring musicians, or a summer food truck residency from chef Caitlin Ruth (author of Funky, named one of Observer Food Monthly’s best food books of 2024) or The Spice Genie, winner of RTE’s Battle of The Food Trucks, and you’ll see why Levis Corner House is a multiple winner of Pub of the Year. 

15| Budds 

Imagination and can-do positivity are at the heart of Budds restaurant, which sits directly opposite Levis Corner House and Restaurant Chestnut. Established in 2015, it began when a young couple moved to Ballydehob to reopen a beloved local spot (formerly Annie’s) and support the community through local employment and sourcing. 

Even the ‘Usual Suspects’ breakfast is anything but, served with a basil and roast pepper potato cake, spelt bun and seaweed butter, while a burger features organic beef from native Dexter herds with hay-smoked Toonsbridge scamorza, black and white pudding, brioche, seasonal salads and hand-cut sea salt chips.  

Small in size but big on flavour, Bantry offers everything from old-school pub grub Tand organic cafés to ferry-hopping food festivals. Follow your nose to these great local spots. 

16| The Stuffed Olive

A mother-and-daughters team run The Stuffed Olive, Bantry’s unmissable food and wine store packed with artisan chocolates, coffee, wines and pastas. But it is the house-made salads, scones, breads, quiches, tarts, desserts and takeaway meals that make this deli and bakery so beloved. Outdoor seats only, but al fresco never tasted so good. 

17| Organico Café, Shop and Bakery 

A second-generation independent business run by the Dare sisters, Organico is more than a health food shop, organic grocers, bakery and deli: it’s a social hub and local institution. Come for the fresh organic local produce and organic wines, stay for the hearty salads, veggie sausage rolls, pizza slices and sourdough breads. They offer nationwide delivery from their online organic grocers.  

18| The Snug and OD’s Bar & Restaurant

‘Good food, hot whiskeys and cold pints’ captures the promise at The Snug: a fine local pub that will feed you too, without overcomplicating things and with a keen eye on value. Think retro crowd-pleasers like deep-fried mushrooms, open sandwiches, Atlantic prawn cocktails, Bantry Bay mussels and juicy burgers – and whatever you’re having yourself to wash it down. 

19| Whiddy Island Mussels Festival

West Cork hosts a busy calendar of quirky food events. If you’re here in early August, lucky you: hop the 10-minute ferry ride from Bantry town and beeline to the island’s community centre for your fill of local Bantry Bay mussels at the annual Whiddy Island Mussels Festival. Or go anyway and make a beeline for the Bank House Bar, which serves simple food and creamy pints with live Sunday music sessions, seafront seating overlooking a sandy beach and Bantry Harbour beyond, plus bike hire and crazy golf. 

In and around Glengarriff, food and hospitality are steeped in tradition – from legendary artisan grocers to heritage hotels that know how to celebrate the best of West Cork’s bounty. 

20| Manning’s Deli & Grocer

Established in 1946, this third-generation food emporium in Ballylickey (12km from Glengarriff) began as a farm shop selling milk, cream and butter from the family’s Jersey cows. Under the discerning guidance of the late legendary Val Manning, Manning’s became a landmark deli and grocers renowned for its local and international artisan food and wines. Stock up for a picnic in Glengarriff Woods Nature Reserve or Garinish Island. 

Photo credit: @manningemporium

21| Eccles Hotel 

There are many fine perches to pair lush Bantry Bay views with exemplary local food at Eccles Hotel, a four-star heritage hotel that has making the most of those views for 250 years. Grab a casual lunch in the Harbour Bar, embrace the day on the Bay View Terrace or watch the evening draw in at Garinish Restaurant. Wherever you eat, chef Eddie Attwell’s cooking celebrates all things fresh, wild and hyper local. 

Whether you’re picking up just-baked breads, sipping local milk from a converted horse box, or tucking into a hearty seafood pie, Bandon’s food scene has something for every taste.  

22| Poachers Seafood Restaurant & Bar

Serving a seafood-strong menu that ranges from curries to comforting pastas and pies, Poachers Seafood Restaurant & Bar has garnered accolades for its casual dining, including mentions in Michelin’s Guide to Eating Out in Pubs.  

23| Bandon Farmers’ Market

West Cork excels at farmers’ markets, and Bandon Farmers' Market epitomises the community spirit of these weekly gatherings. Every Saturday morning, you’ll find local organic vegetables and freshly landed seafood, fresh Jersey cow's milk dispensed from a converted horse box, Gubbeen chorizo and Baltimore dry-cured black bacon, plus live music and street-side dining of Turkish kebabs, Malay curries or classic quiches. 

24| Bandon Country Market

Besides the modern farmers’ markets, Ireland’s older country market tradition is famous for its farmhouse baking, eggs and garden produce. Every Friday and Saturday morning, Bandon Country Market trades in local produce grown, baked or cooked within a 10-mile radius. 

25| Rohu’s Country Market

A quick spin from Bandon, Rohu’s Country Market in Innishannon is part country barn, part deli-bakery. Grab a table for some homemade pizza or their legendary crab sandwich, then load up your basket with local cheeses, just-picked veggies, Jack McCarthy’s famous meats, fresh fish (on Fridays), Arbutus bakery breads and cakes, and tubs of Leahy’s Open Farm ice cream. Good luck leaving empty-handed. 

Photo credit: @leahysopenfarm

Skibbereen punches well above its weight when it comes to good food. From casual cafés to Michelin-starred kitchens just down the road, the town and its neighbours like Baltimore offer a delicious slice of West Cork’s famously rich culinary scene. 

26| Riverside  

Riverside is a delightful daytime affair from two sisters-in-law committed to supporting West Cork farmers and artisan producers. Highlight of the menu include Union Hall smoked salmon and Gubbeen bacon at breakfast, while lunchtime standouts include West Cork lamb kofkas or locally reared Hereford beef burgers. 

27| Wild Ways at Dillon’s Corner 

A clean and modern all-day eatery, Wild Ways at Dillon’s Corner serves a well-priced menu from breakfasts through to steak sandwiches or pizzas to fresh fish or vegan tagine – with the best people watching windows in town. 

28| The Church Restaurant  

The Church Restaurant serves a crowd-pleasing, locally inspired menu that includes favourites like Clonakilty black pudding, Union Hall fish and West Cork’s Press House Dabinett Cider. It’s set in a beautifully rebuilt former Methodist church – restored with impressive determination and salvaged materials from Ireland, Wales, England and northern France. 

29| The Keep at Woodcock Smokery

A legend of Irish artisanal food, Sally Barnes has been smoking locally-caught wild fish at Woodcock Smokery near Castletownshend for more than forty years. At The Keep, her event space at the smokery, you can experience her craft firsthand – whether it’s a long table supper, a local chef collaboration, or a hands-on workshop in traditional preservation techniques.

30| Dede Restaurant 

Southwest of Skibbereen, Baltimore is home to two of Ireland’s most exciting gastro-destinations: Dede Restaurant at the town’s old Customs House, with its two Michelin stars and Best Restaurant in Ireland win at the Irish Restaurants Awards 2025, and the newer, more informal Baba’de. Both kitchens marry the fragrant spicing and Turkish dishes of chef-owner Ahmet Dede’s culinary heritage with the stellar produce of West Cork’s natural larder, while co-owner Maria oversees the warm service. 

Photo credit: @ayla_hunt_