Best Seafood Restaurant in Ireland

Kimia

We'd be willing to travel. Somewhere fabulous - any suggestions?

SChemie

Some suggestions:

Mulcahy's, Kenmare
O'Callaghan-Walshe, Rosscarbery
Fishy Fishy Cafe, Kinsale

Swampy

Global Village - Dingle

Off the reel (not 100% sure on name) chipper in Dingle. Only uses fresh local fish. Local smoked haddock is unbelievable. Not the normally yellowy smoked fish, the real deal.

Toulouse

O' Grady's on the Pier - Barna, Co. Galway.

Ate in Fishy Fishy a couple of weeks back and wasn't impressed at all. Food was good but expensive, atmosphere was terrible and all they wanted us to do was eat as quickly as we could so they could turn the table around and yes we had booked in advance and there was no time constraint on the table.

nialljf

Fishy Fishy Cafe, Kinsale

Mr Magnolia

If you could nail this down I'd travel myself. There are some fantasic restaurants country-wide serving great fish dishes, a 'Seafood Restaurant' may not necessarily have the best fish dishes so don't bank on that alone.

I wouldn't try and limit myself to a 'Seafood Restaurant', I'd rather a restaurant that does seafood well if you get what I mean

Kimia

Ok well to start off, what about Dublin? I'm talking about places that do excellent chowder, has lobster on the menu, meaty prawns (not those rubbery ones you get sometimes), fresh squid etc.

Faith

There's a restaurant in Dingle called "Out of the Blue" that only does seafood. Its menu changes regularly in accordance with what's available that day. They very proudly do not serve chips, and the fish is the centre piece of the meal. It's delicious, if you're looking for great fish. Another place in the same area is The Old Pier in Ballydavid (I think). I've never had better scampi in my entire life there.

Speaking from experience, some of the best seafood is available down around Dingle, so if you're travelling that way, you're in for a real treat.

Darkginger

Moran's 'The Weir' restaurant in - erm, I think - Oranmore - is pretty good for seafood, more seafood than your actual fish - oysters, mussels, crab, prawns etc. It's part pub, part restaurant, but the food there is REALLY good, in my experience.

Sergeant

Darkginger wrote: »

Moran's 'The Weir' restaurant in - erm, I think - Oranmore - is pretty good for seafood, more seafood than your actual fish - oysters, mussels, crab, prawns etc. It's part pub, part restaurant, but the food there is REALLY good, in my experience.

It is also astonishingly expensive considering they are supplied by Galway Bay Seafoods, who also sell to the public.

O'Gradys in Barna is very good.

UrbanSea

I love a smoked cod and chips in McDonagh's in Galway.

Darkginger

I love McDonaghs - the only problem with the place is that it's never decided what it wants to be - it's a bit of a shop, a bit of a takeaway, and a bit of a restaurant. Which is fine if you're just there for the food, but if you're looking for ambience, nah.

I'm still scratching my head about the Galway Bay Seafoods comment above - sure, they buy their ingredients from there, but they cook them. Most (if not all) restaurants buy their ingredients for a lot less than they sell the finished dish for, so I don't entirely get the point. I made a Posh Fish Pie (halibut, scallops, prawns in a white wine and cheese sauce under a rosti crust) tonight for under a tenner, but it fed 2 of us, took a couple of hours to make (fish stock etc.), and I'd have priced a portion a lot higher than the cost of the ingredients if I'd been selling it. Given that any restaurant has wages to pay, property to pay for, licenses etc to cover, i wouldn't expect them to sell stuff at cost - would you? Even if they charge 400% on yer average cost price oyster, that's no more than most do - pays for the staff to open it, the water to wash the plate it's served on, the freezer for the ice etc. You can always just buy the oyster and go open it at home You pay for the preparation, the ambience, and the service, I think.

Am I missing something here?

Itsdacraic

Vaughans in Liscannor Co. Clare is top notch.

UrbanSea

Darkginger wrote: »

I love McDonaghs - the only problem with the place is that it's never decided what it wants to be - it's a bit of a shop, a bit of a takeaway, and a bit of a restaurant. Which is fine if you're just there for the food, but if you're looking for ambience, nah.

I'm still scratching my head about the Galway Bay Seafoods comment above - sure, they buy their ingredients from there, but they cook them. Most (if not all) restaurants buy their ingredients for a lot less than they sell the finished dish for, so I don't entirely get the point. I made a Posh Fish Pie (halibut, scallops, prawns in a white wine and cheese sauce under a rosti crust) tonight for under a tenner, but it fed 2 of us, took a couple of hours to make (fish stock etc.), and I'd have priced a portion a lot higher than the cost of the ingredients if I'd been selling it. Given that any restaurant has wages to pay, property to pay for, licenses etc to cover, i wouldn't expect them to sell stuff at cost - would you? Even if they charge 400% on yer average cost price oyster, that's no more than most do - pays for the staff to open it, the water to wash the plate it's served on, the freezer for the ice etc. You can always just buy the oyster and go open it at home You pay for the preparation, the ambience, and the service, I think.

Am I missing something here?

That fish pie sounds unbelievable.

Kimia

greetings wrote: »

That fish pie sounds unbelievable.

Agreed. Recipe please!!

Darkginger

Delia's Luxury Fish Pie

That's the original recipe, but I tweaked it, not liking cornichons, or dill, and husband not liking capers. I put grated parmesan in the sauce, and some chives, and made the rosti topping plain (but with the cheese on top). It was really, really good, though I say so myself

The fish stock I had to improvise fairly quickly as it turned out my tinned stock had gone bad (well, it was 2 years out of date!) so boiled up the heart of a celery plant with an onion, a chopped carrot, salt, freshly ground black pepper, and a handful of cleaned winkles that I just happened to have in the fridge. Simmered that lot together for about half an hour in some water, strained, then reduced it by about a third, and used. Would make proper fish stock ahead of time in future.

All the fish came from Clarke's, in Westport - to get back on topic (restaurants) I wish they had one because they sell great fish! The Quay Cottage in Westport is a good fish/seafood restaurant, but I wasn't stunned by the food there when I went - although others apparently have been.

Curry Addict

ashes bar main street dingle. after eating in most of the resturants in dingle we eventually tried this place. didnt expect much judging by the ancient pub style decor. ordered our food and it was astonishingly good. we have eaten in michelin star resturants, i wouldnt say the presentation or surroundings are as good but the flavours certainly were

User Friendly

Monks in ballyvaughan,clare

(not from experience,just what ive been told of the place)