Modern Tastes

What’s out there

We’re talking artisan cheese; super-fresh oysters, mussels and hand-dived scallops; estate venison; grass-fed free-range beef; extraordinary sea vegetables plucked from salty Atlantic waters; homemade fudge and handmade chocolate; award-winning black pudding; the prized Comber potato; rich, deep yellow country butter – all of these ingredients, and basket-loads more, are being used to their best advantage by innovative and exciting chefs all over the island of Ireland.

Local, with an international reputation

Gaining attention all over the world, this modern Irish cuisine is pushing new boundaries with dishes that catapult Ireland’s ingredients into a new culinary sphere. The bold mix of Irish produce and international influences has hit its zenith at restaurants such as the one Michelin Star Cliff House Hotel in County Waterford, where Head Chef Matrijn Kajuiter invents creative dishes like “Bantry Bay Organic Salmon with bonbob, mi-cuit, iced marinated garden beetroot, pickled cucumber, herb cream, salmon eggs and whiskey oak smoke”.

Elsewhere, you’ll find country houses and small hotels that are becoming bastions of modern Irish, with a focus on local produce mixed with pure imagination. Among those causing a stir right now are Gregan’s Castle in County Clare, Newforge House in County Armagh, the award-winning Lough Erne Resort in County Fermanagh, and Dunbrody House in County Wexford. You can come for the food, and stay the night while you’re at it!

Urban Favourites

City-wise, the mood is cutting-edge, with a good dose of old-school comfort thrown in. Dublin’s Winding Stair restaurant is a hotbed of modern-traditional cooking on the edge of the River Liffey. Housed in a well worn, much loved bookshop, the space has a relaxed boho aesthetic with sophisticated comfort food such as steamed Lissadell mussels and homemade chips. And yes, all the ingredients are Irish! In Belfast, chefs such as Michael Deane and Paul Rankin have established the city as a high-end gourmet destination, but the mood right now is for simple robust dishes done to perfection with restaurants such as the trendy eaterie Made in Belfast, The Barking Dog, and Deanes at Queens.

If you’re after something more refined, try the one Michelin-starred restaurants Chapter One and L’Ecrivain. Meanwhile, in Londonderry, Brown’s Restaurant is thrilling the critics with a modern Irish menu that keeps it local while mixing up the influences – think fritto misto of local squid or pan-seared fillet of Green Castle monkfish with sautéed potatoes, leeks and mushroom. Basically, think yummy.