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Ten Irish restaurants where you’ll have a great time with friends

From Kerry to Clare and Cork to Dublin, you’ll struggle to have a bad meal in these special spots

Excuse my French in Ranelagh, Dublin: Husband and wife team Colin Dupont and Sidjy Batista. Photograph Nick Bradshaw

Corinna Hardgrave

Fri Nov 28 2025 - 05:00 • 2 MIN READ

Adrift Dunmore House

West Cork; dunmorehousehotel.ie/adrift-restaurant

Michelin added Adrift to its guide for dishes such as “Galley Head lobster, tomato water, garden herbs”, with produce picked daily from the Ocean Garden. A great place to dine with friends.

Bastion

Kinsale, Co Cork; bastionkinsale.com

Head here for the Discovery menu (€80), from brioche and langoustine to rabbit and chocolate caramel.

Black Pig

Kinsale, Co Cork; theblackpigwinebar.com/

Award-winning wine bar with 250 bottles, 100 wines by the glass and sharp local plates, made for nights with friends.

Excuse my French

Ranelagh, Dublin 6; excusemyfrench.ie/

Chef Sidjy and sommelier Colin serve French cooking with changing menus for brunch, lunch and dinner, matched with French wines, cocktails or coffee in a warm, relaxed setting.

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Gregans Castle

The Burren, Co Clare; gregans.ie

In a diningroom with sweeping views of the Burren, head chef Jonathan Farrell serves a €110 five-course menu where technique and skill run through every plate – from finely balanced mackerel tartare with gooseberries to seasonal duck with garden produce.

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Hera

Drumcondra, Dublin 1; opentable.com/r/juno-restaurant-dublin-1

A Mediterranean-inspired neighbourhood gastropub where smoked cod tarama, crisp broccoli fritti and chicken-pancetta meatballs lead to a standout brown butter miso tart.

Osteria Lucio

Grand Canal Quay, Dublin 2; osterialucio.com

Start with pasta such as linguine pomodoro, share the suckling pig shoulder al forno for two (€68), and finish with tiramisu.

Sea Shanty

Blackrock, Co Dublin; instagram.com/seashantyblackrock/

At Conway’s in Blackrock, Elena Segura and Sebastian Sainz serve tins of seafood with focaccia and crisps, oysters from Woodstown to Cromane, and a crisp calamari taco, backed by a sharp low-intervention wine list by the glass.

Solas Tapas

Dingle, Co Kerry; solastapas.com

A menu for sharing that runs from oysters and sardines to croquettes and empanadas, with bigger plates such as fig tempura, day-boat fish and a rib of beef for two.

The Grain Store at Killruddery

Co Wicklow; killruddery.com/pages/the-grain-store

Open from Friday to Sunday for lunch, with a seasonal supper club on weekend evenings. Head chef Niall O’Sullivan leads a kitchen rooted in the estate’s garden and farm, with provenance at its core