I’m not at my best at breakfast. I’ll foggily sit down to coffee and poke at toast while the world has a chance to settle. Second brekker is better. After more caffeine and a generous quantity of time, I’m ready to consider a smoothie, maybe something with muesli or, if it’s the weekend and I’m feeling frisky, perhaps getting creative with eggs. I certainly can’t speak whole sentences until after the second shot of espresso.
All of that can make hotel breakfasts an ordeal, something which probably makes me a good judge. It must be special if I remember it fondly. The ingredients of a good hotel breakfast start with the location. It can be depressing to sit down in a room that’s clearly only recently recovered from the excesses of the previous evening. Add lukewarm bains-marie full of rubbery glistening items and you can start to feel completely miserable.
Hotel breakfasts during those Covid interludes when we were briefly let out ranged from care-package-style boxes left at the bedroom door (Dublin’s Trinity Townhouse – yum) or delivered at arm’s length in the diningroom (Kilkenny’s Pembroke – also very tasty), to arrays of beige cling-filmed things (too numerous to mention). The first full-on post-pandemic breakfast buffet I came across, on a trip to Istanbul, seemed slightly shocking, almost indecent. I soon warmed up. Now breakfast buffets are back with a vengeance and the best breakfasts have a tempting combination of help yourself and cooked to order. So where should you stay to get the best possible start to your day?
Bridge Street Town House, Kenmare, Co Kerry
Lucy O’Sullivan’s father, Roger, is an artisan butcher, which gives Lucy’s lovely guesthouse a head start on the sausage front. But it doesn’t stop there: add farm-laid eggs – sometimes even from duck or guinea fowl – plus pear and almond scones, home-made granola, seasonal fruit salad, honey from their own bees and fresh berries. Order eggs florentine, or eggs Benedict with smoked salmon, and be delighted with the side pots of rayu and other yummy stuff. The beds are damn comfy too. bridgestreettownhouse.com
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Mustard Seed, Co Limerick
Lovely, luxurious and 10 minutes from Adare, the Mustard Seed wins all sorts of awards, and you can see why when you sit down to breakfast. It’s all seasonal and, with the country house kitchen garden coming up with the goods, it’s also as local and fresh as you can get. At this time of year, enjoy apple and blackcurrant cordial, stewed apples and mixed-berry compote, pancakes, and fresh eggs with garden herbs and special Mustard Seed brown bread. mustardseed.ie
Imperial Hotel, Cork City
The prize for creativity has to go to Cork’s Imperial Hotel. When Covid nixed the breakfast buffet, they came up with breakfast delivery by birdcage ... well, not exactly a birdcage, more a cute take on the afternoon tea cake stand. Delivered to your table as soon as you sit down, you can munch croissants and yoghurts while you choose your main dish. It also cuts down on food waste and, as an added bonus, you can be sure that pastry has not been fondled by numerous other guests before you get to it. imperialhotelcork.com
Killarney Plaza and Cafe du Parc, Killarney, Co Kerry
Alongside bedrooms with lovely views of Killarney House and the national park, the Killarney Plaza scores special points on food provenance, with the herbs and greens on your brunch (served at the adjacent Cafe du Parc) grown just down the road at the hotel’s urban farm – a brilliant reuse of a former below-street-level nightclub. It’s so seasonal that things change regularly, but recent guests enjoyed ultra-fresh tomatoes, lettuce, micro greens and more. You do not even have to be a guest to tuck in. killarneyplaza.com; cafeduparckillarney.ie
Carved up at Ballynahinch, Connemara, Co Galway, and The Dunraven, Adare, Co Limerick
The Dunraven and Ballynahinch Castle are both famous in different ways for their warm and generous hospitality. If you’ve had a little too much of said hospitality the night before, their breakfasts are also brilliantly restorative. Carrying on the tradition of breakfast carvery ham, you can feel all baronial as you settle down to succulent slices, carved before your eyes. A word to the wise – Tupperware would most definitely be frowned upon, no matter how tempting it may be. Resolved to turn over a new leaf? They both have plenty of yoghurty, muesli and chia-related options too. ballynahinch-castle.com; dunravenhotel.com
Station House, Co Meath
Breakfast by a cosy open fire is just the ticket for winter, which is where Meath’s Station House picks up bonus points. Jams are home-made, and so are the breads and granola. Your cooked-to-order breakfasts include local Boyne Valley eggs and sausages, as well as kippers and mackerel if you like a fishier start to things. In summer time, you can have breakfast out on the terrace – and you can have breakfast in bed at any time of year. stationhousehotel.ie
Castlewood House and Pax House, Dingle, Co Kerry
Spoiled for choice in Dingle, your best bet is to extend your stay so you can weigh up the goodies on offer at Castlewood House and at Pax House. They’re both brilliant, and thank goodness there’s enough walking and water sports to be done in that neck of the woods so you can always work up an appetite for more. Castlewood has elevated porridge to a fine art and it is finished with wonderful toppings, plus a dash of Irish Mist, Baileys or Dingle Whiskey (which you can probably also ask for on the side, in a glass...) There’s an amazing buffet, plus a huge variety of cooked-to-order plates. “We love the wow factor,” says Castlewood’s Helen Heaton. You will too. castlewooddingle.com
Find Pax House further along the coast and revel in the home-baking, including soda bread, muffins, scones and Granny Kelly’s orange cake. Fresh fruits, yoghurts, local bacon and sausages, and free-range egg-filled omelettes and pea pancakes are all on the menu, alongside mouth-watering views. And who could resist an egg kept warm in its own little woolly sweater? You would have to be very hard (boiled) indeed not to be completely charmed. pax-house.com
The Wilder Townhouse, Dublin
Home-baking is also on the menu at Dublin’s Wilder Townhouse, just down from the Grand Canal and a short walk to St Stephen’s Green. Their breakfasts have won awards, and you can expect home-baking and all the usual cereals, juices, yoghurts and fresh fruits. Add smashed avocado and poached eggs, buttermilk pancakes, or go for the full Irish, all in the very charming Garden Room. The coffee is excellent too. irelands-blue-book.ie; thewilder.ie
Eccles Hotel, Glengarriff, Co Cork
The Eccles is one of those spots where you’re eating scenery as well as eating up your breakfast. The hotel is right on the edge of Glengarriff Harbour and Bantry Bay. Chef Eddie Attwell has worked in Michelin starred restaurants and his team cooks up breads, pastries and more. Graze on buffet bites, healthy fruity things, or go for the full-on cooked to order for the likes of eggs Benedict (which really does not do justice to what they achieve with this famous dish), waffles, or the traditional full Irish. There’s a lovely terrace out front to look forward to on warmer mornings. eccleshotel.com
Ashford Castle, Co Mayo
Breakfast at Ashford Castle is a special experience. The restaurant seems to be populated with soothing staff intent on wishing you well. The chefs forage for fresh stuff, raid local orchards and dig up things from the castle gardens. Scrambled eggs are topped with truffles and they add whiskey to your porridge – served from an elegant silver affair. They even have a juice sommelier. ashfordcastle.com
Ballymaloe House, Co Cork
You can’t do Best Breakfasts without getting into the whole Ballymaloe thing. Point a stick at a group of Irish chefs and you’re almost guaranteed to hit on someone who is Ballymaloe trained. And they know what they’re doing when it comes to the most important meal of the day. Home-made: tick. Artisan: tick. Fresh, seasonal and local: tick, tick, tick. Fish is from Ballycotton, or from Frank Hederman, while almost everything else, from honey to the sausages, comes from the Ballymaloe Farm, where their coffee is also roasted. They even have their own Ballymaloe tea blend. ballymaloe.ie
Number 31, Dublin
Number 31 is a game of two halves. Opt for a Georgian town house room, or one of the super-stylish mews rooms, designed by Sam Stephenson in full-on 1960s mood. The owners have added an art deco twist, so you can get thoroughly confused as to which era you’re in, but you cannot go wrong at breakfast. Served at communal tables in the conservatory, there are all sorts of delicious fruits, frittatas, smoked salmon, airy omelettes and the house special: Delia’s cranberry and orange nut loaf. number31.ie
