The best restaurants in Ireland: how to find them

The best restaurants in Ireland share a few things: they cook with Irish produce in season, they are run by people who care about both the food and the welcome, and they are consistently good rather than good once. You will find them in Dublin, Cork and Galway, but just as often in food towns such as Dingle, Kinsale and Kilkenny and in country places that cook from their own gardens. The way to find them is to look at what people who ate there rated and photographed, recently, and to book ahead.

Ireland's food has changed enormously over the past couple of decades. Pub food and a good stew with brown bread are still part of it, and nobody is knocking them, but the range now runs from fine dining to market stalls, food trucks and some of the best seafood in Europe along the coast from Kerry to Donegal.

What makes a restaurant one of the best in Ireland?

Local ingredients, used well. Grass-fed beef and lamb, seafood from Irish waters, dairy and farmhouse cheese, and vegetables from nearby farms. Look for menus that change with the seasons and say where things come from.

Skilled, committed cooking. Many of Ireland's best chefs trained abroad before coming home; others built their reputations by mastering traditional cooking and giving it a modern edge. Either way, the sign is consistency.

Hospitality. The best places combine professional service with genuine warmth: staff who know the menu, care whether you enjoy it and are happy to talk you through it.

Character. A traditional pub dining room or a modern room with a sea view: the best places reflect where they are rather than looking like anywhere.

Where to find Ireland's best restaurants

Dublin. The widest choice in the country, from fine dining to casual places doing one thing very well. Temple Bar is a tourist favourite, but areas such as Camden Street, Capel Street and the Liberties are where many locals eat. Look for Dublin Bay prawns and produce from Wicklow, the Garden of Ireland.

Cork. Often called Ireland's food capital. The English Market has been trading since 1788 and supplies many of the city's kitchens, and West Cork's artisan producers make cheeses, charcuterie and drinks that turn up on menus across the county.

Galway. On the west coast, Galway is a natural place for seafood, including oysters from Galway Bay. Some places pair food with traditional music in the evening.

Food towns. Dingle, Kinsale and Kilkenny are each worth building a trip around, with a concentration of good places that a town of their size would not normally have.

The countryside. Some of Ireland's most memorable meals are in rural places that grow their own vegetables or buy from neighbouring farms. Many offer rooms, which makes them ideal for a weekend built around dinner.

To see what is highly rated across the country right now, start with Mosey's top-rated places in Ireland.

Look beyond the sit-down restaurant

Some of Ireland's most exciting food is in unpretentious settings: gastropubs, café counters, food trucks, market stalls, bakeries and the shops of independent producers. A brilliant seafood shack on the Kerry coast can be as memorable as any dining room. Ireland has also become far more international, with Indian, Thai, Japanese, Chinese and many other cuisines across the country, plus local inventions like the spice bag.

How do you tell which restaurants are actually good?

Read ratings for specifics. Useful ratings mention particular dishes and include photographs of the food. A rating that says the bread is the reason to come sends you in with a plan; one that says lovely does not.

Check the number and the dates. Four ratings and four hundred can show the same score and mean different things. Recent ratings describe the place as it is now.

Look for consistency over time. On Mosey, Gold is a mark a place earns when its ratings stay high over time. It cannot be bought, and nothing a place pays for moves it up a page.

Follow local food lovers. People who eat out constantly in a city are often the best guide to new openings and seasonal menus.

Go to food festivals and markets. Many places take part, which is a chance to taste their cooking before booking a table.

Our guide to telling if a restaurant is good goes further.

How to choose the right restaurant for you

The best restaurant in the country is not the best one for every evening. Consider:

• The occasion. A romantic dinner, a family celebration, a business meal or a catch-up with friends.
• Budget. Irish restaurants span every price range, and lunch is often the best-value way to try an expensive kitchen.
• Dietary needs. Many places now cater well for vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free diners. Check before you book.
• Getting there. Travel time, parking and public transport, especially for rural places.
• Booking. The most popular places need booking well ahead, particularly for weekend evenings.

Getting a table at Ireland's best restaurants

• Book early, especially for Friday and Saturday evenings and special occasions.
• Try midweek or lunch. Easier to book, and often better value.
• Join the waitlist. When a booked-out place has a cancellation, the table goes to the list rather than sitting empty.
• Check seasonal opening. Many places in tourist areas close or shorten their hours in winter.
• Cancel properly if you cannot make it. For a small place, an empty table is a real loss.

Travelling to eat

Planning a trip around food? Each city and town has a page on Mosey showing what people have rated there and which dishes come up again and again. There is also a section for food-led breaks: places to stay chosen for the kitchen rather than the room, which link you to the hotel's own site to book. See travel.

Talking to staff, and supporting the places you love

Irish restaurant staff generally want you to have a good time. Ask for recommendations, mention dietary needs, ask about the ingredients. It often leads to the best dish of the night.

Independent restaurants have had a hard few years. The best ones survive because people come back. Return to the places you love, buy a voucher as a present (vouchers and gifts), go to their events, and rate them with a photograph so the next person finds them.

Try it on Mosey

Open the top-rated places in Ireland, look at the photographs of what people ate, and save the ones you want to try to a list.