Eating Out

Breakfast

Ethnic/Specialist

Cafes

Fast Food/Take Away

By Area

Galway City is renowned as a city of culinary delights. It was once the wine capital of Ireland and to accompany the fine wines imported by the merchants of Galway the city developed a reputation for fine food.That reputation is maintained today more than ever in the many fine restaurants to be found throughout the city.

Its significant that today in France a strong Galway influence can be found in the winemakers of the Bordeaux region. A group of wine merchants left Galway in the 1700s to escape the persecution of the Penal Laws. Bordeaux in France had traditionally been a trading partner.

The merchants who had already developed trading links with this area left for Bordeaux and made it their new home free from the oppressive laws they had encountered in Ireland.

Today the Galway connection is still strong particularly among the Bordeaux producers Chateau Lynch Bages and Chateau Kirwan. A passion for fine wines still remains in Galway today. The Merchants Wine Club is one of Galways leading retail outlets and over 400 wines are stocked here.

This Wine Club is located in the Corn Store, Middle Street, Galway. Many of the wines stocked are produced by small independent producers and therefore not to be found in the larger outlets or in the supermarkets. The Merchant Wine Club offers its customers a free delivery service, free customer newsletter and regular wine tastings.

Galway has more restaurants per head of population than any other Irish city. There is a love among Galwegians for all types of food, judging by the variety of restaurants available. Food is wholesome and adventurous at the economy and at the more luxurious end of the market. Local and continental food exists side by side. French, Italian, Indian, Mexican, Chinese, Irish, the list is endless.

Whatever your taste-buds require, this city can produce and deliver to excellent standards. Eating out in Galway is essentially a sociable affair. Galwegians enjoy good food and good company on a regular basis. They take both very seriously, including them as among the finer things in life and therefore to be cultivated when discovered.

Given the Irish love for story-telling, conversation and wit, good company is almost as important as good food. You'll find both easy to find in the City of Tribes. Its a relxed way of life here, so there is no need to dress for dinner as may be required elsewhere. Casual but neat is probably the required dictum for most restaurants during the evening time.

Portions are generous in Ireland- you'll find it difficult to stick to a diet. The quality of the meat and seafood is truly outstanding. Unless you are vegetarian you shouldn't miss having fish in Galway.

Oysters, salmon and sea trout are truly delicious and are usually taken freshly from the water that day. Lobster, crayfish, crab, scallops, and mussels are available throughout the summer. Galway Bay's famous oysters are at their best when there is an 'R' in the month and don't be too surprised if you're offered some seaweed by the barman to taste with your pint of Guinness. Be patient, remember both are an acquired taste!.

The Oyster season officially opens in September and closes at the end of April. Galway now boosts two oyster festivals during the year. The Galway International Oyster Festival which takes place in Galway City in September every year and the Clarenbridge Oyster Festival which is located just a few miles outside Galway on the N18(Limerick Rd), is held during the same month.

Clarenbridge is world renowned as oyster country. It has a plentiful supply of rich oyster beds around its coast and its the oyster harvesting tradition that has evolved into a local festival every year. Those who attend the Galway Oyster festival, now in its 41st year get a chance to see how the skill of opening oysters with speed is achieved. The best oyster openers in the world compete to see who has the greatest dexterity in this area. Galwegians take their oysters seriously as this competiton demonstrates. Rules are drawn up and strictly adhered to.

The finest Galway Bay oysters are selected. Each competitor has to open thirty of the shellfish. Speed is important but presentation is rated just as highly. Penalties are imposed if for example the oyster has shell or grit on its flesh. At the end points are added up and a winner declared.

The seriousness of the competitors indicates that oysters are a serious business in Galway, so sit back and enjoy it if you're lucky enough to be in Galway City on the last weekend of September. If not try to get there when there's an 'R' in the month. Failing either of these don't leave without tasting the fish. Definitely among the best in the country. Galways restaurants increase in number every year.

They offer good food, often produced locally, cooked to perfection by creative chiefs and served in wonderful surroundings. Each restaurant has an ambience all of its own. Most restaurant owners have worked hard to perfect what they offer to the customer. Competition in Galway is tough. If you don't produce to the highest quality you don't survive.

For many it has become a labour of love, the creation of an experience, combining good food and drink with a certain atmosphere that is indivivual to every restaurant. The Irish have a saying 'A stranger is a friend you haven't met'. Dining out in Galway can be like that. You discover the most wonderful places and return again and again until it becomes like an old friendship.

Advertisements