Worth the detour

When you travel as much as I do, a list of reliable pit-stops is essential. Irish motorways may have cut journey times, but aside from a clutch of service stops on the M4/M6 and M1, they’re culinary deserts.
So I have my go-to gastros — places I can stop knowing the diversion will be repaid with tasty fare, creative menus, friendly service and value for money. Partridge’s in Gorey is roughly half the journey time between Wexford and Dublin, it’s the perfect excuse to break a journey on the N11, with lost time generously made up for in the shape of a buzzy atmosphere, food sourced with care from local suppliers and producers, and a bill that won’t take another month off your recession-addled life.