20 great places to enjoy an outdoor dish or drink in Cork
Good Day Deli is a peaceful haven in the middle of the city.
A lovely BBQ courtyard adds yet another awesome angle to enormously talented Michelin-starred chef Ahmet Dede Turkish take on superb local West Cork produce. On cold days, rugs and a timber stove, keep you cosy and snug.
The Leeside take on a Munich beerhall is a magnificent area for drinking, eating and carousing, excellent beers and superb pizzas from in-house Pompeii Woodfired Pizza.
Exquisitely located in gorgeous gardens, an inner-city oasis where the GDD team serve a fine menu of locally sourced produce, Irish craft beers, natural wines and fine confections from their sleek and stylish garden restaurant with plenty of outdoor tables.
Mother Nature does the heavy lifting in furnishing Arundel’s with a stupendous waterside location on stunning Sheep’s Head in West Cork. The Moloney brothers, Michael and chef Tom, offer a menu strong on hyper-local produce, including superb grower Tim York, fish/seafood from local boats landing in sight of the pub, and meat from excellent O’Donoghue’s craft butchers in Bantry. Look out for mussels, lobster, open crab sandwiches, fresh pan-fried mackerel.
A cracking covered outdoor barn copes with all manner of elemental challenges and in high summer, the whole courtyard comes into play with a great grub, an always cracking wine and craft beer list.
Entirely reinvigorated under a new ownership regime, this stately treasure with exquisite gardens and ground (and artist James Turrell’s magnificent Sky Garden), is set to finally realise its enormous potential, this summer, an additional boon for the town of Skibbereen. Head chef Alex Petit is set to deliver on his passion for Irish seafood with a simple and contemporary menu of fine West Cork produce.
Legendary fish smoker Sally Barnes has attached a charming wooden structure alongside her smokery, from whence to sip natural wines, nibble on tasting platters of her divine smoked fish and enjoy glorious sunset views across West Cork to Kerry, for a unique Irish food experience. www.woodcocksmokery.com
Fabulous covered beer garden with guest food trucks, this summer including Bia Rebel, the Belfast-based ramen and noodle bar.
Quality fish and chips stars on a varied menu from The Field Kitchen, served up in a vast, family-friendly beer garden with ample coverage from a retractable ‘roof’.
Gorgeous views with a seriously revamped menu strong on local produce, dog-friendly.
Also part of the Market Lane group, Castle Cafe in Blackrock Castle courtyard perched over a bend in the River Lee is one of the most impressive outdoor dining locations in the country on a good day.
Food truck-style dining that trades through the winter and is a real daytripper’s favourite.
The ever-popular Market Lane mothership and fleet takes to the street with sublimely outfitted dining setups (also spreading onto Beasley St and Orso, on Pembroke St).
With 17 areas pedestrianised and more to come, Cork’s potential is limitless. Check out Princes St, Oliver Plunkett St, The Coal Quay, Caroline St and Union Quay.
Family-friendly keystone of one of West Cork’s most popular beach destinations, including food truck pizza and fish and chips.
Gorgeous garden and an excellent menu featuring superb local produce. Good cocktail list.
Tasty fresh seafood and a lofty perch from which to savour view to die for. On a fine summer day, you might well be on the Italian Mediterranean coastline as in West Cork—mind you, on a good day, West Cork wins out!
