When Ireland’s most famous food writer recommends a restaurant in a Chinese shop in Limerick, you would be foolish to ignore it. In 2022 the Guardian newspaper opined that Blindboy was producing “some of the best food writing being published anywhere right now”, so Carnival it is, a Chinese food store at the top of William Street.
It is perhaps an abstruse starting point, but I always enjoy walking around a city, getting a sense of the different neighbourhoods. The shop is busy, with deliveries being unloaded and lugged down to the back. To the left hand side is Soba, a seated area where a devoted few are buried in steaming bowls of ramen and pho, but I’m there for the Mála Spice Bag. “This spice bag tastes like a burnt-out car,” says Blindboy on his podcast. “And when you eat it you don’t know whether you like it or not. But when you walk away from it you can’t stop thinking about it.”
Piping hot, crispy chips and chicken strips are sprinkled with Sichuan pepper and scattered with fine slices of fresh red chilli. It is indeed numbing as he had described, the sort of heat that can revitalise a soul on a ruinously wet day, but today, it is carbon neutral, devoid of torched car. And the seasoning is not just spicy, it is making an earnest grab for my recommended weekly salt intake.
After a walk of 15 minutes to Treaty City Brewery on Nicholas Street, a flight of craft beer quells the heat and refreshes my parched palate. You can do a tour of Treaty City, learn about craft brewing and get a bit of history on the building and on brewing in Limerick, which dates from the 1700s. For me it’s a rather lovely stopping point on the city’s three-bridge walk along the Shannon and a chance to earwig on the chat between the barman and a local artist.
Limerick city is changing – at long last, many of the locals would say – and here in the Medieval Quarter, you get a sense of the young energy that is breathing life into a city that is crying out to be lived in. When Limerick goes to the polls on June 7th this year, it will be the first city in Ireland to publicly elect a lord mayor. With it comes the expectation of an increased focus on regeneration and on transformative developments such as the 10-acre Cleeves Riverside Quarter.
At the end of the three bridge walk is No 1 Pery Square, a boutique hotel opened by Patricia Robson in 2009. It overlooks the tree-lined People’s Park, in the Georgian neighbourhood where tax schemes have been introduced in the form of The Living City Initiative to incentivise the regeneration of historic buildings. Sash, the hotel restaurant, is very much the place to go for dinner in Limerick city. Local produce is prominently featured on the menu, including Kevin Wallace’s organic vegetables from New Leaf Urban Farm, which he recently relocated to the 19th-century walled garden at the O’Grady estate in Kilballyowen, Bruff.
Robson is widely considered to be one of Limerick’s visionaries. She could see the potential in the area, but says it has taken considerably longer than she expected. In the past few years, she has seen an increase in the number of people moving into the city, renovating period buildings and opening daytime food businesses.
One of these people is Dalton Greene, who owns Rift, a coffee shop and larder on nearby Mallow Street. Greene, originally from Tipperary, lives in the city in a 100-year-old terraced two bedroom cottage just five minutes from his business.
“Limerick has been perpetually on the up and hasn’t quite got there yet,” he says. “It’s an interesting city, it’s quite affordable and there are some interesting things going on. There is a lot more vitality in the city, and it’s definitely getting there.”
He bought his house for less than €150,000 just four years ago. He initially invested €10,000 when he opened Rift at the beginning of 2020, and is now in the process of expanding into the unit next door, doubling the seating capacity of the cafe. His focus is on top-quality coffee, with local produce featuring on the dishes that are served in the cafe.
He is also very much at the forefront of the natural wine movement in Limerick, selling a carefully selected range of low-intervention bottles. He had in the past operated as a wine bar with small plates in the evening during the summer months and will be doing it again from the end of May when renovations are complete. As he is in the business district of Limerick city, the day trade has always been robust, so he is hoping to attract some footfall at night.
Also bringing a wine experience to Limerick is Cavavin, which opened on Bedford Row last September. It is an off-licence with a cheese and charcuterie counter, and does a busy sandwich trade during the day. Evening tasting events run in the wine bar upstairs.
One of the pioneers of third-wave coffee in Limerick is Paul Williams, who opened Canteen (where Rift is now based) 12 years ago. He is now in a larger premises on Catherine Street, where you will also find Fika; Klaud9 is on Thomas Street, and most recently, Alan Andrews of The Old Barracks Coffee Roastery opened the new Guji coffee shop on O’Connell Street.
There’s a wonderfully untouched quality about Limerick. You will still find key cutters and shoe repair shops on the main streets, along with plenty of old-school pubs
Quality bakeries are another key indicator of a city that is taking its food offering more seriously, and at Angel Dust patisserie, Finn Robson’s choux, eclairs, macaroons, blood orange tarts and croissants sell out fast. For sourdough, quiches and pies, visit Sunflower, which trades at The Milk Market on Cornmarket Row on Saturdays. Other traders include Sefik Dikyar, who makes wonderful baklava; Bon Appétit crepes (the longest queue in the market); The Cheese Press; Herst Botanicals kombucha; sea herbs from Thalli; fishmongers, butchers and local growers; and Peter Ward of Country Store from Nenagh.
Wickham Way, at the top of Thomas Street, which Eva Clarke opened in 2021, is a vibrant market in a former plant hire shop, strung with bunting and festival lights. With about 30 food stalls, most of which are hot food, you get a sense of the broader community living in Limerick, with Chilean food from Sebastian Silva and Lisette Godoy of Lizz Bakery; medialuna and fractura from Alfajores Argentinos; and dosa from Raasta Foods. Nearby on High Street, in Dasco Deli, Gwen and Carlos Dasco offer a compelling choice between a full Irish breakfast and Filipino specialities such as tapsilog, a breakfast dish of marinated beef, garlic rice and a fried egg, which is served with beef broth, apple and cucumber salad.
[ County-by-county guide to the best places to eat in IrelandOpens in new window ]
There’s a wonderfully untouched quality about Limerick. You will still find key cutters and shoe repair shops on the main streets, along with plenty of old-school pubs. Among the most popular are Tom Collins, the Front Bar at Nancy Blake’s, JJ Bowles, Locke’s Bar, Charlie Malones and Souths. The White House attracts the theatre crowd (you might catch a reading by Miles Breen), and for a nice bowl of chowder overlooking the river, The Curragower Bar is a local favourite.
Head out of town for more dining options. While you may not expect to find a notable restaurant on the University of Limerick campus, The East Room at Plassey House is a bit special. Previously a private dining room in the president’s office, when Derek Fitzpatrick took over as chef in 2017, it was opened to the public. He now serves an a-la-carte and tasting menu at dinnertime, with a more pared-back menu at lunchtime.
The impossibly pretty town of Adare is just a 15-minute drive from Limerick, and as well as the grandeur of Adare Manor and the Michelin-starred Oak Room restaurant led by chef Mike Tweedie, there are some seriously good places to eat. David and Petra Hay’s charming daytime cafe Logr is the place to drop into if you want top-tier pancakes or French toast with berries, a light lunch or a pastry with a cup of coffee. There are fresh flowers on each table and the no-laptops rule during 10am-2pm means there is always a community atmosphere.
Wade and Elaine Murphy’s restaurant 1826 Adare is similarly relaxed but advance booking is absolutely essential. The dinner menu reflects the seasons, with plenty of fish and seafood options – oysters, crab and black sole on the bone – local lamb, beef and chicken; everything cooked with precision and just the right amount of embellishment.
For something more old school, The Dunraven is an absolute treat. It was listed in the very first Michelin guide for the UK and Ireland, published in 1911, and is all about a classic approach to service with white linen-clad tables and waiters with long white aprons. The €45 Sunday carvery lunch is the thing to go for. A dedicated fridge for ageing the beef carcasses means the prime roast rib of beef is spectacularly good. It is hand-carved on the trolley in the dining room by Louis Murphy, the hotel proprietor, served cooked to your taste with Yorkshire pudding and all the trimmings. Do yourself a favour and book in overnight; it is the most wonderful way to finish off a weekend in Limerick.
Corinna Hardgrave was a guest of Fáilte Ireland
