O'Reilly's Tripe and Drisheen is a cork food heritage restaurant in English Market Quarter, Cork.
Editorially verified May 26, 2026 by Lewis Vaughan, TableJourney editor. Source.
Why locals love it: The product (tripe and drisheen) is so distinctively Cork that most non-Cork visitors walk past assuming it is not for them.
Address: The English Market, Grand Parade, Cork
The corner of Barrack Street and Evergreen Street holds two of Cork's most-loved off-the-track rooms - Alchemy on one corner, Miyazaki on the other.
Why locals love it: Barrack Street is off the standard tourist map; the bookshop-coffee hybrid format is underrepresented in food guides that categorise venues as either cafes or bookshops, not both
A Korean specialty cafe, microroastery and barista academy brought to Cork by Daniel and Sunmi in 2020. The in-house roasting on a small-batch machine.
Why locals love it: Douglas Street is off the standard visitor routes; the Korean specialty method and the in-house roasting operation are not visible from the street.
Ireland's Supreme Champion cider, produced by Daniel and Geraldine Emerson from Cork apples since 2010. A wine-standard craft cider found on Cork menus.
Why locals love it: Available in bottles across Cork but the farm itself is not open for regular visits.
Cork's most photogenic traditional pub, reached down a laneway off Patrick Street that the English Market guidebooks barely mention. The dark, fire-warmed.
Why locals love it: Mutton Lane is a narrow passage off Patrick Street that leads into the English Market complex.
A tiny Japanese counter on Evergreen Street that most Cork visitors walk past, where chef Takashi Miyazaki serves salmon zuke donburi to a handful of seats.
Why locals love it: Barrack Street location outside the tourist corridor; no signage visible from the main road; no website; queues require local knowledge about opening times
The O'Donnell family's pub since 1924, with a no-mobile-phones policy that ensures it never appears in anyone's Instagram feed. Cork's most authentic pub.
Why locals love it: No website, no social media, no phone answered; the no-phones policy inside means no Instagram photos shared; only found by locals who know the door
