The plates that define Cork: what they are, and where to eat the canonical version.
The plates that define Cork. what they are, where they came from, and where to eat the canonical version.
Cork's most distinctive food tradition: beef cured for one to two weeks in a dry rub of allspice, juniper berries, black pepper, cinnamon, cloves and brown sugar, then slow-boiled and served cold in thin slices.
Where: Tom Durcan Meats, English Market
Cork's oldest working-class food tradition, pairing cow's stomach lining (tripe) with drisheen - a Cork blood pudding made from sheep's blood and cream, set in a casing.
Where: O'Reilly's Tripe and Drisheen, Farmgate Cafe
Goldie on Oliver Plunkett Street is Cork's most celebrated dedicated fish restaurant, operating a daily-changing menu built entirely on that morning's landings from Cork harbour, Kinsale and Union Hall.
Where: Goldie
The Farmgate Cafe's full Irish breakfast on the upper floor of the English Market is the most atmospheric cooked breakfast in Cork. All ingredients come directly from the market traders below: Tom Durcan's sausages,.
Where: Farmgate Cafe, The English Market
Murphy's Irish Stout, brewed at the Leitrim Street brewery since 1856, is Cork's answer to Guinness and its Leeside residents are fierce in their loyalty.
Where: The Long Valley Bar, An Spailpin Fanach, The Mutton Lane Inn
O'Flynn's Gourmet Sausages, trading in the English Market since 1921, produces Cork's most distinctive artisan sausage range. The Cork Boi, a pork sausage with Murphy's stout and herbs, is the signature product.
Where: O'Flynn's Gourmet Sausages, English Market
Nash 19 on Princes Street is Cork's best-loved daytime cafe, known for open sandwiches and breakfast plates built on produce sourced from Princes Street market traders and county suppliers.
Where: Nash 19
Market Lane on Oliver Plunkett Street dry-ages its beef in-house for a minimum of 28 days from Cork and Munster farms, making it the most consistent fine-cut steak option in Cork city for over a decade.
Where: Market Lane
Paradiso on Lancaster Quay has been Cork's foremost vegetarian restaurant since 1993 under chef-owner Denis Cotter. The seasonal vegetable tasting menu draws on Penelope Gaffney's organic farm in East Cork.
Where: Paradiso
Cork's signature dishes include Cork Spiced Beef, Tripe and Drisheen, Goldie Whole Grilled Fish, Farmgate Cafe Breakfast Plate, Murphy's Stout Properly Poured. See our signature dishes chapter for where to eat each.