Post Tagged with: "out to lunch"

THERE are advantages to a late Easter. The weather usually improves in the second half of April, there’s a short time between the next Bank Holiday weekend and it’s a time when restaurants and cafés spruce up their menus and, literally, bring something new to the table. This is especially […]

Wild Cafe Corner of The Mall and Ashe Street IT might be only February, but there’s a real buzz about the food business in Tralee at the moment that suggests optimism for the year ahead. Croí has been getting great reviews since it opened last May, The Brogue is absolutely […]

Spillane’s Bar Maharees SOMETIMES we forget how lucky we are here in Kerry. But a timely reminder comes every time the sun comes out. We don’t have to go far in Tralee with the gorgeous skyline by the canal or the beautiful town park. But recently on a stunning Saturday, […]

Cork International Hotel Cork Airport THERE was something soulless in the past about airport hotels that made you glad you weren’t staying very long. They were normally a stop-gap for an early morning flight or somewhere to lay your head if the plane gets in late and you were too tired to drive […]

Chez Christophe Courthouse Lane IT’S been two and a half years since I last visited this French restaurant on Courthouse Lane. That afternoon in July I enjoyed one of the best lunches I reviewed in almost three years – a chicken supreme with bacon and mushroom sauce, served with boiled white rice and […]

The Bookshelf Coffee House Manor East THE last few years has seen a resurgence of stylish-looking  restaurants and cafes in town. The Roast House led the way with cool decor, chilled out background music, impeccable coffee and delicious dishes, No.4 On The Square is perhaps the town’s most hip and stylish restaurant […]

No.4 On The Square The Square THERE’S a bit of hustle and bustle about the town of late, as time starts to run out to grab those Christmas pressies. Of course, a great part of all that shopping is taking a break and that’s where the town’s bars and restaurants […]

Mozart’s Ashe Street THE Ashe Street/Courthouse Lane part of town is becoming a real diverse ‘cuisine quarter’ of town in the past year. As well as LANA Asian Street Food opening in the past couple of months, Il Forno has been dishing out quality Italian fare since last October and […]

Le Rustique Princes’ Street I LOVE French cuisine…but then who doesn’t? The rich sauces, the fantastic combinations of ingredients, the decadent cakes and desserts; what’s not to love? Ok, your arteries won’t thank you for it, but indulgence every now and then can’t be bad for you. So I was […]

O’Donnell’s Restaurant & Bar Mounthawk It’s almost over now. The end of the Festival always signals the last days of summer, the return to school and the days getting shorter. I know, it’s depressing (but at least the Premiership’s back, the rugby is starting again and Kerry are still in the championship…depending […]

Various Restaurants Ballybunion SINCE the summer holidays are still here and people like to get out on day trips, I thought I’d take the food review on tour this week. First off, I have to confess more than a grá for Ballybunion. My better half hails from the beautiful seaside town and I’ve […]

Kirby’s Brogue Inn Rock Street HAVE you noticed there seems to be more tourists around than normal this year? It’s a common feature I’ve found when visiting bars and hotels over the past number of months. Many are putting it down to people avoiding mainland Europe, northern Africa and Turkey for fear […]

The Mercantile Bar Manor West Hotel THE last time I was in the Mercantile Bar for a bite to eat was in November 2014. The bar was packed with hungry shoppers refuelling for the afternoon ahead and the lunch of chowder and open flat bread with tomato tapenade, hummus, black olives, […]

Mary Anne’s Tea Rooms Denny Street SOMETIMES, as natives, we really underappreciate the beauty of Denny Street. Walking up the grand old street on Friday, I tried to imagine myself as a tourist seeing it for the first time and admiring the Georgian buildings with the imposing Ashe Memorial Hall […]

The Station House Blennerville LIVING on the west side of town near the canal, I really missed The Station House over the past few years. It was nice to stroll over the bridge for a bite to eat and a pint in the evenings before a picturesque walk home. I was […]

Gastro Pub @ Benners Hotel Castle Street AS much as the curmudgeon in me complains about the Hallmark-promoted racket that is Father’s Day, I confess that I really enjoyed it this year. I resolved to take the afternoon off work and my better half declared we were going to a restaurant in the […]

Gallys Bar Castlemaine Road BEFORE heading out to lunch on Friday, I looked up my review from the last time I was in Gallys and saw it was May 17, 2014. Two years is a long time in the food game, so I decided to see if their standards were as high […]

Johnny Franks Bar Meadowlands Hotel WE finally got some really good weather on Friday and it appears the whole town took advantage of it. There was an exodus to the beaches while the Town Park saw an influx of lunchtime walkers and diners, probably keen to soak up any fine weather ‘just […]

Dott’s Bar The Rose Hotel SO much for waiting for things to quieten down! When The Rose Hotel revamped its bar back in late March, I looked forward to writing about the food, changes to the decor and menu in the amazing new look hotel. But I decided it would be unfair […]

Brooks Restaurant Ballygarry House Hotel THE last time I reviewed food at Ballygarry it was a cold, wet, wintry afternoon 14 months ago. I sat in the Leebrook Bar, in front of an inviting open fire, eating a delicious roast pork lunch and contemplated abandoning the afternoon’s work in favour of […]

The Stonehouse Restaurant The Square THE column changes from ‘Out To Lunch’ to ‘Dinner’ for the second time in as many weeks (I know, I know, the decadent life of a journalist) as there was a birthday in our little family and we decided to head down town for an early bird to a place […]

Gaudinos Castle Street WHEN I last reviewed Gaudinos in January 2015, in its former life as the Allegro (click here), I had the same thing I’d always had as an adult going there – my guilty pleasure of liver, bacon and chips. But it’s no longer the Allegro. The restaurant has a new name […]

Bella Bia Ivy Terrace WHERE do I start with Bella Bia? The ‘sacred cow’ of Tralee dining, praise for Bella Bia is so universal that I almost feel any criticism of the culinary experience would result in an angry mob outside my house with burning sods of turf on pikes demanding […]

Pappy’s Bar Ballyseede Castle Hotel I LOVE Ballyseede Castle Hotel. It’s a classy slice of olde world charm™ just a few miles from the hustle of modern Tralee town and is hugely popular as a wedding venue for couples who want something extra special. Having reviewed every other place in Tralee […]

Lakeside Cafe Tralee Bay Wetlands I NEVER thought of the Wetlands as somewhere to specifically go to have lunch. I don’t know why, but I always thought the Lakeside Cafe inside as a place for people get a coffee or a quick sandwich while taking a break from the activities at the […]

Brudair’s Coffee Shop Abbey Court SOMETIMES you just want something simple. I was in town on Friday with a few jobs to do, so I  needed a quick, simple lunch and a cup of tea. I left the car in the Tesco car park and while strolling down Abbeycourt I realised […]

  Kingdom Food And Wine Store Oakpark Road THIS week’s column is more of an ‘in for lunch’ than ‘out for lunch’ as I took the food home to my own kitchen. You see the Kingdom Food And Wine Store isn’t a restaurant or cafe, rather a place to stop off to […]

Benners Cafe Castle Street WE’RE going through some sort of food and drink revolution in Tralee at the moment. Let’s recap. In the past two months, two new hotels – The Ashe and Benners – have opened, each with their own gastropub; a new nightclub started with Quarters; the lads […]

‘Coffee Start’ The Mall TRALEE people were saddened when Charlie’s on The Mall closed its doors on Christmas Eve. For many over the past 30 years, the cafe/bakery was a place to stop off for a chat and a bite to eat, while many a school romance was kindled there over […]

The Gastro Bar And Restaurant The Ashe Hotel SO we’re back with our lunch reviews. After running out of places to review a couple of months ago, suddenly we have had The Ashe Hotel, Benners Hotel and Coffee Start on The Mall open recently, giving us somewhere new to go. I […]