Galway has had a Michelin star longer than most provincial Irish cities and a market culture older than the country. The food scene here is small but consistently the most interesting in the west.
Aniar, the long-running star
Aniar on Lower Dominick Street has held a Michelin star since 2013. It is run by JP McMahon, who is also the founder of Food on the Edge, the international food symposium that brings two hundred chefs to Galway every October. The menu is hyper-local, almost everything sourced within fifty kilometres, and the room is small enough that the chef occasionally comes out to deliver a course. Tasting menu around a hundred and ten euros. Book at least three weeks ahead.
Loam, second star
Loam, in the Geata na Cathrach building near Eyre Square, holds a Michelin star and a different aesthetic to Aniar. Where Aniar is austere and ingredient-led, Loam plays with technique and presentation more. Tasting menu is in similar territory price-wise, the room is bigger and easier to book.
Saturday Market, Church Lane
The Galway Market behind St Nicholas Church runs every Saturday morning year-round, with extra trading on summer Sundays. It is small enough to walk every stall in twenty minutes and you can leave with a full bag of cheese, bread, sausages, oysters, olives and proper coffee for under thirty euros. The Old Marrakech stall does a Moroccan flatbread and stew lunch that locals queue for.
Where do I get the best oysters?
Moran's of the Weir, in Kilcolgan ten kilometres south of the city, is the destination oyster restaurant. Native oysters from September to April when the sea is colder, Pacific oysters year-round. The seafood chowder is also worth the trip. In Galway city itself, Tigh Neachtain on Quay Street and the Quays Bar both do good oysters at the bar.
What is the Galway International Oyster and Seafood Festival?
The world's longest-running oyster festival, every late September. The Galway Oyster Festival began in 1954 and now hosts the World Oyster Opening Championship, where shucking professionals from twenty countries compete. The festival weekend itself is excellent fun even if you do not enter, with marquees on the Spanish Arch and food stalls along the river. Tickets for the headline events sell out by August.
What about for breakfast or coffee?
Coffeewerk and Press on Quay Street is the longest-running specialty coffee in town and has a tight food menu of pastries and toasties. Massimo on William Street does the most consistent Italian-style breakfast. For a proper sit-down breakfast or brunch, Cava Bodega's weekend menu is the local pick.
Kai, the all-day favourite
Kai on Sea Road is the restaurant Galwegians take their parents to and bring their friends back to. Open all day, with a brunch, lunch and dinner menu, all in the casual sub-Michelin territory but consistently excellent. Run by Jess Murphy, who has been one of the loudest advocates for Irish small producers in the country.
Where can I get a proper meal under thirty euros?
Cava Bodega on Middle Street does Spanish small plates and you can eat well for around twenty-five euros at lunch. Tartare on Dominick Street has a similar small-plates approach with French and modern Irish ingredients. Both are run by the same Aniar group as the Michelin restaurants and are essentially their casual operations.
What to skip
Quay Street has a row of tourist-oriented restaurants that all serve nearly identical seafood platters at inflated prices. Walk one street up to William Street or Mainguard Street and the quality goes up while the price comes down.