Oysters · Book it
Book the oyster lunch
Every room we rate, what six actually cost, and how far ahead to book it. One oyster lunch at the bay beats three in a city.
Restaurant tables are booked directly with the room, because a reservation should not go through a middleman. Guided experiences go through Viator where we have verified the product, which pays us a commission at no cost to you. Read the Moran's essay first if you have not decided where, the travel guide if the month is still open, and the questions page if you have never eaten one.
County Galway · Galway Bay, at the mouth of the Dunkellin
Moran's Oyster Cottage
If you eat oysters once in Ireland, eat them here, and order the native Galway flat if the month has an R in it.
Native flat September to April. Rock oysters all year.
Lunch at the cottage, half dozen natives and brown bread
About 90 minutes · from €22 for six natives
The reason to come. Book the table directly with Moran's, ideally a fortnight ahead in summer.
Galway Food Tours walking tasting
About 2 hours 30 minutes · from €85
The best guided way into the west's food if you are not driving: Sheridan's, the market, the bay's shellfish. Pairs well with a Moran's table the next day.
County Clare · Aughinish Bay, on the north Burren coast
Linnane's Lobster Bar
Go for the setting as much as the plate. Nothing here has been styled, and that is why we keep going back.
All year. Best on a still afternoon.
Lunch at the pier, a dozen Kelly oysters
About 90 minutes · from €26 for a dozen
Walk in off season, book on summer weekends. Ask for a window table facing the pier.
Private oyster tour and tasting by the Flaggy Shore
About 2 hours · from €120 for two
Out to the beds with the people who grow them, then a tasting on the shore. The single best hour we know for understanding what you are eating.
County Louth · Carlingford Lough
PJ O'Hare's, Carlingford
The most underrated oyster lunch in Ireland, and the easiest one to reach from Dublin.
All year
Oysters and a pint at the front table
About an hour · from €16 for six
Walk in. No booking, no ceremony, and better before two in the afternoon.
Carlingford Lough oyster farm visit
About 2 hours · from €35
Waders on, out to the trestles at low tide with a grower. Arranged directly, and dependent on the tide rather than your diary.
County Galway · Inner Galway Bay
Clarinbridge
Come for the September festival if you want the ceremony, and eat at Paddy Burke's or drive five minutes on to Moran's if you want the oyster.
Native flat September to April. The festival is the second weekend of September.
Clarinbridge Oyster Festival weekend
Second weekend of September · from €30 a session
Tickets for the marquee sessions go on sale in summer and the good ones go first. Book the hotel before the ticket.
Lunch at Paddy Burke's
About 90 minutes · from €20 for six
The village room, open all year. Book at weekends.
County Antrim · Carlingford Lough and Dundrum Bay
Mourne Seafood Bar, Belfast
Book it for your first night in Belfast, order the oysters and the fish of the day, and skip the Cathedral Quarter tasting menus.
All year
Dinner at Bank Street
About 2 hours · from £14 for six
Book direct, two weeks ahead for a weekend table. Weekday lunch is usually a walk-in.
Lough Neagh shoreline food and drink tour
About 4 hours · from £75
Northern Ireland's inland fishery, eels and all, with the growers and smokers. Book it for the day before dinner at Bank Street, not after.
County Dublin · Carlingford, Galway and Donegal, trucked in daily
The Dublin Oyster Rooms
Klaw for the counter and the shucking, Matt the Thresher for a proper sit-down dozen, and ask which bay before you order.
All year. Ask what came in that morning.
A half dozen at the Klaw counter
About 30 minutes · from €16 for six
Walk in, off peak. No booking, and it is better at four in the afternoon than at eight.
Dinner at Matt the Thresher
About 2 hours · from €22 for six
Book direct. The Georgian-square location makes it the easy first night if you are staying on Merrion Row.
Howth coastal seafood and craft beer trail
About 3 hours · from €89
Thirty minutes out on the DART to the working fishing harbour, with the seafood and the beer to match. The best half day in Dublin for anybody who came for the sea.
Rather we planned the week?
Tell us the dates and we will say honestly whether the native flat will be in season, which bay to base yourself near, and where to sleep within twenty minutes of the table.
Plan the tripBack to the Irish oyster hub.