Photo courtesy of King Sitric, Courtesy image
Editorial Review
King Sitric
The Atmosphere
“The MacManus family's seafood bar at the foot of Howth's East Pier, more than fifty years in the same hands.”
King Sitric has been at the bottom of the East Pier for over half a century, run by the MacManus family, and its reputation for sourcing fish is older than most of Dublin's celebrated restaurants. The ground-floor seafood bar is the room to use now: oysters, lobster, crab, Dublin Bay prawns, a covered terrace and beach huts for eating outside in weather that does not really allow it. It opens from lunchtime, which makes it the better half of a Howth day, and there are rooms upstairs if the wine list wins.
The long version
Fifty years of the MacManus family buying fish at the foot of Howth's East Pier.
King Sitric has been at the bottom of the East Pier for over half a century, run by the same family, and its reputation for sourcing fish is older than most of Dublin's celebrated restaurants. The building sits where the pier meets the village, looking back at the harbour.
The room to use now is the ground-floor seafood bar: oysters, lobster, crab, Dublin Bay prawns, a covered terrace and beach huts for eating outside in weather that does not strictly permit it. It opens from lunchtime, which makes it the better half of a Howth day rather than the end of one.
What is on the counter
Whatever the boats brought in, prepared simply. Oysters, a lobster split and grilled, crab claws, prawns, and a specials board that is more useful than the printed menu.
The wine list has real depth for a seafood bar, a legacy of the restaurant's older incarnation, and it is worth reading properly rather than defaulting to a glass of white.
How to sit
Take the covered terrace or one of the huts if the wind allows. Eating shellfish outdoors within sight of the boats that landed it is the specific pleasure Howth offers and Dublin city cannot.
It opens from half twelve on weekdays and midday at weekends, so a long lunch is the natural booking. There are rooms upstairs if the afternoon runs away.
Making a day of Howth
Market on the harbour in the morning, the cliff loop in the middle of the day, lunch here after. Sutton is within ten minutes, and the DART runs to the city in about twenty-five if you would rather not drive.
Between this and Aqua on the far pier you have both halves of Howth's seafood covered: one a long lunch, the other a proper dinner.
What we would not pretend
The seafood bar is casual and the room is dated in places; the grand old restaurant of its reputation is not what you are booking. Weekend lunches are busy and service can slow.
How we would use it
Long lunch on a Howth day, terrace if the wind allows, with the cliff walk done beforehand and dinner kept light.
Public guest perspective
What guests consistently notice
Guests praise the freshness of the catch, relaxed family hospitality, and a seafood bar rooted in Howth rather than staged for visitors.
The honest caveat
The newer seafood-bar experience is less formal than returning guests remember, and weekend demand is heavy.
Guests return for
- Locally landed shellfish
- Long family continuity
- A casual harbour atmosphere
How to order
Order from the specials board, especially oysters, crab, lobster, or the day's catch.
Before you book
Arrive at lunch opening on weekends and ask about terrace or beach-hut seating when reserving.
Rooms Worth Requesting
What it actually feels like.
Go at midday on a weekend when the pier is busy, take the terrace, and order whatever is on the specials board rather than the menu.
Why we recommend it
A space that justifies the journey.
Fifty years of buying fish in the same harbour is a credential no new opening can match, and lunch here is the single best thing to do in Howth.