Top Restaurants in Valentia Island
Top 10 restaurants in Valentia Island, Ireland
Discover the best restaurant in Valentia Island, Ireland including Bridge Bar The, The Moorings Restaurant, The Smugglers Inn Restaurant, QC's Seafood Restaurant Bar and Townhouse, Kerry Coast Inn, Petit Delice, O'Neill's The Point Seafood Bar, Knightstown Coffee Shop and Bistro, Knightstown Coffee Shop & Bistro, Boston's Bar & Restaurant
Things to do in Valentia Island
1. Bridge Bar The
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 474 reviews
The Bridge Bar at The Moorings, Portmagee is open all year round. Great food served all day with traditional music at weekends. Trips to Skellig Michael can be arranged and packages are available from April to September. Cois Cuain gift shop is open from March to January. The Moorings is located in a fishing village with a working harbour, post office, general store, coffee shop, bar, restaurant overlooking Valentia Island. There's nothing more endearing than knowing that some of the Hollywood's biggest movie stars like Mark Hamill and Director J.J Abrams have visited the sleepy village of Portmagee, and even sat in the Bridge Bar local pub where Mark Hamill poured a pint of Guinness behind the bar. The Moorings was home to the pre-production team of the Star Wars VII movie and you can visit the room where all the magic took place and listen to the stories told by the staff.
Reviewed By strangersblog - Los Angeles, California
Except for all the Star Wars memorabilia and the Japanese TV crew interviewing the owner, this would simply be a terrific local pub filled with happy customers. The mussels fresh from the Atlantic Ocean were the best I had in Ireland. Connected to The Moorings restaurant, so I presume the pub food is from there. The video of Luke Skywalker pulling a pint of Guinness here plays endlessly and there are t-shirts for sale, so for those of us who didn't get to visit Skellig Michael because of the weather, this was a fun connection to Star Wars with an authentic Irish feel.
2. The Moorings Restaurant
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 523 reviews
With the ocean's bounty at our doorstep, it comes as no surprise that seafood plays a large part in The Moorings cuisine. We are committed to only using the best quality produce,from the freshest fish and shellfish, to the choicest Irish beef and lamb and locally-produced vegetables and ingredients. Open 6pm-10pm Mar-Oct. Closed Mon except Bank Holidays. Booking advisable.
Reviewed By Steve W - Westcliffe, Colorado
Located in the center of little Portmagee a block west of the bridge to Valentia Island. Oh my, what good food. We split the seafood special (28.95 Euros and very well worth it) and a brownie and were well fed. It has a classic pub atmosphere with friendly and prompt service. There are lots of tourists here but you are appreciated!
3. The Smugglers Inn Restaurant
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 261 reviews
Reviewed By Pamela F - Powell River, Canada
This is a lovely spot right on the beachfront in Waterville. Apparently its name derives from the days when there was a thriving smuggling trade carried out between the small villages along the southwest coast of Ireland and France and Spain. Today you can sit and look out on the same waters those Smugglers frequented from a heated, glassed-in restaurant and enjoy a fine meal. We visited in October just before they were closing for the season and it was early in the evening so we dined from the Early Bird Menu which gave us a starter, main course + dessert for 30 Euros each. Amongst us we had seafood, chicken, and hake - all were excellent. The restaurant prides itself in featuring local foods on its menu, Lenora provided prompt, friendly service. Recommended.
4. QC's Seafood Restaurant Bar and Townhouse
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 645 reviews
QC's won the prestigious award of BIM (Irish Fisheries Board) Seafood Restaurant of the Year in 2012. With Head Chef Eddy Gannon the food seems to just get better and our team of wait staff are as committed to making your dining experience as pleasurable as possible. Please note that Cahersiveen is a tourist town and when its quiet its very very quiet and when its busy its very VERY BUSY ..... All our food is fresh and cooked to order so please relax and let us look after you.
Reviewed By Susan G - Sonoma, California
As usual, dinner was terrific. The QC always has a very nice seafood dish or two on the menu although they also have lamb and beef choices too. The flourless chocolate and raspberry dessert was exceptional! The ambience is very relaxed and pleasant.Dear Susan G Thank you kindly for your lovely review. It was indeed our pleasure to meet with you once more and that you enjoyed your dining experience so much. We look forward to welcoming you back again sometime soon. Kind Regards Mags
5. Kerry Coast Inn
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 76 reviews
Reviewed By Lollypops400 - Ireland
We arrived from Valentia for a meal and liked the look of the hotel from the exterior and we weren't disappointed. The food was delicious and the service and staff were great. We recommended it so highly that my in-laws also holidaying in Valentia came over and had a meal the same afternoon. Will definitely be back next time we're down that way.
6. Petit Delice
Overall Ratings
5 based on 138 reviews
Delicious genuine French cuisine available daily from 9 am. We welcome you to our family run patisserie and cafe, and hope that you stop by for a breakfast croissant and coffee, or maybe one of delicious lunches available all day.Please click on a food to find out more about our methods. All our food is prepared to the highest standards, everything is handmade, and prepared on a daily basis. We use no preservatives and put fresh fruit and vegetables into all our snacks and desserts.We hope to see you soon.
Reviewed By John T
We were told Petit Delice was a great little cafe and that we should stop in here when we were in town. It's a small place so there's not many tables. But they have the loveliest pastries ever and 2 lovely French ladies serving them. I'm guessing they are mother and daughter but they always had a nice smile for anyone that came in.
7. O'Neill's The Point Seafood Bar
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 472 reviews
Reviewed By andys286 - Tonbridge, United Kingdom
We were recommended to The Point, and were so impressed we went back two days later. They do not take bookings, but after a drink at the bar, tables come free within 10-15 mins. There's a lovely warm welcome. Beer is good. Recommend - the hake, then go out and watch the ferry to Valentia and the sunset!
8. Knightstown Coffee Shop and Bistro
Overall Ratings
4 based on 101 reviews
Reviewed By Dave F
I visited twice during a week's holiday locally. The first time was for dinner alone and the experience was a good one. A very nice "Firecracker Salmon" with a couple of glasses of Chardonnay did the job well. The staff were friendly but there were a couple of service wrinkles - like the absence of a wine-list - possibly explained by the fact that the restaurant has only been reopened under new management for a couple of months.
On the second occasion, I had dinner with my partner, again the food was excellent - a shared starter of a large bowl of calamari was delicious, my partner's beef-burger was really good and my Guinness battered Haddock and chips was excellent. Chefs note, the chips were perfect - golden and crisp on the outside and soft and tasty on the inside - and really important - No Skins!! I detest the current fad of lazy chefs making chips from unpeeled potatoes because it is in somehow cool and modern, it isn't, it is simply lazy shoddy work! - rant over! If you want excellent chips, visit this place.
The service problems were in even more evidence on this occasion - no wine list, no proper wine glasses, no condiments on the table, a badly positioned music speaker which was loud and irritating. At the same time, our server was really friendly and working very hard and with a little more experience and some coaching will be an excellent asset to the restaurant. All of the above are easily rectified and I really hope they get fixed soon. What may be more difficult to fix is the "attitude" that becomes apparent during attempts to book a table. A shambolic process, with unanswered phone calls, unclear FaceBook process and rude responses when calls were eventually returned is simply not good enough. In addition, whilenwe were there, we heard at least two couple being told that the restaurant was fully booked, it clearly wasn't as only half the tables were actually set-out. Really not sure what was going in here at the peak of the high season for a newly opened venture.
If there service issues get corrected, this will be a really nice place to visit.
9. Knightstown Coffee Shop & Bistro
Overall Ratings
4 based on 64 reviews
Reviewed By FarranBoy62 - Dublin, Ireland
This is a little gem of a coffee shop/bistro in a beautifully sublime corner of Ireland - a decent book/gift shop on one side is surrounded by lots of nooks and crannies with an eclectic range of 'knick-knacks' to add a bit of real laid back atmosphere to the experience.
My friend and I called in 'on spec' for lunch last week as it looked most inviting from the street. However, service was quite appalingly slow and really took being 'laid back' to the limit - no welcome, no menus for 20 minutes and it was a full hour+ before soup and sandwiches were served.
Thankfully, the quality of the food compensated for the poor service somewhat but this place really needs to up its game in the service department - nobody seemed to be in charge and the young servers did their best but were quite clueless in the service department.
Incredibly, it was relatively quite when we were there - I can only imagine what it must be like when it is busy.
10. Boston's Bar & Restaurant
Overall Ratings
4 based on 68 reviews
Reviewed By Sebbyboy - Flower Mound, Texas
Typically good food and service inn Irish pub. Wife had smoked mackerel salad and I had fish and chips. One cannot generally go wrong with fish and chips in Ireland, England, Scotland....Good beer selection. I had a club orange. A nice quaint pub/restaurant - good place to say hello to a local and be friendly. Parking along the main street in this village can be challenging but we turned off a side road and had no problem with parking after driving up and down the main street two times.
