Maybe it’ll be a glass of the latest Donegal whiskey, delivered with a quick-witted serve of local storytelling. Or tangy fermented potato bread with a bacon and cabbage sauce that rave reviews are made of, opening a meal in the remotest of white-washed pubs from one of the island’s most talented chefs. Or maybe the nostalgic indulgence of a cream horn – a sweet treat sure to charm your fancy woman, as dedicated Derry Girls fans can tell you.
If you’re looking for a culinary adventure to bring you off the beaten track at a delightfully meandering pace, the island of Ireland’s twin northern coastal routes are peppered with delicious pitstops. Who knows what your personal highlight will be when you discover for yourself the hidden gems that this fast-evolving yet tradition-rooted food scene has to offer.
From east to west where the Causeway Coastal Route meets the Wild Atlantic Way, artisan producers, characterful cafes and destination restaurants all work with top-class ingredients, delivered by salt of the earth people who take their craft seriously but never themselves.
Consider Stevie McCarry, the self-taught chef-owner of Lir Seafood restaurant at Coleraine marina in County Londonderry. Anyone watching this year’s Great British Menu closely will have spotted McCarry, who surprised himself by winning the Northern Ireland heat. No one else was too surprised, however. McCarry was named best chef in Northern Ireland at the 2023 Food & Wine awards and has been one to watch since, with his ever-creative, always-seasonal approach to local seafood using whole-fish butchery, fermenting, smoking and curing skills to deliver a daily changing, zero-waste menu. So, you might see monkfish cheeks with parmesan-sage gnocchi to start, and then the tails barbecued with a miso glaze, or served as monkfish scampi with curried celeriac remoulade and fries.
Several headlands over, en route to County Donegal’s idyllic Sheephaven Bay with its golden strands and dreamy coves, chef Ciaran Sweeney is creator of that fermented potato bread dish that had critics raving when he worked in Dublin. Now back home in Donegal, he can’t take the dish off his menu at his destination restaurant out the back of the Olde Glen Bar in Carrickart.
The smartest pilgrims know to pair a splash-out dinner here with a laid-back bite at nearby Fisk Seafood Bar. Here, you can try buttermilk battered fish tacos with pico de gallo and spiced mayo, Atlantic prawn banh mi with kimchi slaw or, for the carnivores, sirloin steak in Lebanese flat bread with Cafe de Paris butter, anchovy mayo and pickles. All this from a tiny Scandi-vibes joint neighbouring the old-school Harbour Bar overlooking Downings’ blue flag beach.
The sit-down meals themselves are only the start of your gastronomic adventures through this unique coastal food scene.
Wendy Gallagher of Causeway Coast Foodie Tours has imagined action-packed options for every schedule and appetite. If you have time, the six-hour Coast and Country is a deep-dive into the region’s farm to fork culture. At the award-winning Causeway Speciality Market, meet makers like Ruairidh Morrison of North Coast Smokehouse and taste his very special hot-smoked Glenarm salmon, before hopping on board a whistlestop tour to local farms and distilleries.
At County Antrim’s Broughgammon Farm “forward-thinking farming” means regeneratively farmed vegetables and ethically raised meats. Browse their farm shop and cafe, take a nature walk or book a seasonal wild food foraging walk or supper club. Across in County Sligo, just minutes from the wild Atlantic beauty of Mullaghmore, Gaby and Hans Wieland of Neantóg Farm and Kitchen Garden School also host foraging tours bookable for small groups.
Aisling Kelly Hunter of Sligo Oyster Experience caters for all palates. Purists can visit a working oyster farm to taste these treasures straight from the sea. Or simply book into WB’s Coffee House in Sligo town for a tasting, where Hunter’s team serve them fresh, baked or deep fried for a tangy Po Boy sandwich – or delicately pickled in Wildwood Balsamic’s water mint and lemon balm vinegar and jarred to take home.
For fascinating historical insight, hit the Sligo coastline with archaeologist Auriel Robinson of Seatrails. Visit some of Ireland’s oldest oyster beds, where the archaeological sites of ancient shell middens show us that people gathered here in the stone age to feast on shellfish. To recreate the full experience of “Ireland’s earliest takeaway” – as the tour is named – you can have freshly harvested mussels cooked for you on the rocks by expert local chefs.
In the lively city of Derry~Londonderry, the family-run Doherty’s Home Bakery has kept the community fed for 80 years with the best of breads, buns and cakes. With his Derry Girls Food Tour, Feargal Doherty puts his father’s famous cream horns front and centre, where they belong. Keep room for a then-and-now look at how fish and chips have evolved from greasy newspaper-wrapped suppers to today’s fresh local fish fried in crisp batter featuring local craft beer.
If you’re still thirsty after the tour’s flaming sambucas and themed cocktails, you could meander over to the Walled City Brewery for a beer masterclass. You’ll time travel from 9,000BC to our modern craft beer movement to learn how beer has shaped our world, and taste some 10 different beers, from a quirky 3,000-year-old Mesopotamian recipe to the smooth Foyster oyster stout.
There are distilleries old and new to visit too. The island went from having four whiskey distilleries in 2010 to more than 40 today, many with excellent visitor experiences. Bushmills in Northern Ireland is home of the world’s oldest licensed whiskey distillery, with a licence dating back to 1608. The intimate Crolly Distillery with its Charentais copper pot stills and Sliabh Liag Distillers at the state-of-the-art Ardara Distillery are two fine Donegal examples of Ireland’s contemporary whiskey revival.
Wherever your explorations take you on this hidden gastronomic gem of an island, one thing is for sure: your adventure will be as fun as it is fascinating.
Discover more at Ireland.com
