The champagne corks have been popping down Lisdoonvarna way as The Wild Honey Inn becomes the first Irish pub to be awarded a Michelin star.
Presided over by Aidan McGrath who specialises in “Wild Food From Land & Sea”, recent menus have included such treats as Roast Wood Pigeon, Hispi Cabbage, Bacon, Kohlrabi & Carrot with Crisp Pancetta & Pigeon Jus and Silver Hake with Brown Shrimp, Coco de Paimpol, Broad Beans, Basil & Parmesan Velouté. At €45 for three-courses, it’s excellent value too. Tables are likelier to be rarer than hen’s teeth (which are not currently on the menu), but give it a go at wildhoneyinn.com.
While there were disappointingly no other Irish Michelin debutantes, Dublin’s Chapter One, L’Ecrivain, The Greenhouse and Heron & Grey; Galway’s Aniar and Loam; Kilkenny’s Lady Helen at Mount Juliet and Campagne; Ardmore’s House at the Cliff House Hotel; and Belfast’s Eipic and OX all retain their one star, with Dublin’s Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud still the island’s only two-star establishments.