Restaurants and Bars

Drinking

During the course of your visit to the city, at least one barman will tell you that the best Guinness in Ireland is served in Limerick; you may wish to put this claim to the test! Limerick has its fair share of brash, themed pubs offering head-splitting music and overpriced beer, but the city does—thankfully—have more than a few notable taverns. The Curragower Bar, a hundred metres from the Treaty Stone on Clancy's Quay, serves an excellent seafood chowder and good Guinness. Lager-lovers might want to try Warsteiner, a German brew on tap in the Curragower. Continental lagers, still something of a rarity in Ireland, have more bite and taste than the weakish Irish versions. In clement weather you can eat and drink in the beer garden, taking in the view across the Shannon to the swans dawdling on the water below King John's Castle.

Another pub to visit in good weather is the Castle Lane Tavern. You can sup on the lawn outside and savor the view downriver. Then, when it starts raining, retreat to the open fire within. The Castle Lane serves delicious soups and claims to offer the best carvery lunch in Limerick. With its low ceilings, sawdust-strewn floor, and roaring turf Nelly Blake's in Denmark Street is a well-preserved traditional pub; it's a good spot for a quiet afternoon pint, but fills up pretty quickly in the evenings. James Gleeson's, at the corner of O'Connell and Glentworth Streets, is a marvelously unreconstructed Victorian pub with a limited bar menu but great atmosphere. Meanwhile, you're guaranteed a traditional music session any night of the week at Dolan's on the Dock Road. South's, the pub Frank McCourt's father Malachy graced with his custom in Angela's Ashes, is on O'Connell Avenue. Were he to return, of course, the old soak wouldn't recognize his former local—it's now 'one of them yuppie places', as a Limerick burgher put it.

Dining

Two Limerick restaurants receive special praise from no less an authority than Ireland's Finest Places to Eat, Drink and Stay. Brulees, at 21 Henry Street, specializes in fresh fish, and offers an international menu with an Irish twist. Upon your arrival you'll be offered spicy olives and black bread to nibble on while you wait. A popular dish is fillet of John Dory, served on a bed of tomato and goat's cheese, with mashed potatoes, caramelized onions and a creamy fennel sauce. DuCarte's, at the back of the Hunt Museum, is a popular lunch-time haunt, and serves 'healthy home-cooked food in the modern idiom'. The cooks source all ingredients for their dishes locally. In good weather you can eat outside on the terraces overlooking the Shannon.

Paul's, at 59 O'Connell Street, is a bright, spacious place inside a beautiful old building. The starters are huge and cheap; the entrees are mostly pasta-based Mediterranean dishes. The Mogul Emperor, at the corner of Sarsfield and Liddy Streets, serves Indian regional specialties in goodly portions, toothsome naan breads, and an excellent house red. Don't be put off by the dowdy facade of the building. The Limerick Food Centre (061 302033) will clue you in on the annual Limerick Good Food Festival, held annually in June. Mortell's, a cheery fresh food shop at 49 Roche's Street, is a good place to load up on picnic fare.