The Ultimate Cork Guide to Dining Out
Kate Ryan, Flavour.ie
Cork, the rebel county – the rebel city; the largest county in Ireland and arguably this country’s spiritual home of great food from farm to fork. For all these reasons and more, creating an Ultimate Cork Guide to Dining Out is going to result in casualties when choosing a Top Ten, but it helps to sharpen the mind of this writer. There are closer to 50 places I’d happily spend my hard-earned Euro’s, from fine dining restaurants to cafes, takeaways to food trucks, but a well curated shortlist requires looking beyond what’s tasty to pinpoint what it is about a restaurant that keeps me wanting to return time and time again. Let’s call it the Craveability Factor.
This guide splits the difference between Cork city and Cork county with five recommendations each. From metropolitan style to a taste of the coast, where provenance of ingredients is key in star-spangled establishments and neighbourhood eateries alike, and from intimate settings to raucous theatres of culinary indulgence, take my hand as I lead you on a journey of Pure Cork food magic!
Marina Market, Centre Park Road, Cork
OK, so I might be cheating here a little bit! Marina Market is not about one food stop, it’s about many – 24, right now, although the market is ever evolving. Part covered, part outdoors, this is a food truck park on an epic scale. From Nua Asador where any Tom Durcan steak can be cooked to your exact requirements over fire in under 10 minutes, to Poulet Vous Nashville fried chicken; Instagrammable Guji Coffee and Dinky Donuts; the best of the humble Irish spud at Prátaí to Kura sushi and Sultan’s Lebanese food and so much more. Craft fairs, art exhibitions and performances are also packed into this once derelict space, now the place to hang out down by the river Lee.
