Top picks for a coastal adventure in Cork...plus, must-visit fishy dining venues
There are a number of opportunities for oyster tasting in Cork. Picture: iStock
Spring is well and truly here, and it’s time to get outside and explore our wonderful coastline brimming with seafood adventures!
Rossmore Oysters farm both rock and Irish native oysters at their estuary-side location near Carrigtwohill where the cool, fast-flowing waters make the perfect growing conditions for Ireland’s most iconic seafoods. Natives are available in months without an R (yes, the old wives tale is true), while rock (or Pacific) oysters are available year round. Order online and collect at the oyster farm every Monday, Wednesday and Friday between 10am and 5pm, or enjoy a freshly shucked oyster (or three) from their pitches at Mahon (Thursday) and Douglas (Saturday) Farmers’ Markets.
www.instagram.com/mizenheadcatch
During the summer, at Skibbereen Farmers’ Market (Saturday) and Schull Country Market (Sunday), Evie sells her freshly landed live lobster, crabs and crayfish on her market stall. Evie and her boat of the same name set out from Mizen Head, lifting their pots in early morning and taking straight to market. You cannot get fresher shellfish than this!
www.atlanticwhaleandwildlifetours.com
Fancy catching your own dinner from the deep briny ocean? Heading out for a half day excursion from Courtmacsherry Bay on the Lady Patricia or Lady Louise with Atlantic Whale and Wildlife Tours, your guides will take you to the best sea angling spots and steer you to success. You may even spot whales and dolphins out at sea! Return with a bucket of prize fish. Ling, pollack, coalfish, cod, dogfish, rays, skate, whiting, haddock or mackerel are all potential catch. Prices from €40 - €650 for individual or group bookings in small, family-friendly groups.
www.bantrybayboathire.ie/whiddyislandtour
From the secluded calm of Bantry Bay, enjoy a half day tour with Bantry Bay Boat Hire to Whiddy Island, past the floating farms producing world famous mussels. Sail around the island and gain a different perspective of this storied outpost by visiting stops only accessible by sea. Then, make land and be met by a local guide for a 1.5 hour walking tour of Whiddy, learning about the island’s history and biodiversity. After that, choose to either step back aboard the RIB back to Bantry town, or stay and indulge in a creamy pint and a bowl of fresh Bantry Bay mussels in Whiddy Island’s only pub – and catch the ferry back to the mainland at your leisure!
Anyone who has experienced the night-time kayak with Wild Atlantic Sea Kayaking all say the same thing – it’s a magical experience from start to finish. Setting out before dusk, gently kayak the calm ocean inlet while guided to spots frequented by otters. Then, as darkness falls, the water begins to glow with bioluminescence. With each dip of the paddle, a sparkle of green light is emitted from the plankton living in the water! Truly magical. Choose from Castlehaven or Lough Hyne.
Kinsale Food Tours’ perennially favourite coastal forage and picnic combine the breathtaking scenery of Kinsale’s coastal walking paths with exquisite gourmet food produced in the town, and a great local guide who will show you their favourite spots to pick wild goodies. After drumming up an appetite after all that walking and snacking on wild things, enjoy a relaxed luxury picnic complete with drinks and sweet things. Pet-friendly too so your furry VIPs can enjoy the fun!
The Keep at Woodcock Smokery is a special place where pioneering food artisan, Sally Barnes, enthusiastically shares her passion for the craft of fish smokery, coastal foraging, and the mighty wild Irish salmon. Barnes has just released her 2026 programme of events running from April until early autumn and it includes classes and hands-on workshops, cosy long table dinners in the keep, and guest chef pop-ups all in the snug of The Keep. It’s a unique setting hosted by a special person whose warm personality and endless knowledge will fill your head with memories forever.
In the east of the county is Ireland’s only traditional oak-panelled smokehouse where fillets of cured salmon, mackerel and eel hang on hooks, gently licked by cool smoke generated by beech wood chip. Frank Hederman’s Belvelly Smokehouse has been a by-word for excellence for over 40 years. During spring and summer, the smokehouse hosts Meet the Maker tour and tasting events where guests learn about the history of the smokehouse and Frank’s renowned smoking process. No visit is complete without a tasting platter to sample the full range of fish and seafood products, or a sit down lunch with the master smoker himself. Minimum booking for two persons, with private tours also available on request.
Food conservationist and educator, Max Jones, is running his week-long immersive food experience, Traditions of the Sea, for the second year running from June 28 to July 4. The experience promises to impart the ancient wisdom and traditions of coastal communities by leading hands-on skills for catching, cooking and preserving a vast array of seafoods, fish and wild edible plants. You will also be introduced to heritage skills such as hand diving for shellfish, butter making, smoking, and foraging, that you will carry and keep with you for life.
Near the lapping waters of Goleen Harbour Eco Resort is a barrel top space where ephemeral dining experiences magically appear. Resort owners Matt Mills and Melanie Furniss host an annual programme of delicious events where renowned chefs are invited to cook. It begins this year with a special event celebrating the spring tides, when the sea pulls back further from the coast exposing wild delights otherwise out of reach. ‘A Meal of the Sea & the Wild Atlantic Coast’ (April 25) includes a pre-dinner coastline forage, and a welcome bite at the warming firepit, before settling down to a five-course meal in the barrel top prepared by city-based chef, Epi Rogan, and resort chef, Sophia St Clair. This first supper club kicks off the supper club season which includes Almost Anywhere, Leviathan, and Glass Curtain.
Always super fresh fish and seafood on the menu daily, often landed just steps from the restaurant by returning day boats into Courtmacsherry pier. Enjoy atmospheric dining inside or al fresco dining on the seafront deck overlooking the tidal inlet. Whole fish cooked on the bone is a speciality here.
www.instagram.com/fishbasketlongstrand
Perched on dunes facing the crashing waves of Long Strand at Castlefreke is some of the best fish and chips around. Owned by a former fisherman turned restaurateur, you know the fish here is super fresh and of the highest quality. Expect queues at peak times and sunny days, but get here for the change-over from breakfast to lunch and you may not queue at all!
www.instagram.com/murphysdursey
Pitched underneath Ireland’s only cable car to Dursey Island is Murphy’s, where the fish and chips served from the hatch is always worth the spin! Order the lobster rolls when they’re on, and the deep fried monkfish tails (with chips, of course) are a great twist on a classic.
www.schullharbourhotel.ie/alaria
Housed inside Schull Harbour Hotel is Alaria, a restaurant dedicated to serving snap fresh fish to a fine dining standard but without the fuss. Since opening in 2025, Alaria has been quietly garnering an excellent reputation for Head Chef, Ciaran Tedford’s, stylish and technically perfect fish cookery honouring the flavour and quality of the fresh seafood arriving at his kitchen.
www.instagram.com/stfranciskinsale
Not technically a fish restaurant, but there is always fish on the menu landed just metres from the door in Kinsale harbour. Beautifully prepared fillets are given Spanish chef, Rebeca Carey Snachez’s inimitable treatment with sweet and sour accompaniments, seasonal lifts from fresh locally grown tomatoes, or of course just eat your body weight in Gildas while you sip on sweet vermouth.
www.instagram.com/okrasseafoodandsnax
Inside Marina Market, Ocras Seafood is the place to go in Cork for best value freshly shucked oysters, excellent lobster rolls, and a fresh fish menu where everything is cooked a la minute. Always a great choice when visiting the market with consistently excellent cookery and quality, locally sourced fish and seafood.
Cork’s pioneering gill to fin fish restaurant that champions a whole catch and zero waste approach to dishes. Flair and fun in equal measure with dishes. Boosted by vegetable sides sourced from nearby Churchfield Community Garden, and excellent beers brewed by neighbours, Elbow Lane.
www.instagram.com/ko_connells_fishmonger
Kate Lawlor has done something magical with her fish counter in the basement food emporium of Dunne’s flagship store. A diminutive set up links together the fresh fish on the counter with a cooked-to-order menu of dishes whipped up before your very eyes for immediate deliciousness. Viral dishes such as the Crab Samosas and Fish Tacos catch the eye, but there’s no mistaking her fried fish coated in her own recipe beer batter is a stellar turn, as is the richly flavoured potato-based seafood chowder with homemade stout brown bread.
www.instagram.com/trawlerboyzballycotton
Epic fish and chips, spice bags, scampi and chowder fly off the pass at this food truck. With their own boats, it’s net to table with zero food miles and only smiles for days.
www.helensbarkilmacalougue.weebly.com
Pop ccross the border for this one. There is no finer place to get a bit pot of steamed mussels or an open-faced crab sandwich than Helen’s Bar. Consume eagerly with a pint of the black stuff while your eyes drink in that incredible waterside view.
John & Sally McKenna called… And Chips a ground-breaking example of what fish and chips should be, and they aren’t wrong. Located on The Quays in Dungarvan, the small space has all the hallmarks of a traditional fish and chip shop (quick order takeaway, no seating, counter service, and the lingering aroma of malt vinegar).
Eunice Power, insisted on sourcing the best potato to make the best chips. The fish is landed in fresh daily into Waterford, cooked fresh to order until it all sells out.
Sitting out on a sunny evening watching the sailboats drift by is an optional but entirely wonderful addition.
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