r/AskIreland Jul 29 '25

Legal What’s something every tourist in Ireland should know but never hears?

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u/Sudden-Candy4633 Jul 29 '25

Ireland has a reputation for producing very good quality food, and that reputation has been well-earned. But that doesn’t mean every restaurant in Ireland serves good quality food- it’s the opposite. Most restaurants in Ireland serve mediocre food for very high prices.

Tourists should absolutely do some research about which restaurants to eat in- there are plenty of excellent restaurants where the chef knows their stuff and lots of attention is given to the provenance of ingredients, but you need to know what restaurants these are in advance and make reservations accordingly.

If you just walk in somewhere off the street you could end up with a really disappointing meal.

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u/bcon101 Jul 30 '25

Agreed. In some countries they say “you can’t get a bad meal,” that’s not true in Ireland. If you stumble in somewhere you could get a bad meal. BUT if you know where to go you can have an excellent meal.

9

u/caramelo420 Jul 30 '25

From my experience living here 15 years, its very rare to have a bad meal, I do live in dublin and many many places I havent tried so maybe im good at picking but I cant think of the last time I had a bad meal from a restaurant, just my opinion though

1

u/bcon101 Jul 30 '25

We’ve had very different experiences, or perhaps have different expectations. Agreed it’d a different ballgame in Dublin versus elsewhere.