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15th Sep 2019

Irish Food & Hospitality Awards ceremony names the best pub in Ireland for 2020

Rory Cashin

pub

Is your local the best pub in the whole country?

First things first, if some spectacles-making store isn’t already pinning their entire advertising campaign next year around the term “2020 Vision”, then they’re missing a major trick.

Secondly, and probably more importantly if you clicked in to this story, is the fact that Georgina Campbell Irish Food & Hospitality Awards, in association with AIB, announced their 2020 winners.

Why are the best pubs, restaurants, and hotels in Ireland for 2020 being announced in September 2019? We’re not quite sure, but we’re not giving the awards, so they can call them whatever they like, we guess.

Having already announced the winner of the best hotel, we’re now on to best pub, and surely you must want to know if (A) the pub is, in fact, your local pub, or (B) if not your local, then have you visited it at all?

First of all, there were two runner-ups, given the nice title of “Highly Commended”, and they were The Tavern Bar & Restaurant in Murrisk in Mayom, and The Ballymore Inn in Ballymore in Kildare.

But the title of the overall winner of Best Pub in Ireland in 2020 went to… The Roadside Tavern in Lisdoonvarna in Clare.

This is what the judges had to say about it:

“Peter Curtin’s historic and hospitable hostelry oozes character and, famous for music for over a century, many legendary musicians have played here.

“More recent attractions are beers from their on-site microbrewery, the Burren Brewery, and the good food served by ‘Kieran’s Kitchen’ where chef Kieran O’Halloran features smoked fish from the family’s other equally famous business, the nearby Burren Smoke-house on his simply delicious menus.

Next door, the latest enterprise, the multi-purpose venue, Burren Storehouse offers artisan pizzas and chargrills nightly in summer. All round, this great traditional pub and its associated businesses are the hub of activities in
Lisdoonvarna – and go a long way towards making it one of the West of Ireland’s coolest destinations.”

Yep, we want to go to there.