The best restaurants in Kilkenny

10/08/2025: We went with three children for a snack, and it's a small but charming place. The pastries were delicious, as was the coffee. Highly recommended.

09/08/2025: Great location for breakfast !!!!

31/12/2025: Staff were incredibly friendly and helpful during my stay here. My room was absolutely spotless clean and overall lovely. It is a great location, 20 minute walk from the city, and close to everything else. Overall great experience, would definitely recommend to anyone and would stay again :)

30/12/2025: Fantastic food . 5 mins drive from kilkenny city centre ( well worth the drive ). Great service 👏. Could I just recommend ( to the chef ) adding a roast potato to the roast dishes? Please don't change the stir-fry, it's 💯 % amazing. At least 3 separate dining/drinking areas +outside personal boots. I'll be leaving my hotel again next time to eat here . Also background music was fab 👌 .

15/12/2025: The quintessential Irish pub experience! Friendly service, good food, and lively atmosphere!

12/12/2025: If I could give a review lower I would. The bouncers took one look at my ID and turned me away for not being 21 the place was an 18 plus venue and Instagram posts suggested this. I suspect this was due to me carrying a if from the north…..its a shame like people like this are still common

16/10/2025: Such a lovely cafe and good customer experiences ! Would highly recommend to come and visit this cafe ! We love literally everything ! ❤️

14/10/2025: I enjoyed the bowl. Lots of vegetables, very colorful and good flavor. I felt very welcome.

02/01/2026: A good friend and local recommended here so we decided to treat ourselves on the last day of 2025. My husband and I shared the garlic prawn plate with homemade bread at €15 which whilst delicious was small in volume. I ordered the fish of the day (cod at €24) and my husband had the battered fish and chips with mushy peas and tartar sauce at €19.50. Fish was fresh and tasty. Our children had a choice of sausage and chips or battered fish and chips and ordered one of each at €10 each. The only thing I would change would be to add some vegetable to the kid's meal to make it more balanced, healthy and filling. For drinks, we had water for the table, glass of milk (€2), Miwadi (75 cent) and a glass of Horgelus at €9. Overall, very impressed with the quality here. Recommended if in Kilkenny.

06/12/2025: We had a small Irish breakfast and it was very good! Everything was hot and fresh! Staff was very accommodating! Would highly reccommend! Sorry I forgot to take pictures.

06/01/2026: I visited Lenehans Public House over the Christmas period. It’s conveniently located near McDonagh Junction. Service was prompt, staff were friendly, and the facilities were clean and well maintained. The only drawback was seating for our party of four, as we didn’t have a reservation and the venue was very busy, so we only stayed for one drink before moving on. That said, it’s understandable given the time of year.

31/12/2025: Such a lovely welcoming pub and has great food. We went with 2 kids and everyone loved what they got. Great portions and great value for money. Don't hesitate to call in here. We will definitely be back 😁

19/10/2025: If you want a fun pub with live music, this is the place to go!

29/09/2025: Does not serve food. Google lies that it’s a restaurant. But the drinks and atmosphere are perfect. A James Joyce awarded pub, quintessential Irish pub experience.

12/12/2025: Beautiful restaurant, atmosphere cosy and welcoming and food absolutely delicious. Service excellent, warm and friendly, look forward to returning

09/12/2025: Cozy atmosphere and a special and very friendly staff. It was a pleasure to dinner here and I’ll come back.

11/01/2026: Yes! Butcher served up the dream steak for me last night,🔥 an explosion of flavour and texture with the beautifully cooked Rib-eye Special, salad and chips as the sides🍿🥗. Loved the hints of caramel sweetness in their glorious pepper sauce...! Their expertise in creating this gluten-free find for me, makes Butcher a steakhouse par excellence. You'll search far to find our incomparable Irish beef bettered than here 🇮🇪

01/01/2026: Spacious and welcoming. High-end cuisine and quality cuts of meat. The prices are high but fair.

22/12/2025: Staff very friendly and helpful and nice.

22/12/2025: Lovely service and great atmosphere

22/09/2025: Friendly and authentic gem. Fresh, delicious sandwiches with highest quality ingredients, made to order, with care. Very good value! We had a lovely outdoor picnic on this beautiful sunny day and enjoyed every bite.

01/09/2025: If you’re looking for authentic Sicilian flavors, this place is a gem! The sandwiches are amazing with fresh bread, quality ingredients and great combinations. The Italian owners from Sicily are very friendly. Highly recommended!

08/12/2025: What a find…. When my friends and I passed the blackboard sign at the top of a dark lane way I wasn’t exactly expecting what we found. A great night of craic stories and song where you leave knowing everyone’s name. A memorable evening and great Guinness!

07/12/2025: A hidden gem of a pub,delighted to find this place,very small at the bar but the staff are amazingly unique folk singing songs and playing music while entertaining guests..I had a great evening there meeting people and enjoying life..Cash only… ⭐

08/11/2025: Delicious lunch in Zuni's. We had the belly pork and the cod. Great service, excellent food and a lovely restaurant.

31/10/2025: Very nice food with friendly service 🙂

03/01/2026: A good friend and local recommended here so when my husband and I got the offer of a babysitter for the afternoon off we scarpered. First timers here and we found staff attentive and helpful as we were guided through the menu on request. The decor is beautiful and the mood is relaxed. We ordered water for the table, a non alcoholic beer at €5 and glass of Tempranillo for €7.50. For starters, we chose the crab and fish cakes with a mild percik sauce at €9.95 and the very decently portioned sticky pork ribs at €9.50. We gifted each other tastes of each other's dishes and were suitably impressed with the moreish flavours. For mains, I followed our waiter's recommendation of Nasi Goreng which is an Aroi signature dish at €22.50 and as melt in the mouth as my husband's Lamb Massaman (€21.75) was: spoonfuls of which brought me back to restaurants in Chiang Mai and Phnom Penh; I was happy with my choice and wasn't consumed with pure envy! Totally recommended for fragrant flavours, very decent portions at reasonable prices, beautiful atmosphere and helpful staff. I will have to plot my return visit when next in Kilkenny. Keep doing what you are doing🥂. Tip 1: Mon-Fri: lunch served 12-5 any main course + homemade gelato for €14. Tip 2: Sticky Ribs and Nasi Goreng highly recommended.

01/01/2026: We had booked the wrong day in our own error but they were very kind and offered us a table despite being very busy. We were very appreciative. The food was delicious as always, and the service was very helpful and good. Thank you.

18/12/2025: Nice food but the portions for the starters are miniscule for the price, the staff were good but slow enough getting around to all the tables at times. Most likely this is because they were very busy and didn’t have enough working

16/12/2025: Good food, nice to go in for just a coffee as well.