Killarney's Victoria Hotel. A comfortable and convenient location on the Ring of Kerry.

 Killarney's Victoria Hotel. A comfortable and convenient location on the Ring of Kerry

Victoria Hotel on a March morning

Killarney’s Victoria Hotel, on the Muckross Road, is a comfortable and well situated base for a short break in Kerry. It is on the Ring of Kerry and the National Park is just a short stroll away.

We were immediately struck by the warmth of the welcome at the reception, later in the dining room and also in the breakfast room. The fact that this 33-bed hotel, owned by the Courtneys, has separate dining rooms indicate their focus on space and comfort.

Cashel Blue included in breakfast platter of cheese and charcuterie

Breakfast is excellent here and you won’t have to leave your seat. No buffet. Everything, including juices and breads and cereals is brought to your table. You just indicate your preferences sit back and enjoy. Quite a menu as well. We can recommend the pancakes, the Full irish (or variants thereof), and the Charcuterie and Irish cheese plate.

The Ivy Restaurant at Killarney’s Victoria Hotel is a splendid place to dine. Again, here’s a high degree of comfort and space, a friendly and courteous team, and the food (not to mention the drink) doesn’t disappoint either. We had dinner there and can give it a big thumbs up! More details here. 

On another night, we had dinner at the relatively new Harrow Restaurant on the town’s High Street, another splendid and comfortable establishment with a very high standard of service and cooking. Read all about it here.

Slea Head

We spent a brilliant day on the road with the main focus on Dingle and the surrounding coast, including the spectacular Slea Head. It was mid-March and the weather was mixed but our hours on the coast and in the town were enhanced by the sunshine even the winds blew hard.

Torc Waterfall, mins from hotel

A few months back, we came across a magnificent sea salt made by a small enterprise called West of Dingle. It is usually stocked by the well-known Little Cheese Shop in Green Street but they had run out. We were directed to the Health Food Shop on Main Street and here we were able to stock up.

Local brew in hotel

We were looking for a mini-snack ourselves (enough after that big breakfast in the Victoria) and called into Seed & Soul and my highlight here was their Gingerbread Latte. Not a great Latte man normally but I certainly enjoyed this one.

Great to see well-known places such as Dick Mac’s (lively lunchtime buzz there) as we strolled around. It may have been cool but that didn’t stop the punters piling into Murphy’s Ice Cream. Passing Ireland’s smallest shop, McCarthy’s Crepes, and a sign outside Bob Griffin’s Bar telling us that Soup of the Day was Guinness, raised a smile.

Since I was in Kerry I was keen to get my hands on some local craft beer, especially those that wouldn’t be readily available in Cork. And I found quite a treasure trove of craft a few minutes from the hotel. The Carry Out at the town end of the road down to Ross Castle had a huge selection including some from my own local the Cotton Ball. They also bottles from four Kerry brewers: Tom Crean, Torc, West Kerry and Killarney Brewery. Filled a big box there!

Just across the road from the off licence, a couple from Argentina run Tango, a café and bakery, with an interesting South American and European menu. Didn't have time to call on this trip but noted it. Another to check, nearby, out is Luna, a wine bar stocking some excellent natural wines.

The hotel and Harrow both serve local beers but if you want a large selection on draught then the best place to visit would the Celtic Whiskey Bar and Larder in the town centre. They do some very tasty food there as well.

I didn’t get to visit the new facility of the Killarney Brewing and Distillery Company out in Fossa on this visit but that was remedied on w/ending March 31st - I'll have a post up soon. Cheers!

On this trip:

Dinner at The Ivy in Killarney

Dining at The Harrow Killarney

Coming Soon

Sneem Hotel DBB

Brehon Lunch

Lunch at Killarney Distillery and Brewery in Fossa.

Best local produce finds a fine home at Harrow in Killarney’s High Street.

Best local produce finds a fine home at Harrow

 in Killarney’s High Street

Chicken

Killarney's Harrow has just reached the 12-month milestone on the town’s High Street and is making quite an impression. It is an impressive building, both inside and out, very comfortable and spacious, with a very friendly staff and, very importantly, local produce is supported and well handled here.

Harrow (where Gabys was)

The culinary team of John, Christian & Zvonimir are bringing all their experience to bear and local producers supported and listed on the menu include Poppadom’s Farm Killarney - Star Seafood Killarney - Spillane’s Seafood Killarney - Tim Jones Killarney - Fenit Veg Tralee - Wild Kerry Game - Terra Foods Tralee - Irish Hereford Prime - Our Chef’s Garden. Local brewers and distillers also feature in Harrow.

Mussels

Interior

The main restaurant, well decorated and lit, is a split-level ground floor room and off to the right and upstairs is a separate party room for around 30 guests. Service is friendly and efficient from welcome to goodbye.

We were soon seated and checking the menus. Some very tantalising dishes here. The produce may be local and Irish but there are some different touches from the continent and beyond. They offer A La Carte and a 3-course set menu (for forty euro where you choose from starred items on the A La Carte).

There is a long wine list here, quite a few by the glass. They have a full bar of course so no scarcity of spirits, cocktails, and beer. Some non alcoholic options too. I often look out for the local beer and we enjoyed bottles from Killarney Brewing (Devil’s Helles) and 9 White Deer (Stag Bán Pale Ale).

Celeriac

After tasting and enjoying their smoked butter on their crispy bread, I started with Hay Baked Celeriac (Salt and Hay Baked Celeriac with Truffle Dressing, Pickled Cranberries & Toasted Pistachios). You don’t see this too often. I enjoyed it very much, light, flavourful and colourful. Happy sounds too from the other side of the table where the Mussels served with Garlic Bread Curried Lemongrass and Ginger went down well. They also had a Garlic and Parsley Cream sauce available for the more cautious.

CL went for a more traditional main course: Chicken Supreme. It was stuffed with Black Wild Garlic, Mushroom & Spinach Arancini, Grilled Butternut Squash, Pickled Chanterelles, Roasting Jus. A splendid dish indeed, packed with flavour and accompanied by Crispy Potato dressed with Confit Garlic.

I haven’t had Pork Schnitzel in a long long time and the Harrow version was excellent in both quality and quantity and served with a very tasty German Potato Salad. The full description is Pork Schnitzel, Celeriac Purée, Herb and Parmesan Dressing, Celeriac Slaw with Jus. A hearty flavoursome dish to watch out for if you visit.

Schnitzel

The dessert list is short, shorter than the list of sweet wines (including ports). Our pick, for sharing, was the Vanilla Crème Brûlée lightly flavoured with Pedro Jiménez, served with Boozy Armagnac Prunes & Cinnamon Biscuit. Yum.

You may be wondering where the restaurant name comes from. Not from the London borough of that name nor from any grand palace or family. It is from the humble farm implement used to break up the soil after ploughing. Apparently, the people behind Harrow have an agricultural background and that shows also in the names on their sophisticated cocktail list. Here, among the classics, you’ll find The Plough, The Hoe, The Oxen, and The Iron Harrow. A haggart full of cocktails then but no sign of the Scuffler! Cheers.