Eating in Cashel, and the story of Cashel Blue

For a town of fewer than five thousand people, Cashel eats remarkably well. It has a Michelin star, a fine-dining institution that has run since the 1960s, a lunch spot people drive out of their way for, and the rich farmland of the Golden Vale on its doorstep producing the cheese that carries the town's name. Here is how to eat well in Cashel, at any budget.

The best-value lunch in town

Cafe Hans, a few steps from the Rock, is the lunch every local will send you to. It is the daytime little sister of Chez Hans next door, and it does open salads, fish and open sandwiches off a short blackboard, fast and very well. Two things to know: it takes no reservations and it is cash only. A queue forms most days in season, so arrive before noon or after the first rush. It is genuinely worth the wait and the planning, and it is the single best-value meal in Cashel.

The dinner rooms

For dinner, the town has two serious options. The Bishop's Buttery at the Cashel Palace Hotel holds a Michelin star under chef Stephen Hayes, with a tasting menu built on Tipperary and Irish produce, served in the vaulted lower floor of the Georgian palace. It is the room for a special occasion, and you should book well ahead. Chez Hans, a Cashel institution since 1968, serves classic and modern European cooking inside a deconsecrated Wesleyan chapel on Moor Lane below the Rock. The high stone interior is part of the experience, and it has been the town's destination dinner for over half a century.

The pubs and the casual end

Mikey Ryan's Bar and Kitchen on Main Street is the all-rounder: a restored old pub with a snug front bar, a dining room and a covered garden, now run by the Cashel Palace's kitchen team, doing modern Irish gastropub food that works for a casual pint or a proper meal. Feehan's Bar is the traditional family-run pub for an honest lunch among locals rather than tourists. And Granny's Kitchen, right by the Rock car park, does soup, sandwiches and home baking, the handiest stop before or after the climb.

The story of Cashel Blue

The food of Cashel is the food of the Golden Vale, the belt of rich dairy pasture that surrounds the town and ranks among the best farmland in Ireland. Its most famous product is Cashel Blue, Ireland's original farmhouse blue cheese, made by the Grubb family at Beechmount Farm near Fethard, about fourteen kilometres from the town, since the 1980s. The same dairy makes Crozier Blue from sheep's milk. It is worth being clear that the cheese is made near Cashel rather than in it, at Fethard, but it carries the town's name and it is the signature taste of the area. You will find it on the cheeseboards of the town's restaurants and in the shops, and a wedge from Spearman's bakery or the SuperValu makes the right souvenir to take home.

A note on opening hours

Cashel is a small town, and several of its kitchens keep limited or seasonal hours, closing early in the week or shutting between lunch and dinner. The dinner rooms book up, especially the Bishop's Buttery and Chez Hans at weekends and through the summer. Cafe Hans is lunch only and cash only. The sensible plan is to book your dinner ahead, treat Cafe Hans as a lunch to arrive early for, and keep a pub like Mikey Ryan's in reserve as the flexible fallback. Confirm hours directly, as they shift with the season.