The Greystones Food Trail: From the Happy Pear to the Michelin Guide

Greystones is a genuine food town, and the unusual thing about it is that the reputation is local and earned rather than bolted on for the tourists. The obvious place to start is The Happy Pear on Church Road, the café, wholefood shop, and bakery that twin brothers David and Stephen Flynn, who are from the town, opened in 2004. It has grown into a national plant-based brand, but this is the original, and it is still the easiest introduction to how the town eats.

From there, Church Road is the spine of the food scene. Chakra by Jaipur at Meridian Point is the upscale Indian restaurant listed in the Michelin Guide (listed, to be clear, not starred), and the strongest reason to plan an evening rather than just a daytime visit. The Hungry Monk at 1 Church Road has been pouring serious wine and serving Irish and European cooking since 1988. For daytime, Buoys Kitchen and Three Q's cover brunch, Las Tapas brings Spanish small plates, and Caffè Delle Stelle does proper Italian coffee.

The other cluster is down at the harbour. The Beach House, with the traditional Dann's Bar inside it, has anchored the waterfront since 1850, and the Harbour Kitchen opened upstairs in 2023 for seafood with a marina view. Grab a coffee at Spendlove by the water, and if you want to take lunch to the beach, Eleven Deli in the town centre does the sandwiches. It is a small town, but you could eat well here for a week.