Restaurant in Adare, Ireland
Tasting menu that earns the star.
The Oak Room at Adare Manor holds a Michelin star, a World of Fine Wine 3-Star wine accreditation, and a place on The Sunday Times Ireland's 100 Best Restaurants (2025) list. It is a formal, tasting-menu-only dinner restaurant inside one of Ireland's grandest hotel properties, running Wednesday through Sunday from 6 PM. Book four to six weeks out minimum — this is a hard reservation to secure on weekends.
The Oak Room at Adare Manor earns its Michelin star and its place on The Sunday Times Ireland's 100 Best Restaurants (2025) list. If you are planning a special-occasion dinner in the Limerick area — or building a trip around a serious meal — this is the booking to make. The tasting menu format, formal service, and grand dining room all point toward a deliberate, unhurried experience. Book well in advance, dress up, and give the wine list proper attention: it holds a World of Fine Wine 3-Star Accreditation and offers a serious range by the glass.
The Oak Room sits inside Adare Manor, and the setting shapes the experience from the moment you walk in. Wood-panelled walls, lavish chandeliers, and a glass-enclosed terrace looking out over 850 acres of grounds: this is a room that signals occasion before a single dish arrives. The visual weight of the space is part of what you are paying for, and for a certain kind of dinner , anniversary, milestone, a night that needs to feel significant , that weight is an asset. For diners who find formality oppressive rather than fitting, this may not be the right call. Consider Aniar in Galway or Bastion in Kinsale if you want Michelin-level cooking in a less ceremonial setting.
Tasting menu is the format here, and it is built around Irish produce at its seasonal peak. The kitchen's approach is to source quality first and let the menu follow , which means what you eat in February will be meaningfully different from what arrives in August or October. Dishes like turbot cooked on the bone in mussel and saffron sauce, finished with caviar, give a clear sense of the register: technically precise, ingredient-driven, with decadent flourishes that justify the price tier.
For food-focused travellers, timing your visit around the season matters here more than at a venue running a fixed menu year-round. Late autumn and winter tend to favour richer, more substantial plates , game, root vegetables, intensely reduced sauces. Spring and early summer bring lighter, more delicate compositions as the kitchen responds to what is coming in from Irish farms and waters. If you have flexibility, visiting in late spring or early autumn gives you the leading chance of catching the menu at a point of transition, when seasonal produce is at its most concentrated and the kitchen is working with peak-quality ingredients.
The wine list carries a World of Fine Wine 3-Star Accreditation , one of the stronger endorsements a restaurant cellar can hold , and the by-the-glass range is broad enough to build a meaningful pairing without committing to a full wine flight. For serious wine drinkers, this alone is worth factoring into the decision. Comparable Irish fine-dining destinations like Liath in Blackrock or Terre in Castlemartyr offer strong lists, but few at this price point hold an equivalent wine accreditation.
The menu is tasting-format, so ordering is largely guided by the kitchen. The turbot dish , on the bone, mussel and saffron sauce, caviar , is the clearest signal of house style and worth noting as a reference point for what the kitchen does well: classical technique, premium seafood, considered luxury additions. Given the seasonal rotation, trust the current menu rather than arriving with fixed expectations. Ask the sommelier for glass pairings rather than defaulting to a bottle: the by-the-glass selection is where the 3-Star wine accreditation pays dividends.
Oak Room is dinner-only, running Wednesday through Sunday from 6 PM to 9:30 PM. Monday and Tuesday the kitchen is closed. If your travel window only covers early in the week, plan accordingly. Friday and Saturday evenings fill earliest , book those at least four to six weeks out, more if you are travelling specifically for the meal. Wednesday and Thursday evenings offer marginally more availability and a quieter room. Sunday dinner works well if you are staying at the manor and want to close out a weekend stay with a formal meal rather than drive afterward.
Seasonally, the months of May through October represent the broadest window of Irish produce availability, and the kitchen's output tends to reflect that. A winter visit still delivers technically accomplished food, but the menu tilts heavier and the terrace views are less of a factor. If the visual experience of looking out over the grounds matters to you, aim for late spring through early autumn when the light holds into the evening.
Reservations: Hard to secure on weekends , book four to six weeks out minimum, longer for peak months. Hours: Wednesday–Sunday, 6 PM–9:30 PM; closed Monday and Tuesday. Budget: €€€€ , expect tasting menu pricing consistent with a Michelin-starred hotel restaurant. Dress: Formal. The room signals it and the occasion demands it. Getting there: Adare is approximately 20 minutes from Limerick city; a taxi or car is the practical choice if you plan to drink well from the wine list. Wine: World of Fine Wine 3-Star Accredited list with a strong by-the-glass range.
If you are building a longer trip around serious eating in the west and south of Ireland, The Oak Room pairs well with dede in Baltimore, Chestnut in Ballydehob, or Homestead Cottage in Doolin as part of a Munster and Connacht circuit. For a full picture of dining options in the town itself, see our full Adare restaurants guide, and 1826 Adare is worth considering if you want strong local cooking at a lower price point on the same trip. If you are staying in the area, our Adare hotels guide, bars guide, and experiences guide cover the rest of the visit. For context on where The Oak Room sits within the wider Irish Michelin picture, Chapter One by Mickael Viljanen in Dublin and Campagne in Kilkenny offer useful points of comparison for the tasting menu format across Ireland.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Booking Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Oak Room | Modern Cuisine | €€€€ | Hard |
| Patrick Guilbaud | Irish - French, Modern French | €€€€ | Unknown |
| Aniar | Modern Irish, Modern Cuisine | €€€€ | Unknown |
| Bastion | Progressive American, Modern Cuisine | €€€€ | Unknown |
| LIGИUM | Creative | €€€€ | Unknown |
| Host | Nordic , Modern Cuisine | €€ | Unknown |
What to weigh when choosing between The Oak Room and alternatives.
Yes — it is one of the stronger cases for a special-occasion booking in Ireland. The setting inside Adare Manor, with its wood-panelled walls, chandeliers, and glass-enclosed terrace overlooking 850 acres of grounds, does the work before the food even arrives. The Michelin star (2024) and placement in The Sunday Times Ireland's 100 Best Restaurants (2025) give it the credibility to match the occasion. At €€€€, budget accordingly and book four to six weeks out minimum.
For the format, yes. The kitchen builds the menu around Irish produce at its seasonal peak, with dishes like turbot on the bone in mussel and saffron sauce finished with caviar signalling where the kitchen's ambition sits. The wine list holds a 3-Star World of Fine Wine accreditation and offers a strong range by the glass, which helps manage cost if you skip the full pairing. If tasting menus are not your preferred format, this is not the venue to test that preference at €€€€.
The venue database does not confirm a bar dining option at The Oak Room. Given the formal, tasting-menu-centred format inside Adare Manor, the experience is structured around table service rather than casual bar seating. Contact Adare Manor directly to confirm current seating arrangements before assuming flexibility.
It is doable, but not the obvious fit. The tasting menu format works for solo diners in principle, and the glass-enclosed terrace setting can feel less exposed than a large main dining room. That said, at €€€€ with a formal atmosphere, solo visits lean heavily on your appetite for extended, course-led meals without company. If solo fine dining is your norm, it works; if it is a first attempt, somewhere with counter seating may suit better.
The menu is tasting format, so the kitchen sets the direction. The standout dish documented is the turbot on the bone with mussel and saffron sauce and caviar. Pay attention to the wine list — it holds a World of Fine Wine 3-Star accreditation and offers a serious range by the glass, so selecting individual pours rather than a full pairing can be a practical way to engage with it.
There are no direct comparators in Adare itself — the village is small and The Oak Room is its only restaurant operating at this level. For Michelin-standard alternatives in Ireland, Aniar in Galway runs a similarly produce-led tasting menu with a strong regional identity. Patrick Guilbaud in Dublin is the country's most decorated table if budget is not the constraint. For something less formal at a lower price point, Chestnut in Schull is worth considering if your trip extends to West Cork.
Dinner only — the kitchen does not open for lunch. The Oak Room runs Wednesday through Sunday, 6 PM to 9:30 PM, and is closed Monday and Tuesday. Plan your travel window around those days; if you are arriving on a Monday or Tuesday, you will need to eat elsewhere or adjust your schedule.
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