Aniar

The kitchen

Aniar sits on Lower Dominick Street in Galway's West End, opened in 2011 by JP McMahon, who has run the pass himself since 2015. The word means from the west, and that is the whole idea: a micro-seasonal tasting menu drawn almost entirely from the farms, shores and wild ground of Ireland's Atlantic coast, finalised on the day around what is foraged and landed. It has held a Michelin star since 2012, through more than one change of head chef, which tells you the terroir carries it, not a single cook.

The room and the table

The room is small and contemporary, the format a long tasting menu, the Aniar experience running to two dozen small servings. Wine, juice and Irish-drink pairings sit alongside. It is serious cooking with a narrow geography, the opposite of a menu that could be served anywhere.

The wider circle

McMahon is more than the restaurant. He founded Food on the Edge, the international chefs' symposium held in Galway, runs Cava Bodega and other rooms in the city, and has written a definitive modern Irish cookbook. Aniar is the fine-dining apex of all of it, and the reason to route a western trip through Galway.

At a glance

Cuisine

Contemporary Irish terroir, west-coast produce

Recognition

One Michelin star since 2012, held since

Setting

Lower Dominick Street, Galway West End

Chef-patron

JP McMahon

Menu

Tasting only, the Aniar experience, about EUR 175

Pairs with

Ballynahinch and Connemara, an hour west

The TGC view

Aniar is the table for the west of Ireland cooked from the west of Ireland, and the natural evening to a Connemara trip. TGC books it, and builds it into the route with Ballynahinch.

Want us to arrange it?

We hold the relationships, the rooms and the access. Tell us the dates and we handle the rest.