This is a great spot to visit after a trip to the Jameson distillery…read moreThe menu is small (ish) but that's a huge positive - everything they make is incredible! It's a five star dining experience for "nice night out" prices and the owner is phenomenal! Come in, sit down, pick your choices and enjoy the two hour long present to your palette!

The green warehouse of Curious Wines is bright and unmissable and Number 36 brightens up that…read morecorner of the Kinsale Road Commercial Centre. It is also big which means you have loads of room in the aisles and they have plenty of room to display their impressive range of wines. It is the new base of brothers Mike and Matt Kane who have moved form Bandon after 18 months or so there. Space and location were the main attractions in making the move for Curious Wines, whose website has won Best in Ireland (2009) and who feature in the Bridgestone Best in Ireland 2010. "We are now settled in and happy with the location," Mike told me on a recent visit. "We've used the web to let people know of the move and word of mouth, perhaps the best recommendation, is now having its effect." "It is so convenient for so many people, just one minute off the Kinsale Road roundabout. Quite a few made the trip out to Bandon but it wasn't a regular trip and that seems to be happening here." "The proximity of Smyths Toys also means a huge footfall in the centre and indeed quite a few tired parents drop in to buy a consolatory bottle after hours spent on toys. I know the feeling, as I'm a parent myself."

Very handily situated off-licence in the centre of town. Go there when you've finished shopping for…read moreSaturday night and stock up for Saturday night. Good range of beers, and a nice selection of wines.

If you're in the English Market, you have to stop buy here. It's not far from the Grand Parade…read moreentrance to the market, and makes up part of what I like to think of as the "Picnic Stretch". 30 yards of shops, including On the Pigs Back, Alternative Bread Company and Coffee Central, that'll give you everything needed for a picnic in the Peace Park across the road (weather permitting). Real Olive Company also has a presence at markets all over Ireland, and I've often seen their stall at the Temple Bar market on Saturdays. Their olives are delicious, and they're always willing to give you a sample before you make you're choice.

Great pla ce to do your shopping, I find what I'm looking for when shopping in Quish's. There is…read moreparking outside to front of the shop and to the side of the shop. Staff are very friendly and looking forward to shopping there again

I thought this Supervalu was great! It is a decently sized supermarket with a very large parking…read morelot. It was well organized and the prices are clearly delineated. There was a great variety of packaged food, but I must confess, I was only in the area for vacation so I did not look for produce. I have no comment on their fresh product section. You can get soda for a decent price as well as candies, chips. They have a very quick moving check out section and the staff are very helpful. Great place to stop by if you need to stock up on snacks and things.

This is a great place to shop if you are in Blackrock. This location has been done up nicely and…read morehas many great features here you will not find at other SuperValu locations. They have a deli area with a great selection of tapas, ready cooked dinners made fresh, and a sandwich bar. The selection here also is much better and seems to have many of the higher end items you normally would only find at specialty shops or M&S. The only thing which bothers me about this place is the fact that for some reason around lunch and dinner time it is completely filled with elderly shoppers who for whatever reason congregate at those times and the queues come to a standstill. If you avoid those two times you will find the queues are not bad and the selection is brilliant.

Great experience at Midleton. The property is beautiful and in a lovely town…read more Our tour guide Cassy was incredibly knowledgeable and informative. She expertly answered the myriad of questions she was presented with. We opted for the higher priced premium tasting, which included a tasting of the distillery specific Jameson, Redbreast 15, and Midleton Very Rare. That too was a good experience overall, with a different host guiding us through the tasting, but it was definitely rushed. It was clear that the employee was under the gun to move us along. Each whiskey was wonderful, but it felt odd downing a taste of Midleton like a shot. The tour concluded with an included drink in the bar. Most of us opted for a Jameson and Ginger, made with Fever Tree ginger ale, given the unusually warm weather Ireland was experiencing. We also bought a "Spot" flight to sample three of those brand (Red Spot was amazing). Lastly, the wife and I perused the gift shop and the glorious Midleton vault of rare years and editions. Another employee, Michael, was informative and generous with his time as he talked about the whiskey's history and the significance of the various releases. He had no problem answering our questions regarding bottles valued at tens of thousands of Euros, even though we were clearly not in the market for one. He was able to approach the whiskey from both the perspective of a collector and an enthusiastic consumer. Our time in the vault was almost like a second tour and we spent so much time in it that our adult children began to think we had gone missing. We finally left, purchasing a bottle of the Dair Ghaelach release, matured in casks made from the wood of a native Irish tree (which we learned is very rare). While its cost was dwarfed by many of the rare bottles present, it was definitely more than we are used to spending on a bottle. We intend to keep it as a collector's piece, on par with "artwork." However, Michael would probably encourage us to enjoy it on the many special occasions that life brings us : )

Toured the Midleton Distillery today (5-21-26) and had Myles as our tour guide. Myles was very…read morepersonable and had vast knowledge of the distillery as well as the processes of making whiskey. The grounds were vast and we were able to see various phases of whiskey making. At the end of the tour we had a whiskey tasting of three varieties followed by a cocktail at their bar. This tour was great and there was so much more to see than The Teeling Whiskey Tour in Dublin. I recommend The Midleton Distillery Tour to travelers.

BRADLEY'S Called into Bradley's, North Main Street, to…read morebrowse among their 700 wines. Wouldn't you know it - they didn't have the Four Sisters Shiraz that I was on the lookout for. At least that was my excuse for calling. They had some bargains, one Australian Shiraz I had bought elsewhere before Christmas was marked down by three euro. The Penfold's Rawson Retreat range was also down by that amount and I treated herself (my excuse) to a bottle of Semillon Chardonnay. They also have huge ranges of spirits and beers but I didn't have time to check them all or the arms to carry them. Settled for a few beers on this occasion and am now looking forward to sampling Pilsner Urquell (€2.99), Rick Stein's Chalky's Bark Open (€2.99) and, from Oz, Hahn Premium (€1.89). My father always maintained that Bradley's had the best bottled Irish beer in town but they have now spread their wings and are well worth a visit. Service, by the way, was relaxed and friendly.