Kenmare - whats there?

nicecritic

Hi all,
I'm new here so I'll keep my first post short and sweet.

I visited Kenmare with my husband the May Bank holiday weekend. A little disappointing I must say. We stayed in the Kenmare Bay hotel & resort. It was ok - staff were very nice but please do not pay extra for a luxury room as these are not luxury but a room with an extra single bed ??? It was a family room as such. No need for that extra expense especially seen as the town is expensive enough.

The average price we paid for a meal without alcohol was €65 before tip for a starter and main course (no desert either). The first night we went to D'arcy's and had the pudding starter which was nice - a little too much apple chutney for me! For the main course we selected fish. The salmon and seabass were dry, over cooked and just not tasty. The sides were equally disappointing
The second night we ate in the Charcoal Steakhouse - now that was YUMMY...ooohhhh so tasty. The ribs and chicken wings are delicious and the steak was perfect - very large portions so I didn't have room to sample the desert menu!

Kenmare itself consists of 2 streets with mostly bars and some art shops. Not very interesting after an hour or 2. There is a lovely golf course and walk nearby the golf course but apart from this, Kenmare is really a stopping point for the ring of kerry or the ring of beara. Most people we spoke with were only staying 1 night and then moving on.

I know there are water sports that you can do and also go out to hopefully catch a glimpse of seals but the weather wasn't great for this when we were there.

overall, nice to see but no need to stay the night

Jul3s

nicecritic wrote: »

Hi all,
I'm new here so I'll keep my first post short and sweet.

I visited Kenmare with my husband the May Bank holiday weekend. A little disappointing I must say. We stayed in the Kenmare Bay hotel & resort. It was ok - staff were very nice but please do not pay extra for a luxury room as these are not luxury but a room with an extra single bed ??? It was a family room as such. No need for that extra expense especially seen as the town is expensive enough.

The average price we paid for a meal without alcohol was €65 before tip for a starter and main course (no desert either). The first night we went to D'arcy's and had the pudding starter which was nice - a little too much apple chutney for me! For the main course we selected fish. The salmon and seabass were dry, over cooked and just not tasty. The sides were equally disappointing
The second night we ate in the Charcoal Steakhouse - now that was YUMMY...ooohhhh so tasty. The ribs and chicken wings are delicious and the steak was perfect - very large portions so I didn't have room to sample the desert menu!

Kenmare itself consists of 2 streets with mostly bars and some art shops. Not very interesting after an hour or 2. There is a lovely golf course and walk nearby the golf course but apart from this, Kenmare is really a stopping point for the ring of kerry or the ring of beara. Most people we spoke with were only staying 1 night and then moving on.

I know there are water sports that you can do and also go out to hopefully catch a glimpse of seals but the weather wasn't great for this when we were there.

overall, nice to see but no need to stay the night

You got it in a nutshell there, Kenmare is all about the food and relaxing, Darcys is always abit hit and miss, next time try Packies(book in advance) or the Horseshoe and Prego also do excellent food.
When you say you paid €65, I presume that's not per person, if it is you were ripped off, if not I would have thought €32.50 would be standard for a starter and main course, in most urban restaurants of a similiar standard you'll pay that just for the main course.
Also if you want to treat yourself you could always have dinner in the Park hotel, iirc it's €65 per person but it's four or five courses with excellent choices in each course and top quaility chefs.
Also I hope you complained in person to Darcys.

johnr1

Kenmare is a base for exploring the Iveragh and Beara peninsulas, with Glengarriff and Bantry areas also possible.

Most tourists who stay there are looking to have a choice of good restaurants and bars which they would not get anywhere else on the ring of Kerry bar Killarney, and certainly not in Beara, or further south till you hit Clonakilty.

Yes, there are good watersports, boating and diving close by, along with some of the best hill and coastal walks in the country. There is also a championship golf course about 3 miles out.

Relaxation is the big thing,- as someone else posted, and they could have added Mulcahys, The Lime Tree, and Davitts to their list, - The Horseshoe used to be amazing some years ago, but management changed, and its patchy enough now from what I hear.

The Coachmans on a weekend night has to be experienced to be believed, - I have no interest, but it's one of the best bars in the country on a busy night in my opinion, and the bar food ain't half bad either.