For a town of two thousand, Kenmare has an absurd density of good restaurants — a legacy of the tourist trade and of two long-established luxury hotels that set the bar high for everyone else. Reservations are essential in summer.
Mulcahy's, The Mews, and the dining room at the Park Hotel anchor the upper end, with locally landed seafood, lamb from the mountains behind the town, and game in season. For something less formal, the pubs along Henry Street and Main Street serve good chowder and proper steaks well into the evening.