JP McMahon's terroir room on Galway's West End, cooking the west of Ireland almost entirely from its own farms, shores and wild ground. A Michelin star held since 2012, and a menu written on the day.
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
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.
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