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Fota Restaurant at Fota Island Hotel & Spa

Contact Information

Fota Restaurant at Fota Island Hotel & Spa
John O'Flynn (General Manager)
Fota Island, Cork,
Co.Cork

Telephone: +353 (0)21 467 3000
Email: reservations@fotaisland.ie
Web: fotaisland.ie

Fota Island just east of Cork City is one of the most beautiful places in Ireland. It is best known for its Wildlife Park, which is a joint project between the Zoological Society...

Fota Restaurant at Fota Island Hotel & Spa
  • Fota Restaurant at Fota Island Hotel & Spa
  • Fota Restaurant at Fota Island Hotel & Spa
  • Fota Restaurant at Fota Island Hotel & Spa
  • Fota Restaurant at Fota Island Hotel & Spa

How to get there

Located off the N25 east of Cork City. Take slip road signposted Carrigtohill/Cobh R624. At roundabout take 4th exit. At next Roundabout take 1st exit. Helipad on site

Good to know

Opening Hours:
Fota Restaurant:
Breakfast 7am - 10 am
Sat & Sun 7am - 11 am
Dinner:
Sun-Thurs 7pm - 9.30pm
Fri-Sat 6pm - 10.00pm
Amber Lounge:
9.00-11.30pm
9.00-00.30am Fri-Sat
Food 12.00 - 8pm
Food 12.00 - 6pm Fri Sat
Cuisine: Modern Irish & Grill Menu
A La Carte:
Fota Restaurant:
Mains €16.50 - €30
Amber Lounge:
Soups Salads
Sambos €8 - €14.50
Mains €14.50 - €22.50
Sunday Lunch: Yes
Children’s Menu: Yes
Number of Covers:
Wheelchair Facilities: Yes
Credit Cards: Yes
Private Dining Facilities: Yes
Wifi: Yes

About The Restaurant

Fota Island just east of Cork City is one of the most beautiful places in Ireland. It is best known for its Wildlife Park, which is a joint project between the Zoological Society of Ireland and University College Cork. It is a wonderful opportunity to see many endangered species from lemurs to zebras up close and personal with very little restriction.

Recent years saw the opening of the stunning Fota Island Hotel & Spa. The location is fab, right beside this wonderful nature reserve, only 10 minutes to Cork City, close to Cobh and the Titanic trail. Nip on the little car-ferry across the bay, and you are into West Cork and Kinsale in half an hour. The Hotel itself is a low rise building sitting at the top of a hill overlooking parklands and the golf course and there is just that wonderful feel of being away from it all….. and somewhere special. There is an almost Hispanic feeling to the large lobby with its beamed ceiling, stone columns, marble floors and oak furnishings. Off the lobby is a beautiful Amber lounge leading to the Fota restaurant which serves excellent food. Tucked away at the other side of the lobby, beside the wine cellar, is a fabulous fine dining seafood grillroom, The Cove, which opens for private parties.

We would be regular visitors to Fota Island Resort and to its Fota Restaurant and Amber Grill - indeed we have many happy memories of there including a recent New Year's Eve spent there.

The A La Carte menu is extensive with really interesting dishes. To kick off starters include an open ravioli of squash and langoustine with seared tips of green asparagus, finished with a shellfish broth. Smoked haddock risotto comes with a poached hen's egg and parsley oil, whilst scallops are paired with pork belly in a modern day surf 'n turn combo but they are Diver scallops with caramelised red onion Tart Tatin, braised pork belly and a Burgundy infused jus.
Crispy magret de canard salad rests on watercress, spring onions, bean sprouts and mouli, giving it an Asian touch, further enhanced with a sesame oil ginger and chilli dressing.

Mains include game in season as well as pan fried fillet of beef sitting on a gratin of forest mushrooms, red onion marmalade, braised Cider fondant potato, thyme and Madeira jus. Seared monkfish on the bone is French style with braised oxtail and panfried cepes, a Brunoise of vegetables and a fish reduction. Oven baked fillet of hake is with crab and seafood vegetable risotto whilst the all time favourite panfried Dover Sole on the bone is with a ginger, caper and tarragon butter served with roast olivette potatoes. Roast loin of venison has a sweet potato crust, whilst you can also have a whopping 280 grm sirloin of beef or a 340 grm T-bone steak - both of course with all the trimmings - fat chips, oven baked Portobello mushrooms, Lyonnaise onions, and a choice of hazelnut salsa verde, red wine or peppercorn sauce. On top of that you can have a Chateaubriand to share for two people, carved at the table, or a roast Poulet de Landes, a real treat, the crown of chicken with truffle Pommes Anna, mixed baby vegetables and a Trompette jus.

Follow up with posh Sticky Toffee pudding, Chocolate Fondant, Custard Tart with fresh nutmeg, caramelised fig and a mulled wine syrup.....yum.

The Amber Lounge at Fota also does food - casual style. I often pop in on my way to Kinsale, you can have coffee and scones in the morning or Afternoon tea. They do excellent posh sandwiches and salads, as well as Large Plates with popular numbers such as Fish ' n Chips, Shepherd's Pie, Chicken Masala, Baked Sea Bass, and a jolly good burger.

A wide menu, good food, you can't but be satisfied.




Actually I could stay in the Fota Island Hotel & Spa for a week and never move out.

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