Ballymaloe House Hotel, an SLH Hotel

We loved Ballymaloe House. The drive there was beautiful and arriving in the late afternoon on a sunny day was magical. We enjoyed a long walk around the grounds, the pool, and the tennis courts. The food was amazing. ||My only suggestion is to study the room choices carefully when booking. The more expensive rooms are better. Not that that should be a surprise. But there is a difference, and better to know ahead of time exactly what you are getting. I was glad that a previous reviewer had pointed that out and, as a result, we made good choices for our situation. The staff is very responsive so easy to email and ask questions.

We did not stay but dine there. Nice fresh food and very friendly, polite and professional staff. Very good selection of wines for every paladar. Fair price for a 5 course meal as well as drinks reasonably priced. Beautiful setup too. We will be back at some stage and we would recommend with no hesitation.

This Hotel has everything to make it a perfect getaway to recharge the batteries and have wonderful time with your partner. We only had the one night there but squeezed so much in. The e-bikes make it so easy to explore all of the trails that you can walk if you have time. The food was as you expect it having the name Ballymaloe attached to it. Plentiful choices for lunch, fab 5 course dinner and excellent drinks/wine options. Left after the 1 night tasting more of the wonderful cuisine with a hearty Ballymaloe full Irish 😋

We visited for an evening meal only. I was disappointed in a number of ways. We were in a dining room where a couple were regularly complaining, so they got all of the attention while we waited for service. But besides that, the table in the corner, us, was overlooked on multiple occasions. The beef was passable at best. The dessert trolly was very poor. There were items like roulade, sorbet, fool, and fruit compote, so all easy and soft. Basically a dessert for a granny, no texture. Will not be back. Very poor.

too many incredible things to say about our stay at ballymaloe house. the food was exceptional, the staff were wonderful, the property was beautiful, and the accommodations were modern yet authentic. i would highly recommend to anyone looking for a quiet, comforting, and truly Irish experience

Ballymaloe House: A Cherished Place for Unforgettable Celebrations Ballymaloe House holds a truly special place in my heart, and it's consistently my favourite destination for celebrating milestones and simply enjoying precious moments with loved ones. From the moment you arrive, the **hospitality and atmosphere are always so wonderfully warm, cosy, and inviting.** It's a place that genuinely makes you feel at home, wrapped in an embrace of comfort and charm, making every occasion feel extra special. The dining experience is, without fail, exceptional. The food is always **incredibly fresh and utterly delicious, embodying a true farm-to-plate philosophy.** You can taste the quality and care in every single bite, a testament to their dedication to local produce. While everything is superb, the **dessert trolley at Christmas time is an absolute dream** – a truly magical highlight that I look forward to year after year! Ballymaloe isn't just a meal; it's an experience that nourishes the soul. It's where memories are made, laughter is shared, and the simple joy of good company and exquisite food comes to life. A truly special establishment that will always be a favourite.

Staying 4 nights in the hotel and 2.5 days at the cookery school - this was beyond description- it was sublime., every single member of staff was beyond superb. Had the most exciting 2.5 days at cookery school - blown away by the experience but more importantly the work ethic of Darina and Rachel - it was phenomenal. Attention to detail and their customers was beyond comment. It is the most loved in experience for foodies. Fern and her wonderful husband Eoin went beyond the requirements for us to have the best stay and Wendy in the Ballymaloe shop topped it all - an absolute top notch experience .

Stopped here after touring Ballymaloe Cookery School for a snack. The pistachio macaron was delicious! Large, perfectly chewy and fluffy at the same time. Fizzy water washed it all down and balanced the sweetness. Well stocked gift shop with every kitchen item you could ever wish for and a nice selection of woolen items. We didn't stay here, so I can't comment on the hotel.

Review is for restaurant only. We had the 5 course dinner. Exceptional service, great festive ambience crew and excellent food made this a memorable meal. Nice range of options for the 5 courses. John Dory appetizer was exceptional. Mains highlights were the duck, beef and lamb that our party had. All cooked and seasoned perfectly. Desert trolley has a nice range of options to round off the night. Highly recommended.

I am giving this establishment a four star rating for dining. We didn't lodge there although the grounds look beautiful. The restaurant looked very nice and is in an old manor and very clean. The staff is very nice but the drink service was lacking. Water wasn't refilled until asked same for alcohol. I had an old fashioned which was just syrup with low alcohol content. My wife had a passion fruit martini which she liked and her friend enjoyed her cocktail. The food was good but not excellent. For the price and build up as a Michelin star I was ready for amazing. The sourdough bread was tasty. I had the miso soup which was really good but a poor choice at an expensive restaurant. The scallops were very nice. The beef was good but we are from Texas where we prefer grilled steak. Loved the cheese plate the desert plate was good, the coffee ice cream was home made and the chocolate cake was nice . Our server was polite and knowledgeable.

We stayed and ate here on two consecutive nights. On most nights, there is a five course menu, but you can decide to have as many courses as you wish. The price will be reduced according to how many course you eat. The food is very gourmet. We had to look up a lot of the words on the menu. The staff is very attentive. The food itself is rather expensive at €100 per person for the five course meal. Alcohol is extra. There is a sommelier and we found her most helpful. The dessert tray is huge and not to be missed. We did find the evening to be rather long at 3+. Spend as much time as you wish in the dining room. We would have preferred to have things move along a little faster. However, the meals are memorable, but we felt the experience was worth it. Our room was fine. We especially liked our greenhouse patio.

The restaurant is meh. There is a lot of hype over Ballymaloe for starting the foodie movement. The food is drenched in butter so you don't get to taste the natural sweetness and flavor of it (such as the carrots). The rooms are ok but for the price, I'd expect more. There are no outlets in the bathroom and only two outlets on the ground in the room, which are difficult to access. Service is great- everyone was willing to help.

An excellent spot to eat and drink! The food is spectacular and always special! The Allen family shows off their divine hospitality and their exceptional skills at this country home. A must visit when in Cork. Good place, year round!

The food was amazing and the staff very sweet, but the room we were given was insane. No guest should be placed in the gatehouse without being forewarned about it. It is practically glamping but probably more uncomfortable- in the tiniest, most bizarre space. Every staff member seemed surprised that we had been placed there, exclaiming "Oh, you're in the hobbit room". It smelled very musty too.

I loved my stay and dining experience here - simply loved it! It is the quintessential Irish country house that is warmly welcoming after a long day of driving. You are greeted most graciously upon your arrival and made to feel right at home. The rooms are warm, homey and cozy - exactly what you desire on your journey visiting this lovely, often chilly, countryside. And, the food? Oh my, you can't save enough space up in your stomach to imbibe in the wonderful wine list and dine on the interesting food combinations that will leave you beyond stuffed and wishing you had a larger appetite to eat more and more. I had no problem as a vegetarian eating here at all. Then, after you have stuffed yourself silly and can barely make it to your room, your only mission is to sleep off what you have eaten to be able to indulge in the amazing breakfast that is awaiting you the next morning. A lovely, lovely visit!

A very disappointing visit to the restaurant here two weeks ago. First, I notified the restaurant ahead of time that I was treating my wife for our anniversary. No one mentioned it, didn't say congrats to her or anything. The ambience in the restaurant is so strange. No music, so everyone feels obliged to talk very hush hush, and all the wait staff are dressed in a manner that would put you in mind of A Handmaid's Tale. And they are useless. My main course, the lamb, was stone cold, as was the potato and vegetable sides. By the time they came to check, my wife had almost finished hers so it was pointless to get a new one (not that they offered). I thought, they'll do something later to make it up. But nope, it was never mentioned again, no extra courses or complimentary drink to make up for the blunder. The portions are terrible and lack seasoning, especially the mains. My wife's main was not as the waitress described, and reminded you of 1980s french (hint: not in a good way). And with the price of the set menu, they either need bigger portions or two extra courses. For a place that hypes it's garden, where was all the fresh produce?! Massively disappointing.

Great Irish manor house with endless grounds, a cooking school and delicious meals. It wasn't free! Room are old world and proper and priced by the person. Meals cost about the same as the rooms. Figure about $750 per couple a day. This was the best food of our trip and is outstanding. The wines were delicious and fair priced as well. Expensive and worth it.

No one who grew up in Ireland could've missed hearing about Ballymaloe House and Cookery School. Headed up by the most famous matriarch in Ireland, this place is probably the only royal family Cork can lay claim to ;-) Darina Allen was the Delia Smith of Ireland, a female tv chef back when such a thing was unheard of. She heads up the Allen family of Ballymaloe restaurant fame. I had to make a trip to see this place when I was in the area. Now obviously I couldn't afford to eat here, my parents have, but I'm poor. So this is a review of the shop and cafe. They apparently have wood fired pizza but none was to be found. The shop is traditionally kitsch with homewares and kitchen stuff. It was a bit disappointing as nothing seemed particularly unique to Ballymaloe. Just Irishisms you can get anywhere. I did pick up some Cashel Blue cheese, but again, not especially local. The reason I had so much time to shop. We waited 40 minutes for a table for coffee. It was a disgrace and they never even apologised. We ordered some cake and it was rushed over long before the coffees arrived. And we were out of there in under 20 minutes. What a seriously shit experience for such a famous place. Never again. They also mix Barry's Tea with Earl Grey, bloody travesty. Massively underwhelming service. No Michelin stars for you! The grounds of Ballymaloe are beautiful though, very classic Irish fairytale.

Not far from Cork City is a great restaurant serving produce from their own extensive gardens combined with other local ingredients. This is all served in an estate house nestled in a large, working farm. Ballymaloe is most famous for its cooking school, owned by author and chef Darina Allen. The school is certainly the best known in Ireland and one of the most respected cooking schools in the entire world. They have a 100 acre working farm that produces an amazing range of edible items. The guesthouse and restaurant is located a short distance by car from the cooking school. It is in an ivy covered stone estate house with an adjoining culinary supplies store (and a simple cafe). The dining rooms include a glassed-in porch, a few smaller "elegant grandmother" rooms, and some outdoor tables spilling out of french doors. The food was well crafted from local ingredients. Our cream of lettuce soup was excellent and vibrant in color. The local haddock was made into a very light version of fish n' chips. All of the flavors were true and the culinary team clearly wants the quality ingredients to speak for themselves, not making things complicated or heavy. It is a picturesque drive to Ballymaloe. A lunch followed up with a visit to the cooking school and a farm tour makes for a great day trip from Cork City.

Superb meal from beginning to end. Excellent wine list. Price is €70 (reduced to reflect the change in VAT rate)

I am a sucker for long driveways and this has one of the longest ones that I have come across, but don't come for the driveway, the food stands up very well on it's own. As I walked in there was a basket of fresh peas waiting on a table, just beneath the largest set of antlers that I had ever seen. I started my meal at that very moment on the peas(not the antlers). Fresh and delicious. We were seated in a small room just off the entrance. The striped wall paper reminded me of my grandmother's house and the average age of the fellow diners was probably 70 years old - not that there is anything wrong with that. We were quickly greated by Darina Allen, the chef, author and owner of Ballymoe House. She smiled at our 3 three year old who was very happy to munch on peas and freshly baked bread. The brown bread was fantastic, light and chewy with unbelievably good butter served at exactly the right temperature. So good. We were directed to the appetizer buffet in the adjacent room. There were perhaps 20 different selections ranging from a variety of seafood salads to mini prawns, a lobster brioche type bite(my favorite), and oysters to an array of pates and other salads. Everything was very good especially the pickled beets and the pork and spinach pate. On to a carrot and tomato soup - I thought this was a strange combination, but it worked perfectly - a strong taste of carrot gave way to a complimentary taste of tomato with each bite. The main course followed - John Dory with lobster - this too was very good, but a little too rich and the fish could have used a touch less cooking. Finally, as my wife gave up, she just could not fit any more food in, my daughter and I pressed on as the dessert tray wheeled up to us. My daughter had the chocolate cake with unsweetened whipped cream and I had the creme brulee and fresh mint tea. A delicious end to an excellent meal.

It's one of those places where one needs to give a thorough review... It's a stunning estate...stunning and a lovely sense of home and style at once. It's also well kept, there's no bad surprise about something broken or staff not able to help or foresee any of your needs. That's something I was happy to see after my experience at the fancy Lyrath estate in Kilkenny that felt a bit under maintained in parts. The rooms are cute, tasteful, homy, comfortable, nothing wrong to say about them. It's so comfy and quiet, you sleep like a baby.There are, though, some rooms that are in another building (which was our case) and there's no corridor linking them so be prepared to have to walk in the cold or rain to get your dinner, tea or whatever else from the main house. The livingroom and conservatory are lovely rooms to hang around. There's also a fantastic view of the house by night from the back of it, where you can see the whole house lit up. I'm not mad about the restaurant / dining area which is split into several rooms (which is good to reduce the otherwise distracting noise from all the passionate conversations going on) however these rooms are a bit small and I had constantly in mind my elbows and legs not being in the waitresses' way. I guess it was a very busy saturday night as well but I wasn't mad about the atmosphere, and the rather too professional (maid looking) waitresses serving the dishes. Food wise, lovely, really tasty and nicely portioned. Was it worth €70 and was it extra-ordinary ? Not for me. I know the high standard that Ballymaloe has in the culinary industry, and I have to say I enjoyed my lunch at the cookery school way more than the dinner at the restaurant, that was rather uninspired and since a lot of ingredients come from their farm or local people, even if it's a 5 course (if you take cheese), a 55-60 price tag would have been more suitable as far as I'm concerned. Same for the €10 afternoon tea for 2 with 6 thin biscuits, I couldn't help but thinking right there I was definitely helping them maintaining the estate. I did love the food though, it's just that the level of amazement didn't match the pricetag. On the other hand we paid €80 each per night for the room and that was worth it all, especially when having experienced so many overpriced and poorly maintained yet "renowned" places in the past. There are plenty of walks to do around the house, and there's a lovely and thorough shop full of crafts and kitchen stuff, along with Ballymaloe branded food. Bare in mind that the cookery school is 3 miles away and the road is quite narrow so walking to it isn't a very good idea.

Spectacular food every time. No greater sight then the desert trolley coming.

We were so looking forward to staying at the House a couple nights while attending the School. The grounds were stunning but unfortunately we found a level of arrogance with the evening staff that made us quite uncomfortable. It was all too costly to feel as if we weren't welcome. The School was great but we wouldn't stay with the Hotel again.

Our three-night stay at Ballymaloe gave us a new definition of COMFORTABLE. We arrived as guests and departed feeling like "adopted members" of the family. And FAMILY - the word, the feeling, the atmosphere - pervades this place. We were unexpectedly - and happily - befriended by Fern Allen, representing the family (that word) ownership and who could not have been more hospitable and informative. Fern gave us superb guidance regarding activities in the area, and we took advantage of fine weather with a ramble along the Cliff Walk in Ballycotton and Glenbower Walk in Killeagh. In between we were immersed in what we would call the epitome of an Irish country home/estate. You are in a special place when you realize there are generation upon generation of staff members ready to assist...but never to intrude. The House features a variety of rooms (we had The Grey) to meet personal preferences and exceed expectations. Happy hours can be enjoyed in sitting rooms of the gazebo nature, enclave corners or main room with a wood fire sparkling all day and well into the evening. Fine food and fine dining are taken very seriously here, with a certain and strong pride in providing cuisine sourced from Ballymaloe's own gardens and local suppliers. Would you ever think seaweed could be part of dessert? My wife can attest. No kidding - "Carrageen Moss" pudding. Just one of many creative offerings from an overloaded dessert trolley. The dinner course options can be a bit challenging for choice; let Fern and her team navigate the culinary journey. If pleasant strolls are your thing (and after such ample dining highly recommended) there are several loop-walks around the property that showcase this corner of special Irish scenery. Family tradition is most certainly alive and well here. Ballymaloe gets as many stars as allowed to rate. And to underscore our endorsement: We will book a return in 2019.

The atmosphere is gorgeous the food is great, attention to detail. Worth a come back.