Fantastic news as three Sligo Food Trail members feature in the Sunday Times 100 Best Restaurants compiled by John and Sally McKenna.

Congratulations to Hooked and Sweet Beat Café in Sligo Town and to Pudding Row in Easkey for making this prestigious list.

Caroleanne Rushe’s Sweet Beat is highlighted as one of those eating places that is changing the rules of the game. It’s a plant-based food destination, but as the listing says, the customers who come aren’t necessarily vegan or vegetarian, they just want to enjoy vivid creative food. Sweet Beat is namechecked as a real game-changer for the northwest.

Hooked, which is owned by Anthony and Eilish Gray, was complimented for Chef Joe McGlynn’s use of local produce. The listing also commented on the strong connection with Anthony’s father, butcher Joe Gray. The décor includes his old butchers block and meat hooks and the sausages on the
menu are made to his traditional recipe.

In the seaside village of Easkey, Pudding Row is becoming a destination in its own right. Presentation caught the eye of the reviewers and Dervla Conlon is credited for cooking and baking like an artist and plating her dishes like a painter. Every morsel that arrives from the kitchen announces her painterly eye and painstaking perfectionism. Praise indeed.

Sligo Food Trail is a network of restaurants, cafés, food producers or pubs located all around the county. Under new chair, Marie Casserly the network is poised for an exciting year in 2019.