When it comes to food culture, John McKenna, author of the Bridgestone Guides, thinks Ireland is like a wonky oven. “If you ever ask yourself what happened when your cheese soufflé comes out underdone, it’s because there’s a cold spot. If it’s burnt, that’s your oven’s hot spot. That’s how Ireland is,” he says.

If fine food, restaurants and wine are important to your lifestyle, the area where you live should be perfectly palatable. So where does the gourmande’s homehunting trail begin? McKenna, who is also a food industry consultant, has collaborated with The Sunday Times to produce a foodie homebuyers’ guide to Ireland, identifying the hot spots for gastronomes, as well as the chilly zones gourmets should avoid.

He and his wife, Sally, have been touring Ireland for the past 15 years, writing the renowned Bridgestone Guides, whose coveted plaques adorn the best premises in the country. He believes a few basic ingredients can create the perfect backdrop for a hearty food culture.

“When you’re talking about an area’s food culture, you’re talking about quality of life generally,” he says. “You should be looking for a cluster of certain things in any one area: a good farmer’s market, a good butcher, a baker and a deli of some kind.”

Here are his 10 recommendations — some of which will come as a surprise to readers, and which prove that for bons vivants on the move, there’s more to Ireland than west Cork and Dublin.

Nenagh, Co Tipperary
Average house price: €225,000

One of the blue ribands on McKenna’s list goes to a town more famous for jokes about the sound of its name than for any kind of culinary brilliance. “You’d never think of a town like Nenagh, at first glance, as a place for good food culture,” says McKenna, “but if you bypass it, you need your head examined.”

Nenagh is well known in food circles for Country Choice, a cafe/deli run by Peter Ward.

“That place’s presence is worth a gazillion dollars for the area’s food scene,” says McKenna. Ward is a leading cheese expert, a baker and an expert sourcer of local produce, specialist foods and wine. Nenagh also has a good vegetable shop, two old-style butchers and a fine country market.

West Co Waterford
Average house price: €250,000

The second surprise on our list is west Co Waterford, incorporating Dungarvan and its environs. The Tannery is here — one of the top six restaurants in the country, according to McKenna, as well as Richmond House and Barron’s Bakery in Cappoquin, plus a selection of good butchers in various small towns.

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