Husband and wife team, Martin and Marie have created something special here in Kinsale with their Fishy Fishy Restaurant. Their ethos is to use and cook local, fresh, seasonal fish and serve it without pretentiousness.

Martin is a connoisseur of cooking fish and offers diners the best quality seafood presented in his own inimitable style. Originally a small shop and cafe, the constant queues outside dictated the need for a larger premises. Fishy Fishy is now a spacious seafront restaurant set out over two floors with an additional outside area for al fresco dining during the summer months.

Nowadays, Martin is a well known tv celebrity chef and author of several seafood books. His reputation precedes him. At the heart of his success is his Kinsale restaurants and their strict sourcing policy. Local boats bring in the fish directly to the harbour in Kinsale and these individual fishermen and their boats are named on the menu. Martin knows the guys who catch his fish personally and can find out what they have on the boat before they land. From here he plans menus accordingly. In recent years, he has revived some lesser used fish, including the healthy herring, using it in a rollmop style dish. Cork was once a large landing base for herring, but in the last few decades the catch is minimal due to little demand.

Many regulars come here for the house speciality, a Warm Chilli Seafood Salad of sautéed monkfish, salmon and shellfish in a sweet-spicy sauce which includes local crab when in season. Live lobsters come from the tank, while fresh oysters are served a variety of ways. The batter for the fish and chips is made with beer from a Kinsale micro brewery. Wines are suitably complimentary to seafood, with a list featuring everything from affordable favourites to extravagances like Puligny-Montrachet.

Fishy Fishy is deserved of its excellent reputation for the freshest of fresh fish, beautifully cooked and deftly flavoured. It is unfussy fish at its finest.

If you would like to hold a private dinner party or special event in Fishy Fishy Restaurant, the beautiful Blue Room with its private bar and harbour viewing balcony can accommodate 50 to 70 guests and is very impressive. The room is also ideal for events like wine tastings and product launches.