★ Michelin Star · Galway
10,000 Years
on a Plate
Aniar is a Michelin-starred restaurant in Galway's West End. Its menu tells the story of Irish food — from the shores, the wildlands, the farms and the hands that have shaped this island's culinary traditions across ten millennia.
Read the Manifesto
We look back in order to look forward
Our food comes from the specific place that is the west of Ireland. We hope to reveal the distinct and various foodstuffs that make up our particular landscape — through our farms, the wildlands and the shores that surround us. The natural course of the seasons dictates our ever-changing menu.
The kitchen is led by Chef Patron JP McMahon. Alongside wild and foraged local ingredients, JP fosters old traditional cooking and preservation methods: curing, pickling, smoking, fermenting. It is only by understanding our culinary past that we can unlock the untapped resources of our future.
"Our food culture in Ireland is 10,000 years old. Through our food, we seek to tell you this story."
The menu is a map of Ireland
Each ingredient carries the signature of its place. Seaweeds from the Atlantic coast. Wild herbs from the Burren. Shellfish from Galway Bay. Wild mushrooms and game from the forests.
The Shore
Seaweeds, shellfish, coastal herbs — the Atlantic provides with abundance and precision.
The Wildlands
Foraged greens, wild mushrooms, game. Ingredients that cannot be farmed, only found.
The Farms
Producers who work the land with care. Seasonal vegetables, heritage grains, dairy from the west.
The Tasting Menu
An immersive dining experience of Irish food through the ages with a contemporary filter. The many culinary traditions — salting, curing, pickling, fermentation — represent the continuation of a shared food heritage on this island.
Much of the menu is made up of wild ingredients. We believe these showcase the unique terroir of the west of Ireland. Each course captures the essence of an ingredient, showing its specific time and place.
Children's Tasting Menu · €90 · 12–14 servings
&
sea
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fire
&
time
Old traditions, new light
Curing
Drawing out moisture, concentrating flavour, preserving the essence of the ingredient.
Pickling
Acidity as a lens. Sharpening the natural character of vegetables and wild plants.
Smoking
Irish oak and peat. Adding depth that speaks of the land the ingredient came from.
Fermenting
Time as an ingredient. The slow transformation that only patience can deliver.
Boutique Cookery School
JP McMahon leads one-day workshops and private classes from the Aniar kitchen. Hands-on, collaborative, guided by shared discovery rather than direct instruction.
"With a collaborative spirit and shared leadership style, JP guided our small group through a hands-on apprenticeship, encouraging shared discovery rather than direct instruction."