Weeks on from being named Kilkenny’s Best Casual Dining spot at the Irish Restaurant Awards, Nóinín is set to shut its doors for the final time later this month.
Taking to social media today, sisters and owners Sinéad and Maeve Moclair announced their award-winning venture, again featured last month in The Times’ Best 100 Restaurants in Ireland for 2025, will be closing for good on 26 April.
“After much thought and deliberation we have decided that we are going to close Nóinín. While we love our cosy little premises here on John’s Bridge, it has come to the point where we have realised that we either need to get bigger or get out. It simply isn’t financially sustainable for us to continue operating in such a small space. After weighing it up we have decided that we don’t have the energy or appetite to expand into a bigger premises. Therefore we have made the difficult decision to close. Our last day trading will be Saturday 26th April.”
“We are so proud of the business that we built up over the past two and a half years. It has been a real labour of love for both of us. It was also the culmination of a lifelong dream for me (Sinéad) to open my own restaurant, I’m so happy that we made that dream happen.”
“We want to say a heartfelt thank you to our hardworking staff, both past and present, who are all part of the Nóinín story. Thank you to our wonderful suppliers, it was a joy to cook with your fantastic produce. Most of all we want to thank our lovely and loyal customers, thank you so much for supporting Nóinín from day one. It has been such a pleasure to feed you.”
Ireland’s 100 Best Restaurants for 2025
Just two weeks ago, Nóinín again made the list of Ireland’s 100 Best Restaurants for the year, part of the annual springtime guide in the Sunday times.
Prepared by John & Sally McKenna of McKenna’s Guides, here’s what this year’s entry listing had to say. You can see the full list here (paywalled) or check Instagram here.
“In just three short years Sinéad and Maeve Moclair of Noinin have already assembled an array of classic dishes – the signature productions that you simply have to try. There is the classic fish finger sambo, of course, and the roast chicken salad with red cabbage. You need to know about the chickpea and coconut curry, as well as the socca with marinated feta. At dinner you must have the cochinita pibil tacos with refried black beans and the chicken laksa with crispy shallots. You also need the crispy fried spuddies with rosemary salt and confit garlic aioli. And you wouldn’t want to be leaving without having the magnificent Tunisian orange cake with Greek yoghurt. People, it is actually all good in Noinin – gracious, heartfelt, loved-up cooking – which is why it can be so hard to get a table.”
An indelible mark
Running lunch service during the day and a reservation-only evening service at the weekends, Nóinín opened to huge acclaim in November 2022, continually appearing in “best of” guides for people looking for a bite in Kilkenny, drawing visitors from near and far to their cosy space on John’s Quay, overlooking the River Nore.
To paraphrase one publican in town, their menus were “tight but polite”, offering 4-5 lunch and dinner options, drawing on local seasonal produce that are (until 26 April, at least) / were big on portion size and huge on flavour.
Case in point, their Mexican pork & black bean stew, pictured above on my last visit just over a month ago, featuring pork shoulder from O’Brien’s butchers (around the corner), slow cooked in a smoky tomato, chilly and black bean stew, service with rice, soured cream, pineapple pico de gallo, pickles, lime and a serving of cripsy fried Blanco Nino tortillas. Worth every cent of the price tag and lick-the-bowl good.
Wash it down with some pour-over coffee, and you know you’re in good hands. And while it’s never nice to read about or hear of restaurant closures, particularly in Kilkenny, hopefully, the mark left by Nóinín shows the hunger and appetite for their offering and approach in the city is there, and that it won’t be the last we see of Nóinín in whatever guise comes next.
If you’ve not been in or have been meaning to make a return date for their fish finger sandwich, you’ve got until 26 April.
On Instagram? Check their announcement message here.
