The best brunch in Ireland, and breakfast? Oh they’re in Kilkenny!

First off, hearty congratulations to the teams at Arán Bakery & Bistro and the Avalon House Hotel in Kilkenny.

On Monday they were announced as winners of the Best Brunch in Ireland and Best 4* Hotel Breakfast in Ireland. Not just Kilkenny, but Ireland.

If ever you needed more proof that amazing things are happening, and continue to happen on the food front in Kilkenny this is it.

2020 Irish Breakfast Awards: Kilkenny’s Winners

The accolades continue to stack up on the local front here, this time as part of the Georgina Campbell Irish Breakfast Awards, run in association with Fáilte Ireland.

Áran’s star continues to rise. It’s a super spot to jump in and out of for a coffee, fresh breads, pastries or better still, sit down and soak up a breakfast or brunch.

Late last year they started venturing into the evening side of things (they have very early starts!) and of late have started bringing in guest chefs as well from their well-connected black books for kitchen and menu takeovers.

View this post on Instagram

A huge thank you to @irelandguide and to YOU, our amazing guests for all the love and support. We would’ve never have made it this far in such a short period of time without YOU. You guys are the heartbeat of Arán and the reason why we do the things we do. So thank you, from the bottom of our hearts.❤️💕🙏🏼🍾 #arankilkenny

A post shared by Arán Kilkenny (@arankilkenny) on Feb 17, 2020 at 7:05am PST

Try the eggs, try the breakfast sandwich, try the bread with some oils and a bowl of salt, try anything – it’s full of goodness and driven by two people (with a burgeoning team) who are insanely passionate about what goes out on the plate.

The Brunch Award this year was the only category open to public voting with Arán seeing off competition from Seasalt Café & Deli (Cobh, Co. Cork), Kelly’s Kitchen (Newport, Co. Mayo), Sweet Geranium Café (Drumshanbo, Co. Leitrim) and Osta Café & Wine Bar (Sligo town).

View this post on Instagram

We have only gone and brought home the bacon. We officially offer The Best 4 Start Hotel Breakfast in the country #NationalWinner 🤩 Thank you Georgina Campbell & Failte Ireland #IrishBreakfastAwards #GeroginaCampbellAwards

A post shared by Avalon House Hotel (@avalonhousehotel) on Feb 17, 2020 at 6:07am PST

For the Avalon, it’s another feather in their growing cap.

A sister of the Academy Plaza hotel in Dublin, the kitchen has Cathal O’Dowd at the helm, again with a super strong focus on local, quality produce.

If you’re making your way there for breakfast, you may as well go the whole hog and look at booking a table for Lil’s Restaurant, upstairs at the Avalon. You won’t be left wanting.

2020 Irish Breakfast Awards: Overall Winners

Your overall winners for this year’s Irish Breakfast Awards look like this…

Irish Breakfast Menu

• Hotel: Limerick Strand Hotel, Limerick
• Small Stay: Lough Bishop House, Collinstown, Co. Westmeath
• 5* Hotel: Lough Erne Resort, Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh
• 4* Hotel: Avalon House Hotel, Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny
• 3* Hotel: Eccles Hotel, Glengarriff, Co. Cork
• Country House: Huntington Castle & Gardens, Clonegal, Co. Carlow
• Guest House: The Quay House, Clifden, Co. Galway
• B&B: Sheedy’s Doolin Boutique B&B, Doolin, Co. Clare
• Visitor Attraction: Hillsborough Castle Café, Hillsborough, Co. Down
• Sustainability Award: Ashford Castle, Cong, Co. Mayo

The Irish Producer Awards went to

• Meat: McCarthys of Kanturk, Kanturk, Co Cork
• Eggs: Belview Eggs, Drogheda, Co Louth
• Dairy: The Little Milk Company, Dungarvan, Co Waterford
• Fruit: The Apple Farm, Cahir, Co Tipperary
• Preserves: Filligans, Glenties, Co Donegal

while Rua Deli & Café in Castlebar, Co. Mayo, collected the Irish Bread Award.