Michelin Man returns to Kilkenny to follow his dream

Nestled alongside the historic walls of Kilkenny Castle, overlooking the River Nore, is where you will find Canal Square. Offering locally roasted, specialty coffee, freshly baked pastries, and delicious breakfast and lunch items prepared in-house by our fantastic team, headed up by Head Chef Cormac Rowe. It is the perfect place for a pit stop, offering delicious, seasonally inspired food throughout the day, to eat in or takeaway.

Chef Corman Rowe and Siobhan Donohoe in Canal Square

The man behind Canal Square is Chef Cormac Rowe, a Wexford face that is familiar to Kilkenny from his days in Mount Juliet’s Lady Helen restaurant. At a very young age, Cormac was head of the team in Mount Juliet when they received their first Michelin Star in 2014.

After spending some time in the Middle East, Cormac knew his heart belonged in the Marble City. "Kilkenny has finally managed to draw me back and allow me to realise his dream – to open my own space where I could share my love of good food with the county that has treated me so well over the years." 

Cormac’s favourite place to be is in the kitchen cooking up a storm and doing what he loves best. His top-notch dishes are testament of his love and knowledge of food. According to Cormac it’s all about believing that the customer always comes first, “and that means exceptional produce, quality ingredients and a friendly service.”

Head Chef Cormac Rowe and his team at Canal Square

The Breakfast Menu at Canal Square is available from 8am to 11am and is packed with freshly made breads, scones, and organic porridge. The fry up is Pinterest perfect and tastes as good as it looks, with veggie and vegan options too, accompanied with the house special hash brown and divine homemade tomato sauce like you have never tasted.  

No restaurant these days cuts the mustard if they don’t have Avocado on Sourdough Bread as a breakfast option, however Canal Square have also raised the bar with their version. My kids were more than happy that Buttermilk pancakes were on the menu, and I was happy that they are gluten free.

Savoury buttermilk gluten free pancakes

Brunch starts at 11am until 4.30pm with new dishes added to the menu in keeping with the best seasonal ingredients. There’s a selection of soups, sandwiches, focaccia, salads, and daily hot specials.

Hand on heart, I’m not normally a fan of seafood chowder until I tested Cormac’s delicious version. His signature seafood chowder is packed full of fresh hake, salmon, trout, and smoked haddock. The highlight of this dish is the stock and its explosion of flavours, not too creamy and very light to digest. For a traditional hearty dish, it bursts with French flavours of garlic, lemon and wine infused in a light stock instead of a heavy roux. I am the cat that got the cream since discovering Cormac's version, it's definitely one of my favourite dishes. Try it with their homemade Guinness and Treacle Brown Bread or a glass of chilled French Sauvignon Blanc.

Canal Square Signature Seafood Chowder

One of the new additions to their weekend Brunch Menu is Egg Benedict, baked house ham, hollandaise on toasted sourdough bread. I am also coming back for the warm confit duck, which is teamed with sauté wild mushrooms and spinach, poached egg, rocket, and parmesan on toasted sourdough bread. Seriously yummy!

Canal's Square Egg Benedict

They are currently open from Tuesday to Saturday and will be extending their dining options to an evening menu next month. You can find Canal Square in 1-2 Canal Square in the heart of Kilkenny City. The premises is beside the hurling statue, in what used to be home to Key Largo. The restaurant has had a makeover since Cormac and his wife Lil took it over last year. It has a very Scandinavian trendy vibe about it, boosting super views from large window seats upstairs. Trust me, once you dine in Canal Square, you’ll want to go back to make your way through the rest of the menu.

Warm Confit Duck

Best of luck to Cormac and his team and congratulations to him and his wife Lil on the arrival of their baby girl – another new adventure for the Kilkenny adopted couple.

Type of Cuisine: Irish / European 

Siobhan enjoying the view of the River Nore from Canal Square