My Kitchen

Verdict: Yes, Book It — Especially If You Think a Retail Park Can't Deliver Serious Food

The most common mistake visitors make is dismissing My Kitchen before they reach the door. The address — a retail and business park on the Sligo Road outside Carrick-on-Shannon , does nothing to suggest what's inside. Correct that assumption immediately. My Kitchen, under Sham Hanifa, serves Malay-influenced cooking that you will not find within a reasonable drive in any direction. If you are in Connacht and want something beyond the familiar Irish pub-bistro formula, this is where to go.

For broader context on eating in the area, see our full Carrick-on-Shannon restaurants guide.

What the Space Actually Feels Like

Walk through a retail park car park, step inside, and the room recalibrates your expectations almost immediately. The physical setting is compact and unfussy , this is not a room designed for theatrical dining. It is a room designed to let the food do the work. Seating is close enough to feel convivial without being cramped, and the scale keeps the atmosphere personal rather than performative. For a special occasion in this part of Ireland, that intimacy is a genuine asset: you are not lost in a large room, and the focus stays on what arrives at the table.

The Cooking: Why Timing Matters

The editorial anchor here is seasonal rotation, and it is relevant. Malaysian and Southeast Asian cooking draws on spice combinations , galangal, star anise, cumin, coconut , that are not dictated by Irish seasonal produce in the way a Modern Irish kitchen would be. That is partly what makes My Kitchen worth a visit at any point in the year: it is not hostage to the short Irish growing season in the same way that, say, a hyper-local tasting menu would be. What changes is the surrounding context. Visiting in summer when Carrick-on-Shannon is busy with river tourism means the town is livelier and tables are harder to secure at short notice. Coming in the quieter months , late autumn through early spring , typically means easier access and a more relaxed room. If the beef curry built around Malay spice aromatics is representative of the kitchen's output, the cooking rewards a visit in any season; the question is logistics, not ingredient availability.

For reference on how Irish restaurants with a strong sense of place handle seasonal cooking, Aniar in Galway and Liath in Blackrock offer a useful contrast , both are tightly tethered to Irish produce calendars. My Kitchen operates on different logic, which is part of its appeal in this region.

Who Should Book

My Kitchen works well for a date, a low-key celebration, or a meal with someone you want to impress without the formality of a tasting-menu room. The experience is personal rather than ceremonial. If you need a full-dress special occasion with wine list depth and front-of-house choreography, you are better served by Patrick Guilbaud in Dublin or Terre in Castlemartyr. But if the occasion is about genuinely good, distinctive food in a comfortable setting , and you are already in Roscommon or Leitrim , My Kitchen earns the booking.

Solo diners are well accommodated in a room of this scale. You are not conspicuous at a table for one, and the cooking is interesting enough to hold attention without company. For solo dining elsewhere in Ireland, dede in Baltimore and Homestead Cottage in Doolin offer a similar balance of quality and informality.

Booking and Practical Details

Booking difficulty is rated Easy. No phone or website is listed in our current data, so confirm current contact details locally before visiting. The address is Unit 12 Sligo Road, Cortober, Carrick Retail & Business Park, Co. Roscommon , allow for the fact that it sits on the Roscommon side of the Shannon, not in the Leitrim town centre itself.

If you are making a trip of it, pair the meal with accommodation in Carrick-on-Shannon using our full hotels guide, or explore the wider area through our experiences guide and bars guide.

Peer Comparison at a Glance