New Laois restaurant wins top fine dining award
Ómós Guesthouse and Restaurant in Abbeyleix named winner of the Georgina Campbell 2026 Fine Dining Restaurant of the Year award
The team at Ómós Guesthouse and Restaurant in Abbeyleix are celebrating this week after scooping a top award for fine dining.
The exclusive restaurant was announced as the winner of the Georgina Campbell 2026 Fine Dining Restaurant of the Year award at a gala celebration in Dublin.
Now in their fourth decade, these are the longest-running awards of their kind in Ireland. Established by food & hospitality writer Georgina Campbell, they recognise excellence across the country, with winners selected through independent, year-round assessments by a team of experts who book anonymously and pay their bills like any other guest. Businesses cannot enter themselves, ensuring the awards remain focused on genuine quality and hospitality.
The award organisers described Omós as “the most hotly anticipated opening of 2026”.
They said the business is “the culmination of five years of intensive research by executive chef Cúán Greene who documented his dreams on his Omós substack since returning to Ireland from sharpening knives and skills in Copenhagen's hottest kitchens. And a dreamy setup it is. A reimagined country house turned guesthouse outside handsome Abbeyleix village with a custom-built restaurant overlooking ponds and kitchen gardens and a fully open kitchen overseen by Scottish head chef Matthew Smith. Here Greene and team calmly deliver a 12-course menu that draws from his travels as a chef, his childhood in France, his memories of Irish food and the shifting Irish seasons. The menu feels deeply nostalgic, and the exceptionally skilful dishes are playful, evocative and truly delicious with plenty of visual theatre and intriguing conversation pieces. Service is exceptionally warm and welcoming yet polished and assured. Wine service leans to the natural side of things, but the list offers plenty for more classic palates too – and lots for deep pockets. The result is a deeply considered expression of modern Irish gastronomy, influenced by the international travels of highly skilled chefs. Dining room walls and tables adorned with expressions of Irish craft and design underline the philosophy of the intuitive cooking here. A unique experience that is well worth the five-year wait.”
Ómós recently welcomed former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and his partner Matt Barrett who were full of praise for the new establishment.
Mr Varadkar described the visit as “one of my best ever dining experiences”.