The cream Victorian hotel terraces of Loch Promenade in Douglas behind a sunken garden with palms and flower beds, under a blue sky

Photo: Chris Morgan / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0

The best restaurants on the Isle of Man — a short list that's actually open

Last checked

A shortlist of Isle of Man restaurants checked as trading in 2026, by area and budget. What each one is good for, when to book, and which old favourites have closed.

On the map

  1. Little Fish Café — Seafood on Douglas's North Quay. Mon–Sat lunch and dinner
  2. Flurt at The Bridge — Six- and nine-course tasting menus at the old Bridge Inn on North Quay
  3. Coast Bar & Brasserie — The Claremont Hotel's restaurant, on Loch Promenade
  4. Frank Matcham's — Small plates and live music on Harris Promenade
  5. The Fig & Olive — Mediterranean, Castle Street. Open daily from noon
  6. La Table (Regency Hotel) — French, on Queens Promenade. Took over from L'Experience
  7. The Boatyard — Seafood on East Quay, Peel, looking over the marina to the castle
  8. The Garrison — Castletown pub-restaurant in a building said to date from 1640
  9. The Abbey — Country-house restaurant at Rushen Abbey, Ballasalla. Good for Sunday lunch
  10. Kellas — Café-restaurant above Chapel Bay, Port St Mary
  11. The Hawthorn — Family-run bar and bistro at Greeba, open since 2000. Closed Mondays
  12. La Mona Lisa — Family Italian by the river in Laxey, since 1994
  13. Barbary North Coast — Ramsey. Check days: it closed two days a week in summer 2026
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors

This is a shortlist, not a directory. Every place on it was trading when we checked in September 2026, from its own website, a 2026 menu or local press. The Isle of Man’s restaurant scene is small, and it has lost some famous names in the last two years, so any list older than that will send you to a locked door. Places are grouped by area, with a rough budget and what each one is actually good for. We only mention a dish if it was on a 2026 menu.

For pubs, see our Isle of Man pubs guide. For chips, see the best fish and chips.

The short version

Area Go-to Type Budget
Douglas Little Fish Café Seafood ££
Douglas Flurt at The Bridge Tasting menus £££
Douglas Coast Bar & Brasserie Hotel brasserie £££
Peel The Boatyard Seafood ££–£££
Castletown The Garrison Pub-restaurant ££
Ballasalla The Abbey Country house ££–£££
Greeba The Hawthorn Bar and bistro ££
Laxey La Mona Lisa Italian ££

£ is a cheap meal out, ££ is a normal mid-range dinner, and £££ is a treat. These are our rough bands, not published prices, so check menus before you go.

Douglas

Douglas, the capital, has the most choice by far. The best cluster is along North Quay, the harbourside street.

  • Little Fish Café, 31 North Quay. The one we’d book first in Douglas. It does seafood on the quay, has a relaxed room and is good for lunch as well as dinner. In September 2026 its menu had small plates at £10 to £16, including queen scallops with bacon and cream, and large plates at £24 to £27. It’s open Monday to Saturday, for lunch from noon and dinner from 5pm (littlefishcafe.com (opens in a new tab)). More on its queenies in our queenies guide.
  • Flurt at The Bridge, North Quay. The island’s newest serious restaurant. Okell’s turned The Bridge Inn into a tasting-menu restaurant, which opened on 22 August 2026. It serves six- and nine-course menus built on local produce with a Japanese influence. Head chef George Harris came back to the island from the Michelin-starred Source at the Gilpin Hotel in Windermere (Isle of Man Today (opens in a new tab)). It’s too new for us to give a verdict, and it’s the one to book for a big occasion.
  • Coast Bar & Brasserie, Loch Promenade. The restaurant of the Claremont Hotel, with art deco interiors and a sea view along the prom (Claremont Hotel (opens in a new tab)). It’s the grown-up hotel dinner, and it does afternoon tea as well. It was a Manx Menu winner in 2026.
  • Frank Matcham’s, Harris Promenade. A cocktail bar and restaurant named after the architect of the Gaiety Theatre, with small plates, daily specials and live music from Wednesday to Sunday. It opened in 2023, and it belongs to the same group as Jaks on Loch Promenade. Good for a lively evening, not a quiet one.
  • The Fig & Olive, 13–15 Castle Street. A Mediterranean-leaning menu in the shopping streets, with vegan and gluten-free menus. Visit Isle of Man lists it as open every day from noon. It’s a safe choice for a mixed group.
  • La Table, Regency Hotel, Queens Promenade. This took over the room from L’Experience, the French restaurant that closed in October 2025 after 44 years. Isle of Man Today reported in January 2026 that many of the same staff had stayed on, and so had the famous French onion soup (Isle of Man Today (opens in a new tab)).

For Asian food, The Grand House reopened on Bucks Road in April 2026 after leaving North Quay. It’s open every day from noon to 9pm (Isle of Man Today (opens in a new tab)). For drinks with food, Henderson & Glass on Castle Street does South-African-inspired sharing plates alongside its cocktails. It’s closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Peel

  • The Boatyard, East Quay. Our pick for a proper seafood dinner on the island. It’s family run, it opened in 2013 and it looks over the marina to the castle. It calls itself the home of the Manx Queenie Pancake. It won the public vote at the Manx Menu awards in 2024 and was a winner again in 2026. Hours in September 2026 were Wednesday to Saturday for lunch and dinner, plus Sunday lunch (theboatyardpeel.co.uk (opens in a new tab)). It also runs an annual Lobster Fest in September, and a cheaper set lunch for over-60s from Wednesday to Friday.
  • The Creek Inn, on the quay opposite, is the relaxed pub alternative with food all day. It’s in our pubs guide.

More on the town in our Peel guide.

The south: Castletown, Ballasalla, Port St Mary and Port Erin

A cobbled slipway running down into Castletown harbour, with a fishing boat and a small yacht moored against the stone wall and two red-and-white harbour lights
Castletown harbour, a few minutes' walk from The Garrison. Photo: KGGucwa / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
  • The Garrison, 5 Castle Street, Castletown. A pub-restaurant in a building said to date back to 1640, a minute from Castle Rushen. It serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, and you book through its website (thegarrison.im (opens in a new tab)). It’s the obvious lunch stop on a heritage day in Castletown.
  • The Abbey, Ballasalla. A country-house restaurant in the grounds of Rushen Abbey, with a garden room, a stream and afternoon teas (theabbey.im (opens in a new tab)). It’s the place for a long Sunday lunch or a birthday. Its website lists it as open Wednesday to Sunday, so don’t turn up on a Monday or Tuesday.
  • The Whitestone, Ballasalla. An Okell’s pub that reopened in March 2026 after a seven-week refurbishment with a new menu. Its Manx lamb dish was a Manx Menu winner in 2026. It’s handy for the airport and the steam railway.
  • Kellas, Port St Mary. A café, restaurant and bar in Manxonia House above Chapel Bay. It serves brunch and lunch through to dinner and cocktails, and has a pantry shop (kellas.im (opens in a new tab)). Go for the view over the bay. It’s also where to eat now The Boathouse has closed.
  • The Falcon’s Nest, Port Erin. The Victorian hotel on the hill reopened its refurbished top bar in December 2025, and serves meals daily at lunch and from 5pm to 8pm, looking over Port Erin Bay.

See also our Port St Mary and Port Erin guides.

Central, east and north

  • The Hawthorn, Greeba. A family-run bar and bistro on the Douglas–Peel road, run by John Howard since May 2000. It promises “simple food, done well” and does takeaway too. It’s open Tuesday to Sunday and closed on Mondays (thehawthorn.im (opens in a new tab)). It’s a reliable stop halfway across the island.
  • La Mona Lisa, Laxey. A family Italian restaurant by the river, open since 1994. Its founders handed over the day-to-day running to a long-serving manager and the head chef in July 2026. It’s a cosy, dependable choice after the Laxey Wheel.
  • Barbary North Coast, Ramsey. The Ramsey branch of the Jaks group. In July 2026 the owners said a shortage of chefs meant it was closing two days a week (Isle of Man Today (opens in a new tab)). Check which days before you go. Ramsey’s eating out is thin, and the northern pubs in our pubs guide fill the gap.

What to book ahead

  • TT fortnight (late May to mid-June). Book well before you travel. Every good table is taken, and some places run special menus or ticketed hospitality. See the TT dates.
  • Friday and Saturday nights, all year. The best restaurants seat few people and are busy with locals.
  • Sunday lunch at The Abbey, The Boatyard and the food pubs.
  • December. Christmas party menus fill the diaries from autumn. In September 2026 The Boatyard’s Christmas Day lunch was already fully booked.
  • Flurt at The Bridge. It’s new and small, and it’s tasting menus only.

Closed, so don’t go looking

These all turn up in older guides and on review sites:

  • Tanroagan, the seafood restaurant in Douglas. Closed.
  • The Boathouse, Port St Mary. It closed at Christmas 2024, and in July 2026 there were plans to turn the building into a Manx sea-salt works with a shop and café (Isle of Man Today (opens in a new tab)).
  • L’Experience, Douglas. It closed on 25 October 2025 after 44 years. The Regency Hotel now runs the room as La Table.
  • GoodStuff, Ramsey. It closed in February 2025.
  • Indian Kitchen by Flavours, Peel. It closed on 17 May 2026.
  • Babbage’s Bistro, Mountain View Innovation Centre. It won a Manx Menu award in 2026, but in July 2026 its operator was unable to return and the centre was looking for a new caterer.

Manx Menu: a useful shortcut

Each March, Business Isle of Man and Visit Isle of Man run Manx Menu, in which restaurants cook with island produce and an independent panel picks winners. The 2026 winners included The Boatyard, Little Fish Café, Coast, Frank Matcham’s, Henderson & Glass and The Whitestone (gov.im (opens in a new tab)). It isn’t a Michelin guide, but it’s a fair list of kitchens that care where their food comes from. For what to order, see our Manx food guide and queenies.

— The Guru

Common questions

Do I need to book restaurants on the Isle of Man?

For Friday and Saturday nights, Sunday lunch, TT fortnight and December, yes. The good places are small and fill with locals. Midweek outside the summer you can often walk in, but check the place is open that day first.

Are Isle of Man restaurants open in winter?

Most are, but on fewer days. Many kitchens close one to three days a week between January and March, and some cut lunch service. In 2026 a chef shortage also meant shorter hours at some restaurants in summer. Check the restaurant's own website or Facebook before you drive anywhere.

What is Manx Menu March?

A government-backed campaign, run by Business Isle of Man and Visit Isle of Man, in which restaurants create dishes from Manx produce during March. In 2026 a panel picked 14 winners, including The Boatyard, Little Fish Café, Coast and The Whitestone. It's a good list of kitchens that take local ingredients seriously.

Where can I eat well on the Isle of Man on a budget?

Eat your main meal at lunchtime, use the pubs and go for fish and chips. Several restaurants, including The Boatyard, run cheaper set lunches. A chippy tea on the harbour is a proper Manx meal, not a compromise.