The best food in this part of Ireland is found in the pub (and Michelin thinks so too)

The city itself has its gastronomic charms. Leesiders might occasionally mention their storied English Market (while observing sadly that "there's nothing like it up in Dublin, of course"). And you will find internationally celebrated restaurants such as the pioneering, vegetarian, Café Paradiso.

But for those who like to think of themselves as being in the know, Cork's true hidden gems are way down 'whest'. Of course, they're not exactly mainstream. And you probably haven't heard of them.

To find the very best of Cork (and therefore Irish) cuisine, in a food-obsessed county that tends to shun silver service, showy décor and dressing up for dinner, your best option is the simplest one. Just go down the pub.

The Michelin Eating Out In Pubs Guide, considered the gold standard for gastropubs in Britain and Ireland, lists just 30 pubs on the island of Ireland for 2018. Eight are in the North (clustered around Belfast). Of the 22 in the Republic, four are in West Cork (down one from last year). That's some success rate for one, relatively remote, coast of one county, made all the sweeter for Leesiders by the fact that wild West Cork is currently outscoring all of Dublin by two-to-one (just The Chophouse and The Old Spot make the Michelin grade; both are in Ballsbridge).

The gap was even bigger in 2017 - when West Cork had five pubs on the Michelin guide to Dublin's two.

In 2018, the Michelin people reckon you'll find some of the best country pub dining anywhere at the Poachers Inn (Bandon), Deasy's (outside Clonakilty), The Bulman in Kinsale and Mad Fish at Cronin's of Crosshaven (the latter may not be strictly West Cork, but it's on the coast and a short hop from Kinsale and the start of the Wild Atlantic Way).

There are other stars of the West Cork pub dining scene: Mary Ann's in Castletownshend has been a regular on the Michelin gastropubs guide and there are champions for the likes of Arundels by the Pier in Ahakista (TV's Graham Norton has his summer house across the road and is a fan), the Timoleague duo of Dillon's and Monk's Lane, and Clonakilty's An Súgán.

One exciting new addition has just been announced. In the characterful, quirky village of Ballydehob, young chef (and local legend) Robbie Krawczyk will soon reopen the long-closed Chestnut Pub as a 16-table dining space, cooking locally sourced produce over wood and charcoal grills, serving a no-choice menu.

Robbie and his small team have spent the past few months renovating the old village pub themselves, working long hours in the winter dark and documenting the layers of funky '70s wallpaper and beauty board on their social media feeds. When you talk to the chefs working in often small kitchens, in old pubs perched on harbour walls or in small, out-of-the-way villages, you will hear the same theories as to why this relatively remote part of Ireland (electricity only reached some farmhouses on Mizen Head as recently as 1979) is a place apart when it comes to food.

They will tell you about the incredible quality of the produce from local farms and small fishing harbours; the adventurous small-holding, rare-breed and artisan producers, and the influence of strangers who regularly wash up on the shores of West Cork from all over the world.

With world-class cheeses, cured meats and fish, and produce fresh from the fields and waters, West Cork is a foodie paradise. And the locals reckon the best place to enjoy this food is in the cosy, informal setting of a country pub. The families who own the pubs are also very happy to see the chefs come in, partly because of social changes (including tougher drink-driving laws) which have seen their traditional trade drop off significantly. In some ways, pub dining is saving some of the best, most characterful and remote pubs in the country.

In fine-dining country pubs like Deasy's, The Bulman and the Poachers Inn, the menus tend to be seafood- orientated, with influences from as far afield as Bangkok, Sydney and Cape Town. The Mad Fish in Crosshaven is famous for its oysters, razor clams and scallops, served 'nude' or with tangy dressings.

"The Atlantic coast off West Cork has some of the cleanest waters in the world and the best fish you'll find anywhere," says chef/patron Barry McLaughlin of the Poachers Inn in Bandon. "And we get ours dropped off every morning by a guy in a van driving over from Union Hall."

West Cork chefs will always tell you about their "fish guy", their "veg guy" or even their "chilli guy". These small-scale producers are often one of the region's many blow-ins (from Holland, France, Germany or further afield), smallholders living off the grid up the side of a mountain and growing exotic fruits and veg in rows of polytunnels.

West Cork also has its strange 'microclimates', fostered by the Gulf Stream and sheltered by rugged mountains. You'll find bamboo groves and subtropical plants, often wind-blown escapees from grand gardens, such as those on Garnish Island, growing wild in the hedgerows.

At Deasy's, a Michelin-rated pub by a tiny pier in Ring, outside of Clonakilty, chef Caitlin Ruth has a signature dish of catch of the day cooked in banana leaves. The fish is from local day-boats; the leaves come from her own banana plants, growing in her back garden. "Before I came here, I really had no idea you could grow banana trees in Ireland. But you can in West Cork," she says.

Caitlin, originally from Dublin (don't worry, Corkonians, that's Dublin, New Hampshire), is a self-taught chef who worked in the US and Holland before finally settling in West Cork almost two decades ago. She had no problems in persuading the owners of Deasy's to let her take over the food side of the operation. But all involved also wanted to keep the friendly, informal pub atmosphere going. It's a place for pints as well as great food.

When we meet - on a sunny late-winter morning in the tiny, charmingly shabby old fisherman's pub on the harbour wall at Ring - Caitlin has just had 20kg of locally grown chillies delivered by her chilli guy.

"You can get pretty much whatever you need locally, but it often comes in gluts. Somebody will drop in with a giant sack of chillies or tomatillos, and you think: 'Right, I'll come up with two ways to use them on the menu today and I guess I'll be doing a lot of pickling.'"

Just about the only basic, everyday ingredient she "imports" from Cork city is coconut milk. West Cork may have bamboo forests and subtropical gardens, but Bantry and Skibbereen are not famed for their lush coconut groves.

Like many chefs in West Cork, Caitlin says she is almost compelled to work with what they can get locally. But that's not a problem when what they can source within 10 or 15 miles of their doors is often the best of the best. "Why would we bring anything in when we have this amazing produce right here?"

Caitlin tells the story of how, after a year or two at Deasy's, she asked her local butcher about where he sourced his beef from after he had made a delivery to the pub, which looks out over Clonakilty Bay.

"He just pointed to the field across the water there and said: 'See those cattle? They're mine.' And that's the way it is here. People bang on about organic and locally sourced like it's new but that's just what we've been doing for the past 20 years, or more. It's all here. I've got my local butcher; my fish guy delivers every day from Union Hall. We've got our veg people - they're just up the road.

"A few years ago, I wanted to get tomatillos; they are used a lot in Asian cooking and salsas in Mexican food. I didn't want to import them so I got some seeds and gave them to a local lady who now grows them for me. By now, after all these years here, if somebody said, 'Create a menu - you can have whatever ingredients you want from anywhere in the world,' I'd be like, 'I can't, I actually can't.'"

One of Caitlin's best-loved creations is her Thai fish soup: a hot, tangy bowl of goodness that tastes as if a bowl of traditional West Cork chowder went to Koh Samui on its gap year. It's much loved by her regulars - and has rumoured miracle-working qualities when it comes to babies. "I can't take it off the menu: people would freak out. Plus, there's a local myth that it brings on labour in pregnant women who have gone over their due date. When I see a very heavily pregnant woman - maybe a little cranky - coming in, I know they're here for the Thai fish soup."

Both Caitlin and Barry (of the Poachers Inn in Bandon) talk of the informality of eating out in West Cork. The Michelin accolades have been good for business, bringing in clued-up visitors. But it's the locals and regular holidaymakers who value country-pub fine dining and keep them open throughout the year.

Dublin may have its pricey silver service on pressed white-linen in gilded rooms. In West Cork - where the tourist season can be as short as three months in the summer - you just find a pub with a kitchen, find your fish guy, cook it up and slap it down on rickety tables around the bar.

It's quirky, informal and usually family-run. At the height of the season, in the most popular gastropubs (although nobody really uses that term) it's not uncommon to walk into a pub and see a bunch of just-off-the-boat fishermen at the bar scarfing down pints and chowder, while five Parisian ladies in Chanel and Louboutins share a table across from four Cork yachties in regulation Helly Hansen jackets and Dubarry deck shoes.

West Cork has always had a snob factor - its colonies of London media types, Parisian creatives and Frankfurt bankers in hidden-away holiday homes. But it's too small a place for social barriers. When there's only one or two good places to eat within 20 miles, the food scene is necessarily democratic.

"It's a very short season, so the visitor trade is important, but we are open throughout the year so we have to really think about our regulars and locals as well," says chef Barry McLaughlin of Poachers. "It's great to be on the Michelin pub guide - it does add to your reputation - but word of mouth is just as important, maybe more so, as is keeping up the quality year in, year out.

"You can't really open up a stylish restaurant and keep it going all year, so food in pubs, priced so everybody can afford it, is just what you are naturally led to do.

"People here - locals and visitors - they appreciate the informality of it all. If you are on the beach all day, touring around or working, you just want a great meal in a relaxed atmosphere. The pub is perfect. Our signature dish is our seafood tapas, and people love to share a couple of plates with a pint or a good glass of wine."

Barry, who quit a career in recruitment to set up Poachers over a decade ago, says that, as Cork has built a strong reputation for its quirky, innovative food culture, his own West Cork has really upped its game.

"People know about food now: they expect value and quality. And what's been huge for Cork is the amount of young people who have gone away, worked in kitchens all over the world and brought back new ideas and approaches," he says.

"We know we can depend on our suppliers. We won't get a bad delivery, because we get stuff from them every day and we know where it's coming from. And here in Cork, there's just no question at all - we've got the very best."

The next wave in West Cork food could be about rare-breeds: cattle, sheep and pigs. There are already fields full of buffalo, and there are farmers like Clare and Steve Collins, who have a herd of very rare (and small) Dexter cattle on the side of a mountain outside Bantry.

Small, hardy, rare and outstanding in their own field, the pugnacious Dexters could be a fitting mascot for the fine-food country pubs of West Cork.

Six top spots to visit

● Deasy's in Ring, Clonakilty. Simply not to be missed.

● Hayes' Bar & Restaurant, Glandore. Great food, gorgeous setting - one of the most stunning views in West Cork.

● Arundels by the Pier, Ahakista. Gorgeous setting, award-winning food.

● Billy O'Sullivan's, Crookhaven. It may feel like the pub on the edge of the world, with a very modest menu but so fresh and good. Sit on the pier and have their famous open crab sandwiches, chowder and a pint.

● Poachers Inn, Bandon. At the start of the road west - a great spot to break your journey; fabulous seafood.

● Monk's Lane, Timoleague. A long-lasting favourite with a very loyal customer base.

For all you need to know about Cork city and county's food culture, check out the recently launched website tastecork.com