“The Irish Food Guide”, formerly known as the Bridgestone Guide, has been re-edited for the first time in two years with 100 extra pages on all of the best restaurants, retailers and markets around the country.

This sharp increase in material has led its author to claim that there is no recession in the Irish food industry.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner, John McKenna, who wrote and published the book with his wife Sally, claimed that the additional 100 pages over the 2010 edition reflects the massive growth in Irish specialty food, particularly on craft beers, and rare-breed pigs.

“Irish food is the shining star in the Irish economy”, he said at the book’s launch yesterday.

“There is no other sector of the Irish economy that is matching the growth, creativity and success of this sector. Clearly all people want is the perfect bacon sandwich washed down with a glass of Irish beer”.

McKenna is in equally a buoyant mood when talking to the Irish Times, declaring that Irish food retailers now have a “devoted audience who are more conscious than ever before about buying Irish foods.”

The food connoisseur has been releasing his hugely popular guides since 1989 and maintains that there has been a significant growth in Irish restaurants in the last few years, particularly in Dublin which inevitably made his top 10 picks even harder to pin down.

1. The Greenhouse, Dublin 2, County Dublin.

2. Woodside Farm, Ballincurrig, County Cork.

3. Sage Restaurant, Midleton, County Cork.

4. Dungarvan Brewing Company, County Waterford.

5. Eight Degrees, Mitchelstown, County Cork.

6. Le Cucina, Castletroy, County Limerick.

7. Mill Market, County Limerick.

8. Arbutus Bread, Cork City, County Cork.

9. O’Connells Ducks, Ballinskerrigs, County Kerry.

10. The Apple Farm, Cahir, County Tipperary.

The Irish Food Guide is now on sale and can be purchased here.