A meal for four, we were able to sit outside on the terrace on a lovely summer evening. The menu is interesting, and all the food was delicious. The staff were all friendly and pleasant, but not at all well organised. I suspect they were surprisingly busy, but we did feel that they were really rather overstretched. An extra portion of chips took forever, arriving when we had almost finished our mains, and a bottle of water took over 20 minutes. At almost £200 for four, including one bottle of wine at about £30 makes it pricy. But with excellent ambiance and truly great food that's what you expect. I suspect that designating one waiter to lead for particular tables would help resolve the service issues. So might leaving tipping to guests rather than including it in the bill. Crab, calamari, sirloin, and the beef with risotto deserve special mention, as does the excellent panna cotta.
Feels oddly retro with 70s elevator music playing in the background. The decor wouldn't look out of place in a Habitat catalogue either. Why it's necessary to have a plethora of glasses on each table gathering dust escapes me but there you go. Nice friendly staff who didn't object to someone dining alone or look to snootily at an order from the Prix Fixe. The bacon & parsley risotto starter was very tasty with each flavour quite distinct but unfortunately it was slightly cloying in texture as though overcooked. The main was beer battered haddock and chips with peas. I know, so sue me it's what I fancied at the time. The fish was excellent, not huge but that's to be expected for a fixed menu. The peas were rather anonymous, the tartare bland and the chips, while well cooked, needed a good hit of salt. If you're not going to provide salt and pepper on the table then I'm expecting the seasoning to be correct. The strawberry pannacotta with cookies and cream was great.
Deane's Fish is my "go to" when in Belfast. It never misses. The risotto with seared scallops is like heaven. This time I also ordered the crab toast, just lovely with a slight zing of lemon to prevent it from too rich. The drinks are always spot on. Truly, pop in for a memorable meal.
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