Stuart Gibson (sgibson)

First off. If your idea of a good meal out involves barely being able to move afterwards, this isn’t the restaurant for you. If, however, you appreciate beautifully cooked food, impeccable service and nuanced flavours, then I cannot recommend Deane’s enough.

Being Northern Ireland’s only Michelin starred restaurant, we were expecting something special when we went for our wedding anniversary and we weren’t disappointed. The menu doesn’t offer a massive selection, but we both had difficulty choosing which dishes sounded most delicious. I settled on the roast young French pigeon, braised borlotti beans and spiced merguez sausage for starter and the glazed emyvale duck, puree of gingerbread, spiced port reduction and potato fondant for main, while my wife had the onion soup, followed by the rump of Lough Erne new season lamb, spinach, sauce niçoise and gratin dauphinois.

Everything was absolutely perfect. Subtle, perfectly balanced tastes throughout. The meat succulent, melting in the mouth and each dish personally inspected by Micheal Deane before it left the kitchen. After the main course, my wife had the lemon verbena pannacotta, mint syrup and pink peppercorn meringue and I had the bitter chocolate tart, caramelised orange sauce and ice-cream. The pannacotta was smooth, seeming to dissolve when put in the mouth and the chocolate tart, in a slight break from the rest of the meal was rich and intense, though still perfect. Tea and coffee rounded off the meal, with passion fruit ganache taking the place of the traditional chocolate mint, perfectly punctuating the higher standards the restaurant aspires to and reaches with ease.

Service could not be faulted. The restaurant seems to be constantly moving with staff ensuring customers are never left wanting;  filling your water glass, removing crumbs from the table if necessary, yet never once feeling overbearing. Most restaurants, the staff will stop by your table, usually while you’re in the middle of a mouthful, to enquire if everything is ok. In Deane’s, they do not ask such questions, confident in the knowledge that everything is, obviously, going to be perfect, merely asking, as they clear your plates, how you enjoyed the course. As a matter of course, I judge the competence of waiting staff on how much effort is required to attract their attention if needed, with a merest nod of the head being the gold standard. Naturally, this was all it took in Deane’s.

In terms of pricing, Deane’s is not cheap, but neither do I feel it is overly expensive considering the quality of food, service and ambience. For two people, do not expect change from a hundred pounds and, if you plan to have wine, budget significantly more, with bottles reaching prices of up to one thousand pounds, though there are many more reasonably priced bottles available on the extensive wine list. Menus for all times and the wine list are available on the Deane’s website, so you can decide in advance if you think it will be worthwhile.

In conclusion, if you want to experience some of the best dining available in Northern Ireland in a restaurant that makes no compromises, I cannot recommend Deane’s enough.

Nothing particularly out of the ordinary, but the food is good, the portions are massive (possibly to their detriment as we were unable to fit in a pudding), the prices keen, the views great, the staff friendly and they know how to deal with small kids (meal out with adult starters, crayons as soon as you sit down).

Worth noting they have a family offer from Monday to Thursday, 12pm to 7pm where you can get up to two kids’ meals free when buying adult meals. Could easily have a family of four eating out for around £25.

Perfect for a Saturday lunch. I have, in the past, also enjoyed their pub quiz.

It’s another Starbucks, but they seem to have hit gold with the staff who are really friendly and do a great job.

Four generations of our family went to The Salty Dog to celebrate a couple of birthdays and were extremely happy with the meal and service. A recent quarter of a million pound renovation of the restaurant and hotel has clearly paid off, with a wonderfully relaxed yet attractive decor giving a great first impression along with a nice sea view over Belfast Lough.

The service was exactly what you want in a place like this, friendly, welcoming and attentive without being overbearing. They definitely scored extra in the family friendly points by having a high chair at the table before we arrived and also for asking if we wanted the children’s meals brought with the adult starters.

Around the table we tried the duck, scampi, burger, salmon and lamb chops and everyone was extremely pleased with their meals. I had the Fermanagh beef burger which was delicious and made me wish we had some for a BBQ. The portions were generous and all had a real taste of local produce.

Desserts were also good, although the waffles I had were a little chewy. My Grandmother, never one for big portions, chose Fermanagh sourced Tickety Moo ice cream and received a dish with five scoops!

The children’s menu was also a lot better than the usual “sausage, fish fingers, chicken nuggets”, with options for scampi and chicken dinner.

Prices were quite reasonable and pretty much in line with what you would expect for this sort of restaurant. On Monday and Tuesday evenings they offer a menu of two courses and a bottle of wine for £22.95 a couple, which is excellent considering the quality of the food.

Definitely recommended if you’re looking for good, family fayre and we will most certainly be returning.

As a caveat, we did attend late on a Saturday evening.

Chili’s encompasses all that is bad about chain restaurants. They are priced as though they are a real restaurant, but everything smacks of their corporate overseer. Service was passable, but it was clear the staff were there for the wage and nothing else. Despite the restaurant being almost completely empty it took over 20 minutes for food to arrive after ordering and, despite four of us ordering burgers, one of the burgers took an additional ten minutes as they “forgot to put it on at the right time”, for which, at least, the serving staff were genuinely apologetic.

The food was pretty poor. The burgers were served on greaseproof paper in plastic facsimiles of baskets, the chips were frozen rather than fresh, the bun dry, the burger poorly textured and grey, the cheese plastic like, the bacon overcooked and chewy and the “blue cheese dressing”... Well, it hadn’t seen any blue cheese in its life.

Two of my companions had the strip steak and were compelled, once we had left the restaurant, to go to McDonald’s to try and satisfy their still hungry stomachs, such was the size of the portion.

At nearly a tenner for an over-processed burger and a small portion of fries in a plastic pastiche of an American grill, I would suggest trying one of the local bars for better quality, service and atmosphere.

From the outside, Charlie’s looks like nothing special. Small, modestly decorated and with little to suggest the delight it holds within.

As others have noted, the free wifi and relaxed attitude to protracted stays are a revelation, but to my mind, the true greatness of Charlie’s is the quality of the food and drink.

The food menu (which you wouldn’t know existed if they didn’t supply you with a copy) has some really great choices, with thick, well packed sandwiches, “paddy pizzas” and, my personal favourite, the warm tortilla wraps.

To drink, I recommend the hot chocolate for inclement weather, or the fresh milkshakes when it’s warm (banana and coconut is a wonderful choice).

Staff are friendly and personable, eager to join in a chat and to keep your cup filled.

The lack of a public toilet is a mild inconvenience and is the only reason this isn’t a five star review, but should not detract from this fabulous little coffee shop.

The Old Inn is a four star hotel, set in the idyllic village of Crawfordsburn. It caters to all types of patrons with the option of bar meals, a bistro, restaurant and hotel.

We recently spent the night there for our wedding anniversary (we had previously had our wedding reception in the Old Inn too, which was also a wonderful experience). Our stay was a midweek special offer of £100 for two, including overnight stay, breakfast and a two course meal in the bistro including a bottle of wine.

Both the bistro and restaurant are excellent dining experiences, with beautiful food and truly outstanding service that is both attentive and unobtrusive.

The hotel itself, being almost 400 years old, has a unique charm, with a distinctly “unhotelly” feel to the rooms. Each room has its own name and individual decoration, from the gothic “Old Bay Tree” to the light and airy “Buttercup”. With almost no hint of the sometimes predictable hotel room feel, it makes The Old Inn a real change to even the fanciest of hotels.

The staff are obviously interested in making your stay as pleasurable as possible, with our problem of a noisy extractor outside our room quickly dealt with personally by the duty manager.

Without doubt, The Old Inn is one of Northern Ireland’s hidden gems and, being only ten minutes drive beyond the Culloden hotel, an excellent choice for those looking for something a little different.

Disclaimer: my brother-in-law is assistant manager in the cinema, so I have not commented on quality of staff, but everything else is said without prejudice.

The Dundonald Omniplex is an excellent choice for anyone who cares about the quality of their cinema experience. It is the first all digital cinema in Ireland and the picture and sound quality is far and above any other cinema I have been too. With no film grain or scratches and 2k projection, the visual experience is beyond compare. Coupled with excellent digital surround and the ability to show Real 3D features, it is now my cinema of choice.

(Please note, one screen is still film based as some movies are still not delivered in digital form. On our visit, this was noted with signage at the box office)

The seats are very comfortable with good leg room (and the ability to raise the arm rests should you with to be more, eh, intimate with your companion). The foyer is clean and well appointed as are the toilets (which feature Dyson Airblades for extra geeky points).

Prices are in line with the competition (around £6 a ticket for peak hours, £4.50 for matinee showings), but this is tempered by free car parking on site. Concessions are as expensive as you are probably already used to.

Currently, there is one restaurant within the complex (Wolfie’s), but I have it on good authority that this will be expanding to include other options soon, making this a good location for an evening out.

I heartily recommend Dundonald Omniplex for at least one showing to see if the projection quality justifies any extra travel you may have to make from your regular haunt. For me, it is well worth the travel time from Bangor.

Papa Joe’s New Orleans restaurant is one of our “default choices” for eating out. The menu is New Orleans style American with lots of southern spiced recipes, bbq ribs and chicken wings and a generally pretty good choice of food.

The restaurant is usually pretty busy and can get quite noisy at times as they seem to cater to a lot of work outings. You can also end up in quite close proximity to other patrons, so probably not the best for an intimate evening.

Staff are friendly and service is generally excellent, if a little slow at times.

Overall, food is excellent, with plenty of choices and generous helpings. One thing I do like is they have a good dessert menu, something that lets many restaurants down, with a choice beyond the usual “profiteroles, cheesecake, Pavlova”. The waffles are particularly recommended.