Aghalee Restaurant Guide

“Terrific” tapas-style dining with influences from around the Mediterranean draws a “buzzy crowd” to this popular venue near Belfast City Hall (the name means ‘I eat’ in Latin) – you’ll find “all sorts of delicious flavours, but fresh and tasty fishy things dominate”, and the “so-called ‘small plates’ are not that small!”. Founder Jonny Elliott and his partner, head chef Lottie Noren, opened a second venue last summer – Beau, in the city’s Cathedral Quarter.

In the city centre, next to Deanes Meat Locker, this May 2024 newcomer from pioneering Belfast chef Michael Deane – who has had various restaurants on this site since 1997 – occupies the space of his former flagship Deanes Eipic and Love Fish, which he shuttered in late 2023 citing the rising cost of living, as customers opted for lower-priced options for eating out. Long regarded as one of the best restaurants in Northern Ireland, it was regularly rated highly in the annual Harden’s guides. The latest venture, he says, combines the best from the former Brasserie, Deli and Love Fish at the same address.

2024 Review: “Very atmospheric, rustic and friendly, and with exceptional seafood” – this cosy venue is one of the best-known in the city (and also has a sister establishment in Dundrum) – “have eaten here several times and would certainly recommend it”. Last year we commented on its excellent newly extended beer garden with gazebos, which in July 2023 was the victim of an arson attack – here’s hoping it’s soon restored to its former glory.

2022 Review: “Fabulous fishy food” is “freshly cooked and served by very friendly staff” at this straightforward but jolly three-storey spot – Belfast’s first sustainable seafood restaurant, whose menu ranges beyond chippie staples to local Carlingford oysters and other Irish seafood. “All in all a wonderful experience and well worth a visit”.

“Affordable fine dining” – say fans – makes these Fitzrovia and Canary Wharf venues (from Nico Simeone’s Glasgow-based national chain) “good for date nights” and “real value-for-money”. “The tasting menu changes regularly, so it’s a different experience every time” – the formula being “no mystery: you get to taste small samples of delicious food all related to a specific, changing theme”. (“We’ve been twice this year – more themes have caught our eye without the window of opportunity to try them. It’s not filling, but a really enjoyable eat”). There is, though, an alternative jaundiced view, which is that they offer “style over substance – you’ll leave still feeling hungry and the venue is noisy, like being in a canteen”.

Now over 10 years old, Michael Deane’s traditional steakhouse is his longest-serving operation at this address. It doesn’t inspire the feedback his flagship operation has traditionally done, but in a December 2023 visit, The Observer’s Jay Rayner thought that “the womb of a red-walled dining room feels like a happy place” and shows that Deane is “clearly also extremely good at the laidback” style of dining as well as more haute cuisine.