St George’s Market

Posted on December 3, 2012 by Queen of Everything

Every time I am back in Belfast, I make sure I always have time to visit St George’s Market. Edinburgh has some great weekly markets, but nothing beat St George’s – partly because its indoor!

Little has changed with the market since I used to visit as a kid, other than a few refurbishments over the years. But still every Friday is the Variety Market, which is jammed packed with Fruit and veg stalls, meat and fish counters as well as the odd antique and book stalls. Saturday sees less fruit and veg, meat and fish and more craft stalls with live music and still the same lively atmosphere. This particular Saturday I lost Stuart and myself in the place for over an hour

I ended up going on a bit of spree, picking up some old favourites such as coffee beans from S.D.Bells, Aunt Sandra’s Honeycomb and Suki Tea’s Belfast Brew, which they don’t appear to stock in Edinburgh. I also picked up some new finds, Harnetts Rapeseed Oil, Mahoosive traybakes and tasty popcorn flavourings (popcorn being my latest obsession!) from the Naked Cob Popcorn Company. Oh and I how could I forget the Belfast Bap the size of my head!

I also bought 2 tea towels from Starling Bridge, featuring my favourite hot beverage – Tea! They also made an appearance in this months Image Magazine. They will be perfect in my new kitchen, once I buy it and it gets fitted!

After all this I needed food and settled for a Crepe from Le Crepiere – just a simple Nutella one, but apparently their Spanish Bonfire is legendary! Stuart opted for a more exotic chicken curry flatbread wrap, which was very tasty. We munched away on these while taking in the atmosphere and the music from the Smokin’ Guns

If you are ever in Belfast at the weekend I would suggest you make this one of your stops. The perfect place to sample some real craic!

Il Pirata

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Queen of Everything

Another new local restaurant has popped up near my parents, this time on the Upper Newtownards Road – Il Pirata, in what was an old KFC, though completely unrecognisable as an ex-fast food joint! Il Pirata is named after a dead Italian racing cyclist, Marco ‘Il Pirata’ Pantani, (because of his love of ear-rings and bandas!), this might sound a bit random, but the owner was a keen cyclist!

As with Ace, this place is decked out with random old chairs, mismatched crockery, bare bulbs hanging from the ceiling and a roughly sanded wooden floor. Mellow tunes playing in the background and nice buzz of people chatting and having a good time.

Onto the food! We didn’t do starters tonight, dessert looked too tempting! So for mains I had the mac ‘n’ cheese with garlic mushrooms and spinach. It came on a tray with a little enamel tin of deliciously cheesy Mac ‘n’ cheese, a little dish of the mushrooms and spinach and chunk of toasted Focaccia, it was just the right amount of food and all very tasty

Dad went for his usual – Salmon, chargrilled with Spinach and Salsa Verde – I believe it was very tasty – he didn’t say much as he chomped away on it!

Stuart went for a meaty Spicy Sausage in a Red Wine Ragu, was meaty, spicy and very tasty – Dad stole a piece when he wasn’t looking!! He liked it too

We shared a selection of sides to have with our mains, these included: Polenta Chips, Garlic and Rosemary Roast Potatoes and a Rocket, Parmesan and Balsamic Vinegar Salad. Delish.

Thankfully we had enough room for dessert this time! I went for the Lemon Posset and Raspberry Jelly, which was Lemony and fresh as well as creamy and served in cute little jars (such a sucker for cute things!)

Stuart opted for a the Chocolate and Hazelnut Cake which was served with Vanilla Ice Cream.

Dad just kept it simple with a scoop of honeycomb ice cream. Sometimes the simplest pleasures in life are the best.

Ace, Belfast

Posted on April 29, 2012 by Queen of Everything

Round where my parents live is going through some kind of eateries boom. Every time I come home there seems to be another new restaurant in the area. Ace is situated on the Belmont Road in Belfast, in what used to be ‘The Gourmet Burger Bank’ and before that a branch of the First Trust Bank, home to my childhood bank account.

They have kitted the place out with cool art on the walls and chairs reminiscent of old school chairs (and given my old school is round the corner, its quite likely they are!). Food is served on mismatched crockery, and there is chilled house music playing softly in the background – perfect for my half deaf Dad to hear what we are talking about!

The menu was varied, there were dogs and sliders, sandwiches and burgers, a good selection of starters and mains, as well as a very tasty specials board – it was really hard to choose what to have! They even had a really tasty children’s menu which included meatballs and spaghetti and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich! To start the 3 of us shared Chilli and Paprika Scampi, which were crispy, slightly spicy and lovely juicy prawns and served with a little Aioli on the side. The other starter was hummus and warm flatbreads, which was earthy and tasty!

Onto the main event, Dad and I opted for the Minute Steak, Fried Egg, Skinny Fries and Salad (though he wimped out at the thought of egg with Steak) topped with a big dollop of garlicky butter. Steak was cooked to perfection, chips were crispy and the egg was a nice touch, runny in the centre to dip your chips into!!

Stuart opted for the Chicken Burger with Salsa and salad. This was a really chargrilled breast of chicken, juicy and tasty. He also go some skinny fries, he was tempted by the onion rings but resisted. Excuse the photo below, he managed to take the most uninspiring photo of such a tasty burger! Though I don’t think the plate helped!

We didn’t have room for dessert, but they had some tasty ice cream based treats such as Chocolate fudge Sundae, Warm Choc Chip Cookie with Ice cream and a Banana split! Maybe next time!!

We finished our meal with tea – from a nice china cup, and a very tasty chocolate milkshake with real chocolate pieces in it!

This is a great wee place, and I am sure we will be back here – I know Dad wants to bring Mum here when she gets back from her holidays! Certainly an improvement from a dreary old bank!

Horatio Todd’s

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Queen of Everything

Another food post from Belfast (did I mention I ate a lot when I was there?). Horatio Todd’s is a local bar / restaurant in the Ballyhackamore area of Belfast. A recent article in the local newspaper stated there were 22 different bars and restaurants in the area – who knew? I remember the days when there was only a Chinese, a dodgy pub and a KFC!

Horatios is a favourite place of my parents, partly due to the fact that my Mum is allergic to cooking and will be here an any given opportunity (so much so the staff know them!). Its been a tradition for a while that we go here for Sunday lunch / dinner, and this time was no different.

They do a great Meal Deal – 2 courses and a wine or soft drink for £13.95. Needless to say we took them up on this offer!

I opted for the tempura prawns with a Hoisin and Fresh Ginger Dipping Sauce. The tempura was light and the prawns juicy yet well cooked, and the dipping sauce was tasty with a good flavour

And Stuart went for the slightly more exotic Warm Salad of Crispy Pork Belly and Local Black Pudding with Honey Mustard Dressing and Poached Egg, which I can only assume was tasty as it didn’t stay too long on the plate! The egg was beautifully poached, still runny in the middle, and the pork belly was cooked well.

For my main I stuck with Fish, and I had the Fresh Battered Haddock with Homemade Tartare Sauce, Mushy Peas and Fries. Again light batter, and juicy well cooked fish, along with nice dry, fluffy fries. I was stuffed afterwards!

Stuart went a little off piste with his main course, he choose the Chargrilled Chicken and Chorizo Tagliatelle with Sun-dried Tomato Sauce and Chilli Oil. Not particularly a wild choice, but he is fussy and is usually disappointed by pasta dishes in restaurants because you can make them just was well at home …. apparently. However, this he did enjoy, chunks of chicken, flavoursome chorizo and lots of tasty sauce. Only complaint he had was the pasta a little overcooked, I think this dish may have restored his faith in restaurant pasta!

As for dessert, well we gave it a miss – how could we possibly fit it in after all that! However, given my parents sacrificed a starter, they had dessert - Hot Sticky Toffee Pudding with Honeycomb Ice Cream. There is no photo, I didn’t get a chance to take one, the spoon was stuck in seconds after it hit the table!

Horatio Todd’s is also good later in the evenings for drinks (in particular cocktails) and also during the day for meeting friends, as they have sofa areas where you can chill, catch up and drink coffee (or something stronger!)

No doubt see you next time I am home Horatio!

Queen of Everything

A blog about… well… everything!

Tag Archives: Belfast

St George’s Market

Il Pirata

Ace, Belfast

Horatio Todd’s