Northern Ireland’s top restaurants to impress in 2023

To give our hungry readers some food for thought, we’ve rounded up the best of each month (sorry). Lunch, dinner and dessert options abound, from fine dining to those with an emphasis on children’s cuisine.

Miller’s Restaurant & Wine Bar

135B Upper Lisburn Rd, Belfast

Mom went on strike after Mom’s Carefully Selected Weekday Meals received five consecutive bad reviews. So we ended up having a fun Saturday lunch at Miller’s.

The kids menu has the usual chicken goujons and burgers, but the boys choose fish and chips and chicken carbonara. The portions are large and flavorful, elevating what would otherwise be a beige banquet dish.

My husband chose the 8 oz dry aged beef burger with oak smoked cheese, pickled red onions and giant chips. I choose the corn-fed Chicken Supreme. It looks golden and inviting and is served with a delicious chicken liver parfait and black garlic puree.

lucy dogan

sleepy hollow

15 Kiln Road, Newtownabbey

If there is a more consistent fine dining restaurant outside Belfast than Sleepy Hollow, I have never eaten there. We started with whipped goat cheese and caramelized figs, red onion and molasses marmalade, granola with dates, and walnut bread.

My companion went for the braised duck drum and bonbons. This was lip-licking and the perfect antidote to the fog, rain, and darkness outside.

The main was a perfectly cooked sirloin steak, served with sage and roasted chestnut butter, parmesan and rosemary fries. I spent a minute searching in vain for something on the plate to complain about before giving up and enjoying my meal.

ciaran burns

mumbai 27

27 Talbot Street, Belfast

When I visited earlier in the week, Mumbai 27 was busy. It stands on the corner of Talbot Street in Belfast. There are good reasons for its success.

Turning to the standard a la carte menu, the Holin ah Mansho venison jumped out from the starter list. You can also get great lamb chops in Mumbai, but this dish is served with lean venison with tamarind sauce. It was still slightly pink, smelly, and had a subtle smoke that licked the sides of the protein while cooking. This can only be obtained by cooking over hot coals.

There was a lot of garlic sprinkled ghee in the air. It looked like it came straight out of the tandoor, which made it even better. Had we been a total glutton, we could have gotten another order, but we were already close to full in terms of appetite.

John Mulgrew

donegan’s

37-39 High Street, Bangor

We had friends visiting from the City of London and thought the recently anointed City of Bangor would be an ideal location for dinner. Our choice was Donegan’s Restaurant, located halfway up the High Street above the pub of the same name, and it did not disappoint.

I chose the Crispy Pork Ribs with BBQ sauce. They were also great, with just the right amount of sauce to enhance rather than dominate the ribs. I chose surf and turf for my main dish, but instead of the sirloin on the menu, I ordered fillet steak.

This was fine. It was perfectly cooked and served with seared garlic, cajun scampi, mushrooms, tobacco onions, and the sauce of my choice. The dessert was just as delicious as the other dishes, and I swore I wouldn’t eat it for a week.

Colin Breen

castle street social

12-14 Castle Street, Derry

Castle Street Social is a small, family-run shop in the heart of Derry city center, making it the perfect shopping stop.

Main menu items include beef satay, crispy spiced chicken burger, mushroom and leek risotto, chickpea burger and mixed nut roast.

My friend and I decided to share the spiced chickpea falafel, breaded halloumi fries, chicken and parmesan salad, and crispy chicken wings.

The arrival of our food was one of those “aha” moments. We loved the relaxed, low-key atmosphere of the restaurant, with our friendly waiter checking on us regularly.

catriona doherty

The Burton at the K Club

Straffan, County Kildare

The bar for hospitality at Kildare’s luxurious K Club is understandably high.

Sunday Life was able to preview the new seasonal menu at The K Club’s main restaurant, The Barton.

First, we had fresh king scallops caught in the Irish Sea, cooked to perfection with smoked leeks.

For mains, we chose Irish lamb cannon with carrot and cumin puree, roasted baby carrots, goat cheese fondue, and braised shoulder croquettes.

This dish was topped with a rum juice flavored with garden mint. The lamb was tender, the juices, fondue and puree added a variety of interesting flavors, and the croquettes gave the dish a different texture.

All in all, The Barton’s new menu is fine dining as it should be.

andrew madden

Seahorse Restaurant

Grand Central Hotel (Belfast)

Seahorse’s new eight-course tasting menu is certainly the best thing I’ve had this year, and it might just sneak up on my all-time favorites.

Cold dishes are rarely my favorite. That honor goes to the pea panna cotta with crab, caviar, mint and buttermilk dressing, especially when the beef afterwards was so delicious.

The silky, sweet and creamy panna cotta was a sight to behold. Even more impressive than the dazzling combination of flavors was the presentation itself.

Maxie Swain

stereo

18 Cregagh Rd, Belfast

I’d like to pretend we weren’t the first ones through the door at 9:30am, but well, we were. There was also FOMH: Fear of Missing Hash Browns. I had heard nothing but good things about Perfect Triangles of Potatoes, and I didn’t want to miss out.

We ordered some beautiful dishes (2) and I can confirm they were the best I’ve had. I’m not a huge hash brown fan, but when a golden, gorgeous hash brown is served to me, I devour it.

We ate one each, but in reality, we both would have eaten every piece that came.

Aine Toner

Holy Smokes BBQ Shack

92 Drumnasoo Road, Portadown

This place is truly a meat lover’s paradise. If you don’t believe me, feel free to ask anyone in the endless line of people.

Pork ribs with great smoke rings proved that you don’t need to rub to get that incredible smoky flavor. Meanwhile, Dirty Fries’ huge portion of chicken came with Nashville BBQ sauce topped with pineapple chili cream.

For me, the star of the show was the beef short ribs, which had an amazing black bark and perfectly captured the unique burnt smoke flavor. The thick, meaty charred baked beans had a mix of smoke and sweetness that I could never manage when cooking them at home.

jeff fraser

Bank

28 Main Street, Strabane

The food was as modern as the venue, with lots of large plates arranged neatly in the middle.

For mains we had a flaky fillet of cod, topped with a meaty piece of monkfish with a crispy batter, both wonderfully seasoned. They sat in a rich, smooth, appealing emulsion with broccoli and lemon flavors.

The other main consisted of moist chicken breast, salty ham croquettes, and meaty jus.

These two dishes were full of great techniques and clever cooking that complimented the high quality ingredients.

Colin Breen

Dufferin Arms

25 High Street, Killyleagh

Dufferin has a nice atmosphere. We were given a cozy room just beyond the dining room and it’s a nice space to have a little more privacy.

To start, we ordered the Salt & Chilli Chicken, and all 4 of us took turns deleting it and it disappeared in no time.

The crispy chicken on top of the salad was full of flavour, the saltiness offset by the tangy chili dip, which was intoxicating.

Now onto the main event, and the long-awaited roast beef. And boy did it happen.

Paul Keown

Teal monkey

89 Dublin Road, Belfast

Hats off to Teal Monkey on Dublin Road in central Belfast for having the courage to do something pretty radical.

Children can eat for free. This is not a new concept, but it is taken to the extreme.

We dined with 2 adults and 2 children and the total for main, dessert and drink was £0.

This wasn’t frozen chicken ladles, tap water, or supermarket ice cream. Deeply seasoned goujons of chicken breast are expertly wrapped in batter, fried until lightly browned and served with crispy fries.

The chocolate brownie that followed was even more delicious.

ciaran burns