Irish restaurants in Northern Ireland
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Bushmills Inn
The inn's excellent restaurant, with intimate wooden booths set in the old 17th-century stables, specialises in fresh Ulster produce and serves everything from sandwiches to full à-la-carte dinners.
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Copper
Recently relocated from Warrenpoint, Copper is an elegant, white-linen-tablecloth kind of restaurant that serves meat sourced from local farms and fish bought from the quayside at Kilkeel, with simplicity and integrity. There's a separate vegetarian menu with inventive dishes such as roast squash grating with confit tomatoes.
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Terrace Restaurant
The restaurant at the Westville Hotel combines understated elegance in the dining room with a deft touch in the kitchen – candlelight creates a romantic atmosphere, while delightful dishes such as scallops with pancetta and butternut squash risotto, and roast saddle of rabbit stuffed with black pudding and basil, make for a memorable meal.
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Vanilla
Newcastle-born chef Darren Ireland has introduced a dash of verve and enthusiasm to the local dining scene with this sharply styled bistro, and a menu that shamelessly promotes Irish produce in dishes such as flaky pastry seafood tart with mustard, cheddar and roast onions, and Irish ribeye steak with mushroom and smoked bacon croquettes. Two-course meal for £12.50 Sunday to Thursday.
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Wysner's
Popular with locals and visitors alike, Wysner's has a café at street level serving hearty lunches such as sausages with bacon-and-leek mash and onion gravy, and a restaurant upstairs with more sophisticated fare – steak, salmon or scallops – in the evenings.
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Rectory Bistro
Adjoining the Cedars Guesthouse, this bistro has a welcoming open fireplace, lots of golden pine lit by chunky candles and a sprinkling of Gothic motifs, with a hearty menu that ranges from a fresh crab and smoked salmon pâté to beef and Guinness pie with creamy mashed potato.
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Restaurant 23
Set in the Balmoral Hotel on Warrenpoint's waterfront, this innovative restaurant has garnered a Michelin Bib Gourmand and helped turn this corner of County Down into a foodie destination with dishes such as roast scallops with crisp smoked pork and artichoke salad, and sautéed lambs liver with new season asparagus. From Wednesday to Friday there's a three-course set menu for £15.
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Cayenne
Behind an anonymous frosted-glass facade lurks this funky, award-winning restaurant operated by celebrity chef Paul Rankin. Grey and black walls lit with the glowing orange-red of the eponymous pepper provide an aura of sophistication. The menu concentrates on Irish produce prepared with an Asian or Mediterranean twist; the set three-course dinner menu (£23 or £28) is good value.
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Cellar Restaurant
This cosy little basement restaurant with intimate wooden booths and a big fireplace is the place to sample Ulster produce – locally caught crab claws grilled with garlic butter, and Carrick-a-Rede salmon are both on the menu, along with Irish beef and lamb, and lobster from Rathlin Island. There are also good vegetarian dishes such as baked peppers stuffed with mushroom and shallot.
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Jeffers by the Marina
This chic little cafe-restaurant is immediately likeable, with its laid-back jazzy tunes, cool art, granite table tops and view of the marina. It serves coffee, cakes and snacks all day and also has a fresh and interesting dinner menu that features local organic produce – from Strangford Lough oysters to the signature Irish beef, slow cooked for five hours.
reviewed
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Brown's Restaurant
From the outside Brown's may not have the most promising location, over the river in Waterside, but step inside and you're in a little art deco enclave of brandy-coloured banquettes and ornate metal light fittings, with the odd Rothko print adorning the walls. The ever-changing menu is a gastronome's delight, making creative use of fresh local produce in dishes such as wood pigeon wrapped in pastry, with creamed shallots, cranberries and red wine sauce.
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Molly's Yard
A restored Victorian stables courtyard is the setting for this quirky restaurant, with a cosy bar-bistro on the ground floor, outdoor tables in the yard and a rustic dining room (open from 6pm) in the airy roof space upstairs. The menu is seasonal and sticks to half a dozen each of starters and mains. It also has its own microbrewery.
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Lime Tree
Unfussy decor in shades of burgundy and beige softened by flickering tea-lights makes for a relaxing atmosphere in Limavady's top eatery. The menu promotes local produce – from seafood thermidor made with Donegal fish to fillet steak from award-winning butcher Hunter's of Limavady – and includes vegetarian dishes that are a cut above the usual. There's also an early-bird menu (two/three courses £14.50/17.50) available before 7pm Tuesday to Friday.
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Beatrice Kennedy
Organic veg and locally sourced meats are a staple at this perennial Queen's Quarter favourite (it's where students take their visiting parents for dinner). Recently revamped, the dining room retains its Victorian elegance and period style, while the menu adds a modern twist to traditional Irish seafood, lamb and beef. There's a separate vegetarian menu, with dishes such as butternut squash risotto with rocket pesto and parmesan. From 5pm to 7pm you can get a two-course dinner for £15.
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