First of all, places as good as this are not plentiful enough. Second, if I could give it 8 stars I…read morewould. This place came recommended, but with a codicil I hear from time to time - the portions are small. I don't really mind this, provided the quality is there, and the tastes are wonderful. For the most part the tastes and the quality here are wonderful. So four of us, all first time diners here, arrived with anticipation. Last time we four dined together was in Disney's Boathouse Orlando and I've separately reviewed this below average place. It was a cold evening about 6c as we arrived. I think we got the last car parking space; it doesn't have extensive parking. The greeting was warm and it felt like we were going into an old barn, the impressive brick walls are feet thick and lots of exposed old wood. Cosy enough. My starter was seared scallop with confit chicken wing, crisp chicken skin, chicken sauce and wild mushrooms. It was delicious and hard to discern the best bit. It was all very good with a moreish sauce. Two companions has the citrus cured salmon, with cucumber relish, salad cream and granary crisp bread. They raved about it. The salmon was a cured chunk, mostly raw within and perhaps blow torched to magnificence on the outside. One of our hungry bunch had celeriac soup which she found divine together served with tasty, chunky wheaten bread and butter. So let's pause. I read somewhere that this is a British restaurant. Ok. If you say so, but with the stocks, gels, purées and reductions it more than nods to Escoffier and French haute cuisine cooking techniques. My main was salmon based, with deep fried rissoles stuffed with fine chopped mushrooms, puy lentils, steamed sprouting greens and some of the greens lightly battered and fried tempura style. Again everything on the plate was tasty. Desserts were glorious bar one. My wife and I shared the dark chocolate, cherry and honeycomb and wow. Chocolate heaven enhanced with the whole cherry and honeycomb piece. The peanut butter based pie too was light, delicate and very tasty but a tad more salt would lift it much more. After these two big hitters the rhubarb and custard trifle was disappointing. It is a vegetable treated like a fruit. It didn't wow, it had no sharpness, it was more like a gel and it was not the thump of taste that rhubarb can easily deliver. Even the custard was meh. I doubt I'd go for it again. Staff were delightful; the (£5) beers were tasty, the wine a generous pour (£5.25) but the (£7) gin of the week was weak, overly ice cubed, watery and generally diluted way out of balance. So next time we must double the gin measure and reduce the quantity of ice and mixer. Their cappuccino (£3) was very tasty too. I hope it's not too long before we return here. It was 4c as we left under the bright moon and as we were out in the country side the stars were noticeable.

Nipped in here for lunch on the recommendation of a friend and it didn't disappoint!…read more I admit staring at the menu with a bit of immediate terror at all the fancy schmancy things staring back at me, but - I had the fish and Parmesan fries, hubby had the steak sandwich and chunky chips. For dessert we had the pear crumble, burnt cream of the day (coffee) and the sticky toffee pudding mini desserts. Great place to have lunch, it was quiet, service was friendly - though there was a looooong wait between courses and we ended up in a bit of a time crunch to get the child from school - but it was absolutely delicious, a great wee find tucked away. I imagine Christmas time here would be lovely

This is a less formal and more modern version of the original Tedfords. The interior is really…read moreclean and fresh with minimal decor. Service was fast but the girl serving us was pretty dry and barely spoke. I ordered their special elderflower cocktail which for me tasted more like apple than anything else. The food however was delicious. We started with the Korean chicken wings with kimichi- were really flavoursome, perhaps a little spicy but that's just my taste. For main I had seabass which was perfectly cooked and delicately flavoured with a garlic butter. Didn't try the desserts as we were too full. I'd definitely visit this restaurant again. Whilst sat at the window seat we noticed so many other people wandering around looking confused outside....the restaurant entrance is right round the back away from the road however there is a door at the side leading into offices and the tedfords sign was misleading and could be better placed to direct you round the building.

My family and I visited Tedfords Kitchen on a Saturday evening and despite the food being great,…read morethe service completely ruined the experience. The wait between each course, taking drink orders and even getting a dessert menu was frustratingly long. So much so that we had to go to the greeter at the front door multiple times just to get attention. During the evening, no staff acknowledged that we might want a drink. No one came to take our order without us getting up and going to the greeter to ask for a waiter. No one asked us if we wanted the bill. After another half hour of waiting we went to the greeter again and asked them for the bill and paid directly there. It wasn't even a busy night. We left infuriated. I emailed them over two days ago with all this feedback and they didn't respond.

Went on the recommendation of our b and b host Hargreaves. Fantastic place with a warm fire and…read moregood food.

I was a birthday here last night and it was the first time I'd ever been upstairs. It's perfect for…read morea party as its there to rent out for private functions. It was very spacious I could imagine you could have a good size party here. There is a small dance-floor you can go up and throw your crazy shapes after one to many. If you wanted you could hire a DJ and have plenty of room for his equipment. But my party chose to use a phone and play it through there sound system which was equally as good. The bar is quite small so if it was a full house I could imagine it would take abit of time to get served but nothing major. The staff are very friendly aswell. Downstairs is just a public bar, i would say a crowd ranging from mid twenties up. So maybe not great for a younger crowd. The bar is very small so it can get packed very quick and with not many seats you could end up standing most of the night. Great choice of drinks and cocktails. Would maybe be a great bar to start on and move elsewhere.

A real mainstay of the Bangor bar/restaurant scene, although all that was in doubt a few months…read moreback when it temporarily closed. I'm glad to report its open again and serving some of the best pints on Guinness in NI! There's a few reasons why the Esplanade is one of my favourite bars. Firstly its in close proximity to where I live, secondly it's one of the most welcoming bars around. Finally it's food and drinks offerings are always great. The views aren't too bad either. Be warned the back bar gets rowdy for sporting events!

I have had to review my review for this place. In the last few months since there has been a…read morerefurbishment, and a lot of changes to the staff and the food they have served. It has gone from great to terrible and then back up to pretty decent (thank goodness!!). The anticipated and exciting refurb turned out to be a fairly big flop. It will remind most of a hotel lobby downstairs, and the 'quirky granny look' upstairs - ya know, with velvet, gold and leopard print everywhere. Ugh. Until tonight (26th Feb 16), I have felt fairly letdown with the place, but we tried yet again and were pleasantly surprised. Food was great, service was great and we had a really nice night here. I am excited to see the place has changed their attitude and getting back to what works well. My old review, just before refurbishment - In my opinion The Esplanade is now one of the nicest places in Bangor to eat. Food is tremendous with large portions and an amazing view to go with it over Ballyholme bay. Even if you aren't having food, it is a great place to hang out with friends and catch up. Highly recommended!

The kingfisher cafe in castle espie offers excellent food and stunning views, a perfect addition to…read morecastle espie . Accessible even if you don't have time to go around the park and ideal to relax in after a walk. Could be a great place to take someone on a date or for a treat.

This place is a lot like a little cafe with a museum and gift shop. They had a few vegetarian…read moreoptions on the menu, I enjoyed the pasta and hot tea. It was lovely eating and enjoying the view from the large windows. The gift shop was also very cute.

Drennans is special and romantic. The restaurant has a cool, relaxed and inviting atmosphere that…read moreyou associate with upper market venues and really does hold its own in this ranking. The food is absolutely divine and they even have a pianist playing beautiful music throughout the evening. We went here on a date and couldn't have picked a more intimate venue. The menu isn't overly long which I like as I always see about a million things I want, but here, it's nice and simple. I went for the Greshingham Duck which was absolutely perfectly cooked and my partner had the steak which was also cooked just the way he wanted it! Highly recommend Drennans for a nice romantic dinner, If the prices put you off for the evening menu, come between 5 and 7 and you can get the early evening menu priced an £12.95 for two courses and £10 for three, a real bargain considering a main will set you back about £17 after 7. And the menu is just as good!

Drennans is defo on my list of favourite places to eat in the city centre. Its quirky, atmospheric…read moreand serves great great food. And the ultimate bonus - its unlicenced so BYO. We pushed the boat out at Christmas and did BYO in style with several bottles of Moet. Champagne in a restaurant at supermarket prices (OK plus corkage) - how fab is that?! It's a long narrow space which makes it feel intimate without the feeing that you're sitting on top of the table next to you. I went with a few raucous friends and at first was disappointed to be seated at a little booth right at the door. But it was also right at the (unlicensed) bar and therefore the cute waiters so all good as it turns out. The food is up-market bistro-ish. Things like smoked chicken salad, duck confit, scallops and black pudding. It's not the cheapest place to eat but remember that you are really saving on the booze. The hake main course for example is £17 but comes with potatoes so you don't really need a side order. Unless you are a glutton like me. There is a set menu before 7pm at £13 for 2 courses and £17 for 3 courses which I think is great value and which I am planning to try after a hard afternoon shopping. The best bit of my evening was the resident singer and piano player. Easy on the eye with the kind of deep raspy voice which alludes to some hard living. Fab.

Expect the unexpected. That's one of the things I've learnt while visiting places and writing these…read morereviews. I was taken completely by surprise that such a lovely restaurant would lie in the centre of Ballynahinch, I was even more astonished at the service that was so well provided, and I was utterly stupefied by the delicious food that was set in front of me after all that. Unexpected doesn't quite cover it. Cafe Rossi is a chic bistro situated on Ballynahinch's Main Street, which, on this occasion, was the location for a scrumptious lunch. It's divided into two sections - a chilled out, relaxed area for breakfast and lunch with comfy sofas and coffee tables, and a more elegant area for fine dining in the evening. Upon our arrival, my sister and I were quickly shown to our table and provided with menus. There was a decent choice, and it did take me a while to pick (unusual, I know), but I eventually settled on the Famous Rossi Burger, whilst sister got a chicken wrap (it had a fancier name than that, but that will suffice for the meantime). We didn't have too long to wait at all, which was rather impressive, and rather fortunate, as both our tummies were playing melodious tunes with their rumbling. One bite of that burger, and I was in heaven. It was quite possibly the best burger I've ever tasted, and had a spicy kick to it, which went down an absolute treat. The huge side order of criss-cross fries = also delice, and I instantly knew that I wouldn't be able to finish the whole lot (isn't that always the way?). The sis enjoyed the wrap thingamajig, and also staring at the "hot waiter". Apologies Mr Waiter for my gawping sister. She just doesn't know when to stop... With no room left for afters, I paid the bill and departed, feeling very satisfied at finding such a lovely little restaurant. My sister, on the other hand, was feeling incredibly satisfied that she'd had some poor, undeserving waiter to drool over. I guess it was a win / win situation then? (For my sister and I that is, not for the my sister and the waiter...)

I remember when this place used to be Dixons, an absolutely amazing fish and chip shop back in the…read moredays when I was a kid.The people here retired, and it has changed hands quite a few times since then, but I think the people of Ballynihinch are glad that it has finally settled on this place. It is a wonderfully spacious little restaurant that has a lot of room to cope with a large amount of diners.The ficus here is on good solid home-made favourites.My most recent trip here was after a cemetery Sunday, and my whole family enjoyed they food. My brother's goujons were crispy and tender, my fathers's steak was cooked perfect, my mothers gammon has a delightful glaze and my plaice was truly delicious. We didn't have the appetite for deserts but the menu were very tempting. All in all i have only good things to say about this place, so keep up the good work!

Lovely views, friendly service and good food and vibes. Can get very busy on weekends but on a…read moreweekday around sunset, it was awesome. Highly recommend.

Nice, calming views overlooking Strangford Lough. The steak and Guinness dish was wonderful, too!read more