It's hard not to love this massive semi-outdoor shopping center. Steel and glass and lifts and…read moreescalators with so much fresh air moving through. It's clean and well patrolled by security and there are retail outlets for everyone and restaurants, too. I think what most people are missing is the rooftop atrium, called The Dome. The lift goes to the top and from there, a tremendous view over the city of Belfast. It's free and should not be missed. [Review 1885 of 2024 - 867 in United Kingdom - 22907 overall]

It is a massive shopping center, beautiful and made of mirrors. Lots of shops and restaurants to…read morenosh and spend your cash. I stopped at a few stores here, and partook of great hospitality and service. The spaces were immaculate and there were lots of places to sit, eat and meet. Great name eh.... Victoria Square.

As far as the ubiquitous shopping center and relaxed "shopping experience" goes this is one of the…read moremost humane and practical in Belfast. Great car parking and easy access to other neighbouring shops and outlets. Slightly presumptuous and inverted but I can overlook that for it's relaxed and easy access.And with its variety of shops, doggy friendliness,it gets a thumps up from me & Ben!

It has happened to us all. Sometimes you just think you've nothing to wear for a night out halfway…read morethrough that afternoon and you cannot be bothered to make the trek into town. At these troublesome times, thank flip for Forestside. Bright and clean with loads of handy parking, this shopping centre has really upped it's game over the last while. The selection of stores is great, mostly all your usual ladies high street names like Next, New Look, H&M and Oasis. Now I write this I realise it does feature the ladies heavily, but there is always a big M&S for the boys to buy a pair of slacks or whatever it is you buy. Also at either end there is a Sainsburys or M&S food and a large off licence, so along with a new top you can get a bottle of wine and a load of tasty nibbles to accessorize it with. A perfect look for any evening ;-)

I left Castle Court with my hands full at Poundland, Superdrug, Top Gift Outlet No. 92, and Bargain…read moreBooks in Belfast, UK. The assortment was impressive, offering excellent value for the items. The service was both professional and efficient. I bought birthday gifts, toys, adapter that can convert for U.K. to U.S. plug and other useful things.

It's nearly a year since I was last here. I was unimpressed last time and I felt this time that it…read moresure hadn't improved any, rather if it was to close I sure wouldn't miss it. The Wu flu has sure turned things upside down in retail with many retail companies that were barely holding on pre Wu flu were decimated through lock down. I went to Starbucks on the first floor and I had to wait for a seat as most seating has been removed or blocked off. Their service was real friendly for folk denied a living wage. The store was kept properly clean too. The coffee was darn good and it came in a real ceramic cup as for the last 15 months these chain coffee companies - the few that were open - have only given out paper cups with those nasty plastic lids - in this part of the world customers usually can't refuse the plastic lid - the elf & safety police - so 1 maybe 2 green stars for Starbucks. I took a walk to Yangtze to consider lunch; this place used to be a real highlight with darn good salted chilli prawns and squid, yeung chow fried rice (char siu pork; cooked shrimp; scallions, chopped; eggs yolks; peas; carrots) but these delights are all gone. They were going pre Wu Flu but it accelerated the decline. Instead, and just like my last visit, I watched staff placing big steel containers full of cooked food into a bain marie hot water bath, sweet & sour chicken, black bean chicken at 11am - even chips, chips in a bain marie for over an hour. The lights weren't even on, service was an hour away. So here it's all pre cooked chicken. No pork, no prawns and if there's beef I couldn't see it. Now take sweet & sour (just like black bean) the sauce is meant to be a coating on the meat. It's not stew like this place serves. The sauce isn't intended to constitute over half the served dish. The vegetables in these dishes, like peppers and carrots are meant to be stir fried and crisp - not stewed and limp like here. This is a perfect model of how to destroy a perfectly good business.

I have driven past City Side Mall thousands of times over the last year but I never feel the need…read moreto pay it a visit. Yesterday this all changed when I went in to pick up a few bits for Friday nights dinner. City Side Mall is always busy and the parking spaces are at a premium! It's a deceptively large mall with a cinema, Burger King, New Look, Sport shop, Bargain stores, Tescos and many others. As the name suggest it is just outside the city but still walkable. It really is a jack of all trades and I'll definitely be paying it another visit. Nothing too special and nothing awful, so that makes it okay in my book.

City Side Mall (previously known as Yorkgate shopping centre) is conveniently located on York…read moreStreet. This shopping centre has a variety of different shops - Tesco, Tescos Petrol Station, Poundland, Home Bargains, Burger King, Pound Stretcher, a Movie House Cinema and much more. Parking is free at City Side Mall however the car park is managed by UKPC so make sure you not illegally parked as you will end up with a fine.

If you're looking for a load of independent businesses then look no further. To be honest I hadn't…read morebeen in Smithfield for year, basically because I had no reason to go in, that was until the opening of Doughzy Donuts in Smithfield. This new store was a little bit out of character for Smithfield which includes an Army & Navy Store, Rug & Carpet Shop, Boxing Supplies outlet and Crafts and Antiques shops. I'm glad I ventured back in here as it really is a blast from the past - it's great for a dander and a general nosey. Some of the shopkeepers have been there for years and could tell you a story or two. With the addition of Doughzy there's now two options for food which is great. There's also a pay and display car park out the back if you're picking up something big! Pop in and pick up a bargain!

Sadly, Smithfield is not one of the more convivial sights of Belfast. It's dreary, rundown and…read moredesolate; a shadow of its former self. Up until its bombing during the Troubles, Smithfield was (apparently, as I wasn't around in those days) hip 'n' happening...the place to be. Dandering into it today, I was greatly saddened by the staid atmosphere and lack of decent shopping units. Whilst it mainly caters for the unusual and downright unconventional, with shops such as Filipino, Caribbean and African food stores, martial arts and boxing equipment, army and navy memorabilia, antique toys being among the more noteworthy, Smithfield leaves a lot to be desired. One of only four or five shoppers, Smithfield was in huge contrast to the rest of a bustling Belfast. Emma (the previous reviewer) is spot on, it really needs a bit of TLC and a new face lift, and maybe then it would attract the same sorts of numbers as the rest of the city centre. Strangely, the car park had one heck of a queue heading into it. There wasn't a space to be seen. Mmm...

Also forgot that these shops and cafes became these:…read more Dunnes Stores = Brand Max (now closed forever) Pickwicks = Shopmobility (now closed forever) Tesco = The Range Eason = The original Sports Direct (now closed forever) re:beebies = HomeStart Zodiac = The security guards and cameras area, which is so big that it has bikes and a Brand Max bag Index = Argos (now closed forever, mentioned before) Jill Edwards (mentioned before) = Fighting Words NI Next = Poundland and Mens Fashion (I think it was called that) Mens Fashion = Savers Karine & Co. (mentioned before) = Halloween and Christmas shops which never opened Lifestyle Sports and a Behind the Movies thing = Arts Care Unknown restaurant = Chicking Hungry Gull = Harland and Wolff Chip restaurant Danske Bank = PLATFORM Yangtze = Super Bowl H. Samuel (mentioned before along with Schoolbags) = Schoolbags and the Arts Care office Thomas Cook = Hays Travel Clarks = East Belfast Men's Talk Now, for the ones in the retail park. The original Lidl and Harry Corry = Home Bargains The original Lidl and Dreams = Halfords Lazer = Poundworld and HouseProud (two now closed forever) American Golf = Specsavers Gilpin's = The original Halfords (now closed when it was merged with the vacant JJB and CarpetRight units to make Lidl) The original Halfords (now next to Home Bargains), the original CarpetRight and JJB = Lidl Pizza Hut = Rigin and Starbucks Xtravision = CarpetRight and Tim Hortons Bensons for Beds = Restore Maplin = Restore and Jollyes Budget DIY = B&M FitnessFirst = Better (leisure centre) Vodafone, Brand Max, Sports Direct, GAME, all the four cafes on the ground floor, Sky, Argos, Specsavers, Eason, Tesco, Dunnes Stores, Optical Express, re:beebies, the Harland and Wolff restaurant, Chicking, Internacionale, Early Learning Centre, Shoezone, EE, Mens Fashion, Karine & Co, Ski & Sports (aka the Canterbury shop), Carphone Warehouse, TUI, the original men's talk which is replaced with storage, The original Lidl, Harry Corry, Dreams, Poundworld, Lazer, the original Halfords, JJB, the original CarpetRight, Xtravision, CarpetRight, Pizza Hut, Rigin, Bensons for Beds, the original Restore, Schoolbags, H. Samuel, Danske Bank, Zodiac, Pickwicks, Shopmobility, HouseProud, FitnessFirst, Budget DIY, Next and the unknown restaurant are still abandoned and some of them have been taken over. The Range, Boots, HomeStart, Arts Care, Vapourette, Mobile & Tablets, East Belfast Men's Talk, PLATFORM, Peacocks, the security guards area, Poundland, Savers, The Works, Bonmarché, Blue Inc, The Arts Care office, The Perfume Shop, Hays Travel, East Belfast Men's Talk, New Look, Poundstretcher, O2, Halifax, Holland and Barrett, Card Factory, Claire's, Netra, Burger King, Super Bowl, Subway, Lidl, Home Bargains, Halfords, Better (leisure centre), B&M, Specsavers, Ulster Bank, McDonald's, Jollyes and Restore are the remaining units in the shopping centre and retail park. Remember, 40 units + 53 empty units = 93 units altogether. THE END, AGAIN.

Standard shopping centre really…read more Shops are forever changing in here. The place is kept clean. Has decent parking.

Cool store chain in Ireland. Think Walmart meets target then scaled down quite a bit. Clothing food…read moreand hot foods. Some delicious fresh breads. Staff were friendly and prices were fair.

A mid sized store divided into 2 main sections, 1 food and 1 home/clothing. It's quite anonymously…read morepositioned on the Ormeau Road and to be honest I find it the poor cousin of the other Dunnes that can be found in Forestside. The clothing range has always been a bit banal although of a decent enough quality and well-priced. Although recently I've felt that the prices have started to creep up without a rise in the general level of quality or overall style. I'm not really sure who is buying the food as I've always found that despite being quite big it doesn't really feel like the sort of shop you go to do your 'big shop'. Rather it somehow comes across a bit more like an oversized convenience store. The prices are a little higher than I think many would expect to pay too. Usually when you shop 'convenience' you're just getting a few things and you know you're paying a little more as the shop is handy, but here isn't really handy unless you already happen to live right beside it anyway. The finishing is a bit dull too, well maybe not dull.... Dated. All in all its just not that much fun to go into and really the other big Dunnes Store in Forestside makes this one look like the poor cousin.

Dunelm Mill is the hot pot for everything frilly and fancy for furniture and clothing. It combines…read moreall types of materials for those creative types to make into curtains, bedspreads, table cloths or clothes! I recently purchased material to create my own unique range of scarves which I attached to bags, items of clothing and bedroom furniture. The material was quite inexpensive and easily saved me money if I had of went and bought the items from a shop. The store on Boucher Road is pretty large so if you have an idea of what you're looking for hold onto it, as you could easily get distracted you look for it among satin and cotton . Staff at the store are very helpful and can give you advice on what material to choose for different purposes, what measurements you will need as well as what colour schemes work the best.

This retail park doesn't have as many clothing shops as others on the Boucher Road (see my review…read moreon Boucher crescent retail park), and has more sort of practical/big item shops. Here you'll find a few expensive furniture shops, such as Harvey's. It also has a Smyth's toy store, Homebase, Carpetright, Dunelm Mill,... you get the idea. Shane retail park is just a few minutes' drive from Boucher Crescent retail park and has a lot of parking.

Another one for all you shoppers out there. Once you've had your fill of shopping in the city…read morecentre (see my reviews on CastleCourt and Victoria Square), there's still a few places left to burn out the credit card. Just a five minute drive from the city centre, Boucher Road has quite a few shops in it, most of which are located in Boucher Crescent Retail Park or Shane Retail Park (see my review on Shane retail park). There are men and women's clothing shops (River Island, Next, Burton, the Jeanery...), a sports shop, HMV, Starbuck's, Boots... the list goes on. There's a hell of a lot of space dedicated to parking here, but it can still be very difficult to get a space on a Saturday or Sunday. It's not a mall type place where you can get lost in, it's one of those places where the shops are all lined up in a row and you come out of one shop and into the next one - good for methodical shoppers, or those who don't have a lot of time. The downside is that the traffic on the Boucher Road can be crazy between 4 and 6p.m. But, if you're a visitor and you're out for a day's shopping, get yourself a 'day ticket' (see my Translink review) and you can take a trip up here before/after shopping in the city centre.

Boucher Road Crescent Retail Park is a handy spot for shopping if you don't fancy going into the…read moreCity Centre. It has a huge variety of shops including River Island, Outfit, Lipsy, Newlook, Next, Boots and much much more. Oh and there's a few car manufacturers nearby if you fancy treating yourself to a new Audi TT