Encompasses all the charm of Banbridge, had a great time, tried to tip the barman with no luck…read more Chatted with some of the locals who were not Liverpool fans (shame on them) highly recommend stopping in!

Oh a warm Thursday afternoon my better half and I decided to try a local Bar/Kitchen for some food…read more Online the review looked good but old, so was wondering what it would be like having recently only moved to the area. When you walk in you are in a Bar and an appealing bar too I must say nice wooden old time features and lots of TV's if you want to watch some sports. Even the local bar flies where pleasant. When you walk through to the back you come to the open kitchen and then your waiter who will seat you. I can't remember our waiters name but we had 3 different people throughout the night. We had a choice of seats which is not surprising for a Thursday night I guess. The menu is small but has a lot on it, fish looks to be a speciality. We ordered a pint of Harp and some house wine and it was as you would expect. Now the menu had chicken wings for a starter and I am a sucker for wings esp hot wings! These where butter coated wings I think was the term. I had o try them none the less. I also ordered a fillet steak medium and some garlic chips. My partner ordered the ribs with Sweet potato fries. Our wings as you can see came in those wee buckets that things come in now very nice and with a BBQ dip. As I mentioned being a hot wing fan I do like my celery with my wings and I also like the wing to come separated as usually it's a mess trying to do it yourself. These wings however where lovely and came apart with ease. A lot nicer than the ones we had in the Balmoral! The batter was light and crisp and the BBQ sauce was a nice taste with it. A happy wing customer I would say. The mains came out quickly after and I normally like a bit of a weight if I am honest but none the less. The ribs looks great with 3 parts piled up with "slaw" and the steak was amazing. It came with onion rings and shored on top of two roast potatoes and surrounded by pepper sauce. Now I do love a good steak and this did not disappoint. Cooked exactly how I wanted and was just perfect. The sides where lovely too not too much garlic on the chips. I was unable to finish the whole lot but enjoyed it! I never got a chance to taste the ribs but they did look good. At this point we were both stuffed and really wanted to try the after eight brownie but just couldn't fit it in and retreated to the front bar for more drinks. We noticed you can also get food here and plenty where. All in all a great time and would 100% go back! Service was great and polite. Now I think I had 3 drinks and 2 wines plus the start and two mains came to about £50 which was great value. You will see the size of the steak in the pictures I think it was 10oz. Would definitely recommend to people but book if you're going at the weekend. They also have a stone oven for the pizzas which looked great.

I highly suggest you indulge yourself in some of the delicious, golden, salt and vinegar battered…read morescampi. Truly one of Northern Ireland's finest.

Nice group of people working. Patio is great for lunch with a view. Fun seeing all the dogs.read more

It didn't wow. On my account alone it's a fairly good, albeit overpriced, three star but on my…read morewife's tab it might just scrape two stars. Let's get to it; it's been over 16 years since we've been here, but we do remember it fondly. We recall its classic French cooking from way back, spiral staircase inside, diners started with drinks on the first floor, descending to dine on the ground floor. Back to the present - the pleasant smell of cooking wafted in the air as we got out of the car. The car park was full. We climbed the outside staircase up to the first floor. The welcome was mega friendly and there was a buzz from within with lots of diners. The service was great throughout. As we sat down - quite literally as we sat - we were offered drinks. It has only two draft beers to offer and sadly no local stouts or ales. I started with Guinness and a darn good Cabernet Sauvignon. The ladies each opted for rosé which is deservedly back to popularity. I had an excellent tasting chicken liver pâté to begin: it had a tasty relish, delightful sourdough, lightly toasted bread and salted butter. I thought I was back in the 1970's - nothing wrong with that era - when it would have been £1.95 rather than £7. The pâté was served in a small jar. It looked a mean portion but it was just right actually. The only minor thing was the mean one salted butter portion being served in foil. This morsel was for three toasted pieces of bread. The butter should be served in a dish, as I found opening the foil caused my fingers to become a tad greasy. I opted for a fillet steak main. I asked for and got medium. The steak should have been great but it was alright. It would have been better dry aged, properly seasoned on cooking but it wasn't. If it was dry aged then it's not properly dry aged. My steak came with chips that I didn't want so my fellow diners shared them around. I asked for and got Colman's English mustard - the best mustard in the world. The whiskey sauce was pretty good at an extra £3.5 cost. My steak with chips and the sauce topped just over £33 so this place ain't cheap - it's a stonking £17 for a burger & chip main and the same price for a vegetable curry. Vegetarian and vegan prices too are high end. The steak was the only main I would buy on this very safe menu. There's no chance anyone cooking here would end up on Great British Menu. The only fish main was farmed salmon, effectively served in an Asian light broth (£19). You could make this at home in under 15 minutes for less than a fiver. My wife had it. She found it poor tasting and enough to persuade her not to want to return to dine here. She did really enjoy her (£8) prawn cocktail starter though - another 1970's staple - and thought it 4 star. They used to serve prawn cocktail here in sliced fresh pineapple with a heavy dusting of paprika. Their Marie Rose sauce would benefit from a good glug of brandy. I had a tasty cheesecake dessert with a raspberry coulis and cream but for reasons that escape me the chef thinks it a good idea to crush up factory-made lotus biscuits and toss the 'crumble' on the plate with the cheesecake. I can just imagine GBM judges Matthew Fort and Oliver Peyton seeing this dessert in front of them. They would rightly be apoplectic. Lotus biscuits are made with cheap vegetable oils including palm oil. They remained on my plate. The flat white coffee was very good. I note their Sunday lunch menu is chiefly the evening menu with small variations and priced near enough to the evening menu. All in all there's nowt to take us back here. Honestly, the food let's it down. A bit of imagination and adventure could easily make the food experience much better, within the current high price point, but I recognise they may be hostage to their main customer base.

I never fail to go to the Pot Belly when visiting Northern Ireland. Tonight Brian greeted us…read morestraight away and showed us to our table. As always, the decor, service and food were outstanding! The chicken pate and melon salad are tasty starters. (I never liked pate until I ate it here many years ago.) I ordered the duck which was tender and flavorful. One friend ordered the salmon and said it was cooked perfectly. My other friend ordered the sirloin. I asked for a bite and can attest that it was Irish beef at its finest. There are so many gluten free and also vegan options. Please give yourself a treat and go!

We just began our family vacation from the the United States and was trying to find a nice local…read moreestablishment that had some fish and chips and local flavor. Not much on reviews for various places but we decided to try Seven Stars. What a find it was! Great atmosphere and the service and food was amazing! You never know what you will find and having two kids can make it challenging. I highly recommend Seven Stars!

What a sweet local pub.. fantastic service and truly lovely pate for a starter.. then came the main…read moreevent, my fillet steak and champ. Amazing. Perfectly done and the champ was everything I had hoped for, creamy potato goodness.. I'll be back again and again..

This really is a 'secret' garden…read more My sister and I were seeking a venue for a little treat and she recommended we try here. Afternoon tea without the ridiculous price - perfect. At £24 for two this really is a steal. Sandwiches of your choice, scones (with the usual accompaniments) and some yummy traybakes. This is more like non pretentious, Northern Irish style afternoon tea. With the tray bakes including mini fifteens and malteaser squares. If you are looking for something cutesy, scrumptious and not breaking the bank then look no further! Will definitely be back. Don't forget to check out the gift shop for some trinkets and the perfect gifts for mums.

Well what can I say my mum took me out for lunch to this place over Easter week and I was a bit…read moresceptical. Tea rooms attached to a garden centre, tend not to have the most out there reputation. I'm glad to say my scepticism was blown out of the water. This place is definitely a little gem of Belfast. The actual tea rooms/restaurant are an elegantly appointed building with stunning views of the countryside. You feel like you are in the great hall of some stately Victorian home. Sumptuous décor and a varied and delicious sounding menu. As we were there during the week we availed of the two courses for £9.99 (I think that was the price so apologies if I got this wrong, my mum was paying) We both ordered the soup for starter, Butternut Squash, chilli and coconut. Very tasty and a huge portion, I couldn't finish mine because I wanted to leave room for the main. My mother ordered slow cooked beef brisket, Mash and roast root veg while I had the smoked haddock, creamy bacon and leek sauce and the same sides. I cannot fault the food, it was delicious. My only tipple would have been that a selection of different sides for the fish may have been a little better, Maybe some samphire and potato croquets or some such. We also caught a glimpse of their cram tea on another table which looked stunning (I think the Waitress said it was £20/25 per head) Overall an amazing place for lunch, but it doesn't end there. They also offer a dinner menu Thursday to Saturday and it is BYO so definitely cannot be doing wrong there. I highly recommend this place for lunch or for dinner! If you go for dinner though I think you have to book as this place is making its mark on the map and seems to be getting ever more popular!

We were invited here by good friends, so we had to bite our tongues at some of the rubbish served…read moreup, but it spoiled what should have been a great night. We will never return here again. There's not much refinement here and certainly no finesse. Most of the starter choices don't involve much hard work by a cook. The menus sit on their website. I ordered prawn cocktail (£6.75) but the prawns were an unpleasant eat. The problem with the prawns was defrosting. This marred what should have been great flavour and made for an unpleasant fish texture, but I'm not sure if it was improper freezing at factory source, defrosting under cold water, which will certainly have this effect or defrosting, refreezing and defrosting again. In each case this destroys the delicate texture and subtle flavour of prawns. The owners should buy a bag of M&S Greenland prawns, defrost in a fridge and taste them to find out how these subtle, delicate morsels should taste and be served. They'd get 10 portions out of a bag. A proper chef would know that a little bit of French brandy in the cocktail sauce would also significantly help taste too and at £6.75 a portion an accountant might know it wouldn't break the bank. The prawns served here were well destroyed and not worth the £6.75 charged, in fact they were only fit for the cat or if there's no cat then the bin. At this point we would have left, if not for the fact we were guests. My wife had the same starter. I knew from her face that she disliked the prawns too as she was sipping alcohol to wash away the taste. That's not her. I ordered a fillet steak main, cooked medium, with French fried onions. The steak was fairly good but not 28 day dry aged. At near £29 it should be at least 28 day dry aged. My steak was cooked/served nearer to well done but I'm not precious about this. But the so-called semi solid, gloopy pepper sauce was revolting. It's included in the £29 price of the steak. If it's not out of a box with a heavy flour base it should be, it was rank. Likewise the French fried onion batter (£3.5) was thick, oil saturated, not crisp and just terrible. It amazes me that folks can live on a reputation and get away with awful throwback food that should have stayed in the 1970's. I'm astonished too that the owners are satisfied in themselves to serve this grim food to customers, I couldn't do it. I have a tip for the cooks here; go to the Linenhill restaurant nearby at Banbridge and sample a chef's pepper sauce and French fried onions - both are wonderful. My wife also had steak and she barely touched her pepper sauce, so it sat visibly congealing and it formed a shiny dark top cracked skin from the heavy use of flour. It went back to the kitchen where it should never have been allowed to leave. I offered our hosts my French fried onions and they ate them, otherwise they too would have gone back to the kitchen. One of our hosts ordered mushrooms with his steak. He didn't get them rather they ended up on my wife's plate. She hadn't ordered mushrooms. They looked unappetising, small, over cooked and like they came out of a tin. They too went back to the kitchen uneaten. The lemon meringue pie was quite good but while the lemon filling was beautifully tart and the meringue too was darn good the pie base should be made using salted butter particularly at £5.75 for what was a mean portion. They didn't have bitter lemon to go with gin. We were offered a sparkling water based lemon san pellegrino to put in the gin. No thanks. Likewise their English mustard isn't Colman's so evidence of penny pinching. We had rubbish Irish coffees too. Poorly made and so diluted they were quite unpleasant. The gents toilet was cold, it has a stainless steel urinal, a rusty hand dryer and no toilet tissue. I was going to tell the young serving staff but I thought if they couldn't be arsed (pun intended) to check why should I. So I didn't. I hope this review improves things for future guests but we will not benefit as we won't return and thankfully we were guests, I'd have hated to hand over my hard earned here but then we would have left at the starters. Just barely 2 stars as I don't think I can justify one star but it really, really, really is a close run thing.

Arrived for a Groupon with a party of 4, so two on the Groupon and two not. Very welcoming although…read morechilly but I think as fire hadn't kicked in. Was a lovely ambiance and nice to go into the lounge and relax before being brought to the table when food was ready. Food was lovely. My mum and dad got the Groupon of a sharing platter, rack of ribs, chicken breast and two steaks -great portions as well (I sampled a bit of all) The steak was cooked to a lovely medium rare and the ribs were very tender and yummy. Chicken was a big breast. The sides were good portions and also homemade chips, you can definitely taste the difference. My husband had the steak ciabatta which again was tasty as he finished the plate load, although he had asked for medium and it was more well done than medium. The food was really tasty and plentiful, the only gripes I would have was that the steaks came and it was a good 3-4 minutes before other food, sauces and sides came. Great value and was busy for a Tuesday which is a good sign of the quality of food. It was my second time there and would definitely recommend. Although says Banbridge it is about 5/10 minutes out the Newry side of it. (be warned you can easily get lost on the country roads)

Brilliant place - food and service are excellent. Recommend the fry and the scampi. Also enjoyed…read morethe curry sauce with the chips.

This is hands down my favourite place to eat!! I have travelled all over the world and my husband…read moreand I love to eat the local food wherever we go. This place is a hidden gem and absolutely fabulous. The portions are huge, the food is fresh and delicious and served piping hot. I am a big fan of the Ulster Fry and this is the best in the world. The staff are lovely and the owners are always there, making sure everyone is looked after with plenty of time for a hello and and a chat The staff are so pleasant and the service was first class. The best part is they do not hassle you to leave the table once you finish, they let you enjoy finishing up your tea and coffee without feeling pressed to leave. This is a place we will fly to Belfast just to go here! Don't miss it!!! I wish I had photos to post, but we were too busy having a great time to think about photos!

This is our first time traveling in Ireland and were staying in the next town over in Waringstown…read more This place was really great. The food was excellent, the price was great and Paddy made us feel at home. There were three of us and we had salmon, turkey and ham and roast beef. All three meals were great. For dessert you have to try the sticky toffee pudding. It's a bit different from what you get in England but it was very good.

In the heart of Belfast we found this bit of southern America. Top floor of the Dirty Onion pub…read more.. Wings and loaded Fry's..gravy chicken cheese and onions. Great food. Historic surroundings and friendly service.

I ordered the regular fried chicken burger but our server apparently heard buffalo chicken burger…read more I sadly didn't realize this until I'd already taken a bite and didn't want to send it back, so it is what it is. I'm not the biggest fan of buffalo chicken, butttt the chicken was flavorful and the perfect amount of crisp. My sinuses are also super clear now so I've got that going for me, haha. Fries were tasty and service was friendly/pretty quick! Nice place to stop by if you want to grab a bite for pretty reasonable (city) prices!

The Whitehouse Working Mens Club (a.k.a. The Workies) is, as far as I've seen, a bar which is…read morepredominantly reserved for locals (if you're not a member you have to sign in upon arrival ) but the wee old man who sits at the front desk is the best of banter (He used to be my milk man!) he's still very pleasant and accommodating. The bar certainly can get busy over the weekends but I'd say it's pretty quiet for the rest of the time. It's a good bar for an older crowd to enjoy a quiet drink at the weekend. The bar itself is split in to various floors and sections so you can experience different surroundings. It's nothing fancy but no over the top airs or graces. It does what it says on the tin, a club for working (wo)men to come relax, have a drink or a meal. The restaurant has only opened a short while ago (then closed, apparently over row with chef, now reopened under new management) and although it is now a little more pricey it still does the same job. You can come and enjoy your Friday lunch here and won't have to worry about breaking the bank. You won't come any where near. Bonus, did I mention how cheap the pints are? Your round! Cheers!