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By Root 3653 0

you could walk right past without noticing, but if you do you’ll be missing out. It’s a cosy and informal little bistro with an unassuming exterior, serving food that is anything but ordinary – the flame-haired owner/chef (hence the name) really knows what he’s doing, sourcing top-quality Irish produce and turning out exquisite dishes such as salad of seasoned pork belly with fennel and apple, and tempura of hake with pineapple salsa, roast cashews and pickled ginger dressing.

Cayenne (Map; 9033 1532; 7 Ascot House, Shaftesbury Sq; mains £12-20, 2-/3-course lunch £12/15.50; noon-2.15pm Thu & Fri, 6-11pm Mon-Sat, 5-11pm Sun) Behind an anonymous frosted-glass facade lurks a funky, award-winning restaurant operated by TV celebrity chef, Paul Rankin, decked out in designer black and amber, and clad in conceptual art. The menu concentrates on Irish produce prepared with an Asian or Mediterranean twist; the set three-course dinner menu (£20 or £25), available Sunday to Friday, is good value.

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TOP FIVE BELFAST RESTAURANTS

Deane’s Restaurant (below)

Menu by Kevin Thornton (below)

Molly’s Yard (opposite)

Mourne Seafood Bar (left)

Shu

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TOP END

James St South (Map; 9043 4310; 21 James St S; 2-/3-course lunch £14.50/16.50, dinner mains £15-20; noon-2.45pm & 5.45-10.45pm Mon-Sat, 5.30-9pm Sun) A starkly beautiful white dining room with crisp white table linen creates a perfect stage for the presentation of some of Belfast’s finest food – the French-inspired menu offers dishes such as crisp calamari with tomato and caper dressing, and roast gurnard with leek, fennel and spring onion, while the service is relaxed yet highly professional.

Deane’s Restaurant (Map; 9033 1134; 34-40 Howard St; mains £15-23, 2-/3-course lunch £18/22; noon-2.30pm & 6-9.30pm Tue-Sat) Chef Michael Deane heads the kitchen in Northern Ireland’s only Michelin-starred restaurant, where he takes the best of Irish and British produce – beef, game, lamb, seafood – and gives it the gourmet treatment. Typical dishes include pan-fried scallops with apple black pudding, glazed pork belly and butternut squash purée, and saddle of rabbit wrapped in bacon with macaroni gratin, roast cep mushrooms and caramelised salsify. The ultra-cool dining room is open-plan and minimalist.

Menu by Kevin Thornton (Map; 9044 2130; Fitzwilliam Hotel, 1-3 Great Victoria St; mains £15-23; lunch & dinner) The decor in the first-floor restaurant at the new Fitzwilliam Hotel is a bit ‘boutique’ overload, with tables and floors of polished oak, white linen and lampshades, a black wall, and strikingly tall, slender-backed chairs in bright cerise. But the food is superb, with the freshest Irish produce given the French gourmet treatment – a lunch of celeriac velouté with truffle-scented cream, followed by confit duck with a simple but exquisite mustard sauce, got 10 out of 10 from us.

Great Room (Map; 9023 4888; Merchant Hotel, 35-39 Waring St; mains £16-25; 7am-11pm) Set in the former banking hall of the Ulster Bank head office, the Great Room is a jaw-dropping extravaganza of gilded stucco, red plush, white marble cherubs and a vast crystal chandelier glittering beneath a glass dome. The menu matches the decor: decadent but delicious, a French-influenced catalogue of political incorrectness laced with foie gras, veal, truffles and caviar. A set three-course dinner menu (£25) is available from 6pm to 10pm Monday to Thursday.

Cathedral Quarter & Around

McHugh’s Bar and Restaurant (Map; 9050 9999; 29-31 Queen’s Sq; mains lunch £7, dinner £10-16; food served noon-10pm Mon-Sat, noon-9pm Sun) This restored pub has a traditional feel with its old wooden booths and benches, and boasts one of the city’s best bar-restaurants, serving traditional pub grub downstairs (till 7pm) and fancier dishes in the mezzanine restaurant upstairs (from 5pm).

John Hewitt Bar & Restaurant (Map; 9023 3768; 51 Donegall St; mains £7-9; food served noon-3pm Mon-Sat) Named for the Belfast poet and socialist, this is a modern pub with a traditional atmosphere and a well-earned reputation for