Nicks Warehouse

Nicks Warehouse, situated on Hill St. in the trendy and ever more popular Cathedral Quarter, has, in my opinion, all the right ingredients to be a truly special dining experience. Its location, decor and menu had me genuinely excited and it boasts Belfasts first 'real' wine bar which is a superb addition to any restaurant with fine dining aspirations. The cobbled streets and 'loft' appearence keep things looking relaxed and inviting.

The wine bar itself is a lovely place to sit with a glass if you happen to show up a little early for your booking, all red brick and light wood that maintains the loft feel. The restaurant follows the same theme, is very open plan and gives a (somewhat limited) view into the kitchen. This is something else I like to see in any restaurant, as it shows me that the staff are happy for people to see them at work, with nothing to hide. It promotes good hygeine standards and work practice, but more then that, it adds a bit of excitement to a dining experience when you can see and hear the chefs at work.
The building itself is an old Bushmills bonded store and they have really allowed a lot of that tone and feel to remain in the decore while being very up to date, modern and airy.
Obviously the wine bar is one of Nicks big selling points. The bar itself functions independantly from the restaurant so guests are invited to pop in for a glass of wine whether they are eating or not. The extensive wine menu, which has a suprisingly large amount of house wines at the more affordable end of the market, has a wonderfull selection of unusual wines that you will probably not see in many other restaurants in Northern Ireland. It has an fantastic selection of Spanish wines, in fact the spanish get an entire section of the menu to themselves which is great, as this is a wine producing country that I am currently very interested in. The Rioja Vega Reserva 2004 is a lovely deep spicy red with a long finish that I found hard to stop drinking. So far so good.

Generally speaking, I will not be basing my reviews on any less then two or three visits to any particular restaurant. Something that is very important to me and will draw me back to a restaurant is the knowledge that the food and service will be consistent and I know from experience that just because a restaurant gets it right the first time does not mean they will nessessarily get it right on the next visit. Consistancy is so important. Most people cannot afford to eat out very often and so when they do treat themselves they are going to be sorely dissapointed if they spend a fortune on a meal that just isn't worth what they paid for it, especially if expectations are high based on a previous visit or someones wholehearted recomendation. If this sounds like a long winded point then I apologise, but unfortunatly, Nicks Warehouse is guilty of committing the sin of inconsistency.
On my first visit, I had one of the nicest meals I have had in years, small, delicate and delicious gougons of monkfish with a light tomato salsa followed by a beautiful fillet of rare breed pork with mushrooms, potatoes and spinach in a cream sauce, while my partners starter of smoked salmon and sweetcorn fritter was declared to be the one of the nicest starters she'd ever had, high praise indeed. We actually both ordered the same mains as it by far and away sounded like the most delicious thing on the menu. As it was I'm glad we did, as the pork was superb, well seasoned, beautifully cooked, smothered in a creamy mushroom sauce and was a very generous portion. We continued to wash this down with lots of lovely spanish rioja while enjoying very friendly and attentive service. The waitress must have heard us mention that it was my partners birthday at some point and brought us a little 'happy birthday from nicks' fruit cake at the end of our meal. Nice little touches this meant I was not unhappy about paying the very reasonable bill as we left, feeling very pleased with ourselves and promising to be back soon.
Unfortunatly our next visit was not such a pleasent experience. Earlier in the day and at a much busier time of the week then our previous meal, we were ushered to our table hastily by a nervous looking waitress. We were in a bit of a rush so decided to forego starters and desserts and just wolf down a main course and a quick glass of wine. I asked for a rare steak and chunky chips while my partner ordered from the cut price special menu, a pasta dish with cherry tomatos and white fish. If thats sounds a bit vague, it is probably because it was so bland and forgettable that I have actually forgotten what was in it, while my steak was thin, weasly and overcooked. The chunky chips looked and tasted like they had been eviscerated and while we ourselve were in a bit of a rush, we got the disticnt impression that maybe the staff were in a bit of a rush to have the table back, leaving us feeling a bit uncomfortable. I dont mind if there is no space available, but I do have a problem being given a table begrudgingly and then being made to feel we are on the clock.
I appreciate I have to take a number of factors into account here. The busyness of the service, the time of day, the fact that it was more of a rushed lunch then a three course dinner, but still, how hard is it to cook a steak and not burn chips in a proffessional kitchen? I left feeling sorely dissapointed and have not been back since.
I have however, decided to give Nicks Warehouse another chance. I note they have a new menu and seeing as how I did like the atmoshphere a lot on our first visit and I do spend a lot of time in the area, Nicks may be worth getting reacquainted with, (especially the winelist). There are however, a number of places in the area thatI will be visiting first, like 27 Talbot St. and closer to city hall is COCO, which has recently just opened at the site of the old Roscoffs dining room (I think that both of these restaurants actually have very close ties to Nicks).
Inconsistency can go a long way towards ruining an otherwise lovely restaurant and I hope that Nicks can prove to me that my one bad experience was a hiccup and nothing more. Watch this space!

The Mourne Seafood Restaurant (Belfast)

As the start of what will hopefully be a series of restaurants reviews of old and new eateries in Northern Ireland, the Mourne Seafood Restaurant has the honour of being the first to undergo scrutiny.

This review may be a little biased, as I must come clean and admit that it is my favourite place to eat in Belfast. I have been going now for a number of years and for very good reason. The Mourne manages what all really great restaurants do, great service, fantastic food, great drinks list etc, but unlike restaurants such as Deanes or James St. South, it is easy to have a dinner for two for twenty pounds a head! It is excellent value for money, which in this day and age seems to make it a popular choice, as it is fully booked every weekend and even weekday lunch services can have queues stretching out the door.

The building itself is nestled in beside Kellys Cellers on Bank St. and maintains a fishmongers that you must walk through to enter the dining room itself. I love this sense of theatre and I sometimes get the impression that this tiny fishmongers is only kept to add to the atmosphere more then anything else. Inside it is dark and traditional, with big black wooden tables and chairs. It was maybe unfair to compare it to Deanes earlier, as these are two very different dining experiences. The Mourne has a very laid back atmosphere and I am always made to feel very comfortable and relaxed. The ever changing menu (a great sight in a seafood, or indeed any restaurant) is chalked up in the numerous blackboards and the overall effect is that the restaurant is feels warm and cosy with a distinct nuatical feel, without being tacky or 'themed.'

The menu is presented in two ways, one for the regular dishes, and a specials menu that changes daily. I have managed to make my way through most of the regular dishes but the real fun is to be had in the specials menu, as most of the dishes are well thought out, use the freshest ingredients and are lovingly prepared by a small team of dedicated chefs in an astonishingly small kitchen. There are a number of dishes that continue to appear on the menu due to their popularity, such as the linguini and scollops in a basil, tomato and saffron cream, a very rich dish that is pure comfort food and there are always a couple of baked whole fish on offer, the seabass with bacon and clams or herb veloute, served with crunchy fennel salad and herb boiled baby potatoes being a particular favourite. The fish and chips also deserves special mention, simple but delicious and very reasonably priced and of course, the Mourne is famous for its oysters, the seafood platter being a great way to introduce yourself to this delicacy if you have never dared to enjoy them before.
While I love just about everything on the menu, I am usually happiest when scavenging through a large pot of mussles in white wine, garlic, cream and handfulls of fresh chopped parsley, mopping up the unbelievably good sauce with a bit of crusty bread.
I am not a big sweet person, but the dessert menu in the Mourne may be converting me to puds, as they do the nicest sticky toffee pudding I have ever eaten, (although I am yet to try everything else). The wine list is well thought out, mostly inexpensive and even the house reds and whites are very drinkable. There are also a good number of rather fine ales on offer and even a fairly original cocktail list.

One of the great things about the relaxed atmomsphere is that I am never made to feel pressured into ordering a three course meal. I have often popped in for lunch, shared a pot of mussles and a breadbasket, washed it down with a quick pint of guinness and been out in half an hour. The service is friendly and attentive without being stuffy or having waiters needlessly buzzing around the table. This is not silver service but neither is it surly part time students who couldn't muster enthusiasm even if they weren't out the back smoking joints all night (that isn't a joke, I actually know plenty of those...)

Together with the local artwork, the menu, some local beers on offer and its clientel and location, you get the impression that this is very much a local, Belfast restaurant, something that is missing in many of the fine dining establishments in the area. A lot of chefs often talk about good quality, local, seasonal produce as being massivley important when operating a restaurant and the Mourne's menu displays all these things. Oozing with character and charm, I cannnot recommend this restaurant highly enough. Some people may think this review hardly a critique and more of a an excuse to lavish praise on my favourite restaurant, but as it is fully booked nearly all the time, it would seem that the people of Belfast agree.