Sunday Life's restaurant critics select the best of the bunch from those reviewed during 2010 on these pages.
THE MERCHANT HOTEL
WARING STREET, BELFAST, tel 9023 4888
It might sound potty but the quaint English tradition of afternoon tea is making a comeback.
And where else would you want to partake of this pleasant way to spend an afternoon than in the Great Room at The Merchant Hotel? Here all the ritual and splendour of taking tea has been lovingly recreated, down to the delicate finger sandwiches and silver tea stands.
On my recent visit we had an incredible choice of teas, from Lapsang Souchoing to Fairtrade organic Earl Grey blue flower, but as a traditionalist, I opted for the Darjeeling, while my sister chose the Earl Grey.
We scoffed freshly baked scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam, followed by light yet gooey sponge cakes. and all for [pounds sterling]19.50 a head.
HELEN CARSON
WOLFE'S BURGER CONNOISSEURS
DUNDONALD, tel 028 9048 0377
Wolfe's Burger Connoisseurs has been hailed as Northern Ireland's newest hamburger heaven, with Internet postings claiming their 100 per cent prime handmade local beefburgers are the best you'll ever eat.
Well, I wasn't disappointed. The menu boasts more than 40 different burgers -- 18 beef, 18 chicken (chargrilled, southern fried or crispy battered), two lamb, two fish and three veggie varieties. There's also a Belfast special with bacon, cheese melt, scallions and fried egg on toasted soda.
In the end, I ordered a Southern fried bacon'n'Swiss chicken burger. It came with garlic mushrooms, bacon and cheese and this combination worked brilliantly to produce quite possibly the best burger I've ever eaten.
My dining partners all had the Fajita burger, with beef or chicken, and not a single crumb was left on their plates. The children polished off their beefburgers in record time and had the kids' chocolate muffin, with vanilla ice cream, for pudding.
It was my son's birthday and they played some birthday music as they brought the dessert to the table with a candle on top. This made his day and represented the first-class service.
MARTIN BREEN
BALLYMAC HOTEL
ROCK ROAD, STONEYFORD, tel 028 9264 8313
The Ballymac Hotel seemed like the perfect choice for a spot of dinner in the recent sub-zero temperatures.
To start, we went for the shredded duck with pancakes and hoisin sauce. It was an appetising preview of what was to follow.
My brother then picked pan-seared ham with champ, veg and a rich and creamy bacon and leek sauce from the list of specials.
My chosen dish was a succulent breast of chicken resting on ham and stuffed with sage and onion, while the ham came with an entourage of side dishes big enough to fill a family of four. Four men, that is. As the mains prices were affordable, coming in at around [pounds sterling]10, this is the place to go when you want to dine out without breaking the bank. And they provide doggy bags!
EMMA DEIGHAN
MANOR PARK BRASSERIE
ARMAGH, tel 028 3751 5353
Head to Armagh for some brilliant French cuisine with a twist being delivered by the new chef in town, James Neilly. There's even a reasonable Sunday set menu of three sublime courses for [pounds sterling]17.95.
First came goat's cheese salad with a subtle balsamic vinegar dressing -- artistic with gorgeous mounds of soft cheese. Then the main course of coq au vin with colcannon arrived, but it was really a variation on a theme, as they used white wine in the sauce instead of red, making it lighter. The masterstroke here was ginger which underlined the sweetness of the gravy.
Pudding was chocolate delice with a kind of wicked mousse, some dark chocolate and a helping of vanilla ice cream with a puddle of caramel sauce.
JANE HARDY
THE TAPHOUSE
LOWER CRESCENT, BELFAST, tel 028 9050 9750
I was looking forward with some trepidation to trying out the new Taphouse, which as The Fly was a monument to my misspent youth!
We approached on a beautiful sunny evening and I saw people sitting outside enjoying a beer. Inside it retained that welcoming feeling, the familiar wooden floors and beams now overlooking a cosy new raised dining area.
The Taphouse isn't about fine dining -- in fact, it's all about beers. But what it does do is straightforward, good value, quality food to go with the beer.
From seven starters, we opted for the toasted ciabatta with garlic which was deliciously warm and tasty.
For mains I ordered chicken and vegetable stir fry, tossed in oriental sauced and served on soft noodles. It was piping hot and full of flavour. Himself went for the spicy chicken fajitas with Mediterranean vegetables and Taphouse tomato sauce, served with tortillas, sour cream and salsa. I'll definitely be back.
PAULA GRACEY
THE PARSON'S NOSE
LISBURN STREET, HILLSBOROUGH
Balloo House chef Danny Millar is something of a legend in my lunchtime. His popular Killinchy spot is firmly top of my list of favourite Ulster restaurants.
So it was with great excitement that I headed to his newish venture, the Parson's Nose in Hillsborough.
I started with the crispy organic Lisarra duck confit salad, with a hot and sour mango dressing, which was exceptional, while my husband went for grilled mussels in garlic breadcrumbs. Chris made lots of 'Mmmm' noises from across the table.
The mains were a delight to behold. My chargrilled Dexter beefburger with rocket salad, red onions and spicy ketchip with extra cheddar cheese definitely had the Millar touch, including triple-cooked chips. Chris' Lisarra chicken with potato fondant, onion puree and gravy was as good as many of our favourites from Balloo.
Chris had a "scrumptious" Madagascar vanilla bean rice pudding with raspberry ripple ice cream. A great place to spend an evening.
CLAIRE HARRISON
LA SCALA BISTRO
STORMONT HOTEL, UPPER NEWTOWNARDS RD, BELFAST
I had the naive notion that La Scala was an Italian restaurant. How wrong I was.
What you're treated to is a selection of fine dining dishes with a focus on locally sourced produce. And the menu is affordable, with starters and desserts from [pounds sterling]4, mains from as little as [pounds sterling]8.
The missus tried the homemade chicken liver pate to start and loved the garlic soda bread croutons, although she had quite a job wrestling them from our nearly one-year-old daughter, Lexi, who was enjoying them even more. I had the melt-in-the-mouth Kilkeel scampi to start.
My wife had salmon as her main and said the fillet was cooked to perfection and complemented with crispy potato cake, rocket salad and tomato cream sauce. I had the organic 8oz Irish beef fillet which was very tender.
My stick toffee pudding satisfied my weakness and the missus' Armagh Bramley apple upside down cake was heavenly.
DAVID O'DORNAN
SPICE FUSION
34-36 DOWNS ROAD, NEWCASTLE, tel 0800 011 2320
Mention fusion cooking, and most people think of a collision of culinary styles from round the world. With Spice Fusion, however, what you get is authentic Indian. No arranged marriages, just the real deal from the Sub-continent.
You decide what meat, seafood or vegetables you want, then choose the way you want it cooked.
Karen picked a chicken jalfrezi, a rich and spicy sauce with a hot chilli kick, coriander, peppers and onions. For people wary of fiery food, the menu helpfully prints a chilli symbol.
Karen's curry seemed okay but then she bit on a whole chilli -- cue gulping of Cobra beer. While she hosed down the flames, I smugly tucked into my limp-wristed two-chilli kora-hi gosht, a lively sweet-sour lamb concoction from the specials menu, cooked in a tamarind puree with huge chunks of pepper and onions.
GARY LAW
THE PERCY FRENCH
NEWCASTLE, CO DOWN, tel 028 4372 3175
Getting pampered is one of my favourite things and the other is going out for dinner. So it was with unchecked glee that my sister and I headed to the Slieve Donard Hotel for the weekend.
We'd booked the Posh Pink Ladies spa package, but a girl has to eat, not to mention drink.
To start, my sister chose the Thai fishcake, which was crispy and tasty. I ordered the seafood chowder, a delicious mix of mussels, prawns and other piscatorial delights.
The eight starters range in price from [pounds sterling]5-[pounds sterling]10.
We dithered a long time over the main courses, but little sis in the end went for the exotic homemade fish and chips option. Her portion was huge, so I helped her out with the mouthwatering cod.
I considered the Dexter burger but the roast duck won out. It was done quite rare, the way I like it, and I added a serving of chunky chips.
The desserts were too good to shun and we shared the Banoffee pie with ice cream. It was a delicious meal in relaxed surroundings.
CLAIRE McNEILLY
THE HALO PANTRY AND GRILL
MARKET STREET, DERRY
Hiding in the shadow of Derry's Walls is an absolute gem of a restaurant that more than lives up to its name. The menu is extensive and the other half and I decided to skip the starter and plunge straight into the main course.
She went for a crown of chicken with pork and leek stuffing, a cream and mushroom sauce and hand cut chips, while I opted for the 10oz steak with peppered sauce, watercress and potatodauphinoise.
I try not to eat that much steak -- believing life's pleasures should be enjoyed in moderation. So I was eagerly anticipating getting stuck into the hunk of dead cow laid medium rare on my plate.
To say I enjoyed it was an understatement. It was the best I have tasted in a long time. The meat was tender and the creamy daupinoise was a perfect accompaniment.
After wolfing down her last piece of chicken, the other half declared the dish to be one of her all-time favourites.
Another thing I liked about the Halo is that the portions are huge but we found room for pudding -- a gooseberry and apple crumble. This was one of my favourite dining experiences of 2010.
CIARAN BARNES
CAPTION: SIMPLY MAGNIFICENT: The Taphouse (below) and (above) The Halo Pantry and Grill was superbMAGNIFICENT: Our writer was unable to fault his trip to the magnificent La Scala BistroAWESOME: Claire Harrison was blown away by the quality of The Parson's Nose restaurantCOMFORTABLE: Claire McNeilly loved the relaxed surroundings of The Percy FrenchINDIAN DELIGHTS: The food at Spice Fusion was out of this world for those who like IndianMARK OF QUALITY: Have tea at The MerchantSUCCESS STORY: The Manor Park BrasserieVALUE: Enjoy great food at The BallymacFIRST CLASS: Wolfe's Burger Connoisseurs
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