18 Best Restaurants in Northern Ireland

A cut above the average fish-and-chips restaurant, award-winning Fish City serves sustainably sourced seafood including Carlingford oysters, cod, scampi, and other treats. For non-pescatarians there are vegan and vegetarian options, too.

With its raw wooden tables, wood-burning stove, sand on the floor, and outdoor terrace, this beachside restaurant in Portstewart, about 20 minutes from Dunluce, is the destination restaurant par excellence of the north coast. Brunches might consist of pancakes with maple syrup, smoked salmon and scrambled eggs, or pasta. Dinner highlights include the just-landed Greencastle hake with chorizo or whole lemon sole, while summertime sees lobster, langoustine, or mussels on the menu. A deck with picnic tables and an outside bar have been added so you can watch the sea coming right up to the front door. The food is a great value and the outside attracts crowds for both eating and enjoying a pale ale (try the house Shack beer), a stout, or crisp beer from the local Lacada brewery.

This self-styled "restolounge" in the happening Cathedral Quarter is one of Belfast's buzziest bistros and is especially popular with weekend brunch lovers (10:30--12:30). Decorated in a giant mishmash of vintage lamps and fabrics, 1950s collectibles, and drawings from local artists, this outlet follows the Cuisinart school of restaurant design, mixing and matching all sorts of antiques and upcycled objects, including a ceiling covered in glossy magazine photographs. It's truly one of Belfast's most eye-popping decors. The typewritten menu, set on clipboards, showcases seasonal and retro dishes, specializing in steaks best downed with fab cocktails such as the Jaw Breaker with Jawbox gin, ginger, lemon and lime, and homemade honeycomb. Start with whipped goat cheese or delectable tomato jam and Guinness wheat bread.

The famous Derry Girls mural adorns one outside wall of this old-school tavern. Inside, wood-paneled walls are covered with photos of local sporting legends. Those with a big appetite can wash down lavish portions of filling pub grub with what is claimed to be the best pint of Guinness in Derry, and the menu also includes bar snacks such as toasted sandwiches.

The owner, Ian Orr, a former maestro chef who has handed over the cooking to others, has put Derry on the culinary map. Candles on tables and leather-upholstered horseshoe booths with calming cream and brown timber shades set a stylish scene, where the three-course dinner menu at £27.50 is a hit. The menu showcases seafood chowder, chargrilled steak, chicken wings in a honey hot sauce, or braised shoulder of Lough Erne lamb. If you have space for a dessert, then indulge in the chocolate fondant or banoffee profiterole. Attentive service and comfort means you leave here with a mellow afterglow that lingers.

A huge mural on brick walls features a top-hatted Isambard Kingdom Brunel, this relaxed seafood restaurant's namesake and a famous figure in engineering history with connections to the area. The food philosophy here means using seasonal and local produce, and the menu features wild ingredients freshly foraged from nearby Dundrum Bay or Strangford Lough. Lunch and dinner are on offer, with main evening fish courses such as halibut or coley, as well as a variety of delicious meat and pasta dishes.

Taking its name from the eponymous first-class café on RMS Titanic, Café Parisien divides itself into a downstairs creperie and a stylish upstairs restaurant in a landmark six-story sandstone building opposite City Hall. Choose from an array of savory or sweet crepes and galettes or head upstairs for main courses at lunch or dinner, which may include beef bourguignon or bouillabaisse, the celebrated stew of Provence. At £19.95 the two-course lunch menu du jour is expensive but worth it for the views.

Ask for a terrace table (the halogen heaters keep you warm on a chilly day) from where you can watch the progress of city life and cradle a digestif.

The small dishes known as cicchetti, beloved of Venetian bars and a counterpart to tapas, draw the crowds to Coppi in the ever-popular Cathedral Quarter. Named after a world-champion Italian racing cyclist, Angelo Fausto Coppi, it serves flavorful Mediterranean cuisine amid modern industrial decor. Entrées include dishes such as risotto and mushroom puff, the traditional Roman specialty pork scallopine with mushrooms and spinach, or the staple porcini mushroom ravioli with duck ragù. For cicchetti dolce, the tiramisu is deliciously light, and it's no surprise that Italian wines feature prominently. Eat at the counter on high chairs or at cozy booths with rustic wooden tables.

The mainstay of this classy city-center big hitter with an epic reputation is County Tyrone sirloin, rib eye, or beef fillet steaks as well as prime cuts including enormous Tomahawk steaks (for two) cooked to your liking on a charcoal grill. Based in a former linen mill, exposed brick walls and leather banquettes set the scene for a terrific meal. For an appetizer, try the Kilkeel crab and chili linguine or smoked eel and duck egg. Popular lunch choices may include blue cheese salad with candied walnuts or roast monkfish, while the two-course pre-theater menu (4:30--6:30) is a good value at £19.50. Evening staples of steak, fish, pork, and chicken are served with the Comber potato, characterized by its sweet, buttery flavor and harvested earlier than other potatoes; May and June are peak months to enjoy them. Such is their importance that they have been given a European designation of protection. Wash it all down with a choice of classic dry reds from the vineyards of Burgundy or Loire Valley favorites such as Sancerre or the smoky gunflint-flavored Pouilly-Fumé.

Connoisseurs of fresh fish and shellfish love Mourne Seafood, hidden down a side street and established as a firm favorite. Mussels are from Strangford Lough while oysters are sourced from shellfish beds in Carlingford Lough. Fresh seafood comes direct each day from the local ports of Annalong and Kilkeel and depend on the day's catch. The hake, accompanied with bouillabaisse potatoes and broccoli, and sea bream are done to perfection, but the standout dish for many is the seafood casserole with tomato sauce, fennel, thyme, and garlic served with focaccia. To complement your meal, try a bottle of Belfast Black or Maggie's Leap made by Whitewater Brewery in Kilkeel, or the locally made Shortcross gin. You can also eat and drink alfresco at the Shack, the Mourne's new open-air dining annex.

Decorated with candlelit tables, redbrick walls, and vibrant artwork featuring Bollywood actresses, the loft-like 100-seat Indian restaurant is an energetic space filled with glamour and buzz and a menu that fuses traditional with the unexpected. Chicken and lamb dishes—ranging from mild to vindaloo hot—dominate, but the fusion grill also serves up kebabs, tender chops, and monkfish or sea bass and more conventional bhajis and pakoras. Vegetarian dishes include cheese and potatoes cooked with cauliflower florets or black lentils with kidney beans. The chef's recommendations may be chicken chasni, a sweet curry, or squid masala fried in a light batter. The house cocktail, Captain Morgan Rum, sugar syrup, lime juice, and cinnamon, provides delightful balance to your feast.

The £9.90 two-course lunch on Thursday and Friday is an exceptional value at this long-established central eatery. It includes a starter of fresh fruit or salad, along with a main-course dish of your choice with rice. In the evening the set dinner might include crispy aromatic duck pancakes as an appetizer followed by kung pao chicken, or roasted duck Cantonese-style. Seafood dishes, such as stir-fried king prawns with cashew nuts, are especially popular. This is a large popular venue.

The Merchant Hotel's lively gastropub combines all the decorative charms of a traditional Belfast watering hole with a great choice of ales, wines, and whiskeys, and a menu that blends old-school favorites with imaginative modern fusion twists.

A duo of dining experiences is reflected in different rooms at this refashioned old waterfront building which was once Derry's Custom House where taxes were collected from ships arriving at the port. Beef, chicken, and fish dominate the main restaurant, Entrada, where you can also enjoy snacks such as meatballs, salted cod fritters, or cured meats and cheeses. The elegant lounge, with its Spanish Para Picar menu, is a wine and tapas bar and may feature ham hock, spiced beef, or charcuterie.

Though its name is derived from a revolutionary secret society that met here 200 years ago, there is nothing exactly covert about the Muddlers Club restaurant, beyond the fact that it is hidden away in a historic back alley and kind of hard to find. Fashionably unfussy, the succinct menu showcases blackened Mourne lamb, sea trout with Caesar salad, turbot, crab bisque, and pasta all artfully arranged. They also have a six-course seasonal tasting menu (£60) with wine pairing an additional £40, as well as a vegetarian tasting menu. For dessert, the divine plum chocolate and coconut ice cream is rich and faultless as is the chocolate, passion fruit, and dulce de leche.

On the banks of the River Foyle, this airy and cool main restaurant of the City Hotel, taking its name from the old Thompson's Mill that once occupied this site, is a fine place to chill while taking in some great river views. The menu might include pork belly, oven-baked salmon, or supreme of chicken with an herb stuffing.

Reservations are recommended (and practically essential on weekends).

The Wine and Dine menu (available every night except Saturday), based on two people sharing two courses, is £39 for two. There's also an impressive but not expensive wine list. Breakfast is served daily, but lunch only on Sunday. The adjoining Coppins Bar serves wine and cheese (£9.95) and runs a special Tapas Friday from 4 pm at £4.50 each or 3 for £12.

The humble chicken is the raison d'être of Yard Bird, on the site of a linen warehouse built in the 1750s. Start your visit with an aperitif in the Dirty Onion bar downstairs (ask the bartender about the pub's name), which retains the original, evocative tree-trunk-size beams, bare floors, and walls of the 18th century. Free-range chickens, marinated overnight in lemon, buttermilk, and paprika are cooked on the rotisserie, then cut in half and shared between two. From Sunday to Thursday there's a special deal, with whole chicken and a half carafe of wine for two (£26). Return to the Dirty Onion for a nightcap; with its smoky turf fire, timber decor, and craft beers from Europe and North America, it has a "speakeasy" feel, with live traditional music most nights, except Thursday (bluegrass night) and weekends, when acoustic groups take over both inside and out.

Every Saturday at 4 pm, two local musicians lead the Belfast Traditional Music Trail, a 90-minute walking tour through cobbled alleyways and into private bars in some of the city's oldest buildings. The tour assembles outside the Dirty Onion and tickets cost £15.

Offering a blend of Asian fusion, the standout dishes at Belfast's finest Japanese restaurant are the sea bass and sole, or the Zen monkfish. Among the discerning diners who frequent this lively spot, the delicious assorted mushroom teppanyaki is also a big hit, as well as the sushi and sashimi. Choose between wooden booths or—if prepared to hunker down on the floor Japanese-style—the traditional dining area; or opt for a discreet table for two divided by beaded curtains. Finish with a Japanese malt whiskey: Nikka Black is smoky and mellow and rounds out the perfect dinner.