The best restaurants serving Irish food in Northern Ireland

Called in on spec as we'd read great reviews. I ordered the salt and chilli chicken starter size as I didn't want a big lunch. My partner ordered seafood chowder. My "starter" portion was pathetically small. 3 or 4 tiny popcorn sized pieces of fairly tasteless chicken on a few leaves and garlic mayo. It would not have satisfied a 5 year old much less an adult. My partner said her chowder was nice but she found several bones in it. I think she was being polite as it didn't look appetising. She had a pint of Guinness zero and I had a half pint of Guinness. The bill £27 ....a shocker for the tiny portions and lack of taste. The atmosphere in the restaurant was akin to a mausoleum. The waitress was pleasant and the toilets were spotless. Based on our experience we will not be back. The Lobster Pot or the Artisan, both nearby are much better.

We went to the Merchant Hotel for a pre dinner birthday drink as a treat around 4.30pm our dinner was booked for 5.15pm. Our table had the reminants of the previous party, empty glasses and half eaten nibbles. A waiter came and took our order but didn't bother to clear or clean the table. He then took an order for a couple beside us. The couple beside us were swiftly served a pot of tea with nibbles and glasses of water. At 5.05pm I went to the bar area and advised we haven't received our order and we were ready to leave. The drinks arrived at 5.10pm delivered to the drink stained table which we literally had to drink in one go as we were going to be late for our meal and over £30 worse off! Lots of suited staff walking back and forwards looking important but not really doing very much. Maybe when you see customers looking around for assistance you might want to try and help. Service appalling for a Saturday afternoon, dread to think what the evening service is like! Disappointing start to a birthday celebration.

Great place for a quick pint in Belfast. Never noticed it before after living here for a long time but I’ll be back for sure.

Cannot recommend enough. Fantastic food, amazing staff Clean and great atmosphere. I had arrived for the day before my flight to London. I had the three item filled soda. Beautiful. And great value. I came back in evening.. I had chicken curry rice chips. Belly was full Then I went back next morning for breakfast. In originally from lurgan and live in Belfast. England now 20 years. I live in England but northern Ireland is my home.

Me and my mother came up for a visit today to the yellow bird, from the moment we stepped foot in the restaurant the manager greeted us so kindly and showed us our table, to the women waiter (didn’t get your name) you were so kind to us, as for the food it was the nicest thing I had eaten in a very long time, the chips were absolutely beautiful, I got the chicken box which was gorgeous (see photo) my mother got the pulled bbq beef and she said it was the best pulled bbq she had ever tasted I’ll definitely be a frequent visitor of this establishment from now on, from the interior and for the manager Margaret she is the most down to earth woman I had ever met, couldn’t do enough for me and my kids, not many managers like that these days but she went above and beyond for us, thanks again and look forward to visiting way more often!❤️

Stopped on our way home to Dublin for breakfast The food was lovley . Really nice fried bread and potato bread . Got toast and 2 pots of tea The resturant is really nice, Spotless clean and the staff on duty were very nice and very pleasant 😀 Cost us £42 in total for 4 people which was very reasonable for what we got No hesitation in recommending this place

Gran servicio amable. Excelente ambiente local con una buena variedad para el desayuno y el almuerzo. Buenas porciones y precios justos.

Excellent on all levels. Waiting staff were welcoming and efficient without being in your face. Food was exceptional with a comprehensive wine list to complement it, including dessert wines which are increasingly hard to come by. We had 3 courses with wine, coffee and liqueurs and the bill was surprisingly reasonably. Staff, food, atmosphere and decor couldn't be faulted. We have recently eaten in The Muddlers Club in Belfast which has a Michelin Star and this place rivals it. Well done.

Good pub with good atmosphere. The waiter is friendly.

Ordered food yesterday 22/4/25 I ordered salt & chilli chicken pitta when waitress brought food out stated plant based salt & chilli pitta I sent it back but was brought out same plate of food waitress said chef said was chicken- it wasn’t- it was inedible - when the bill came the bill stated plant based salt & chilli pitta I don’t know what the chef was playing at but would never eat here again

We were looking forward to but ..... There is even a neon sign in the window OPEN . But no. No door handles on the door, you can't push/pull. What's going on ? An update would be great and people are not wasting time and are frustrated.

Exceptional service and food. Gerald and Clare’s son was a credit to talk too. Warm friendly and at home service. Personal touch means everything. . Thank-you Clare for my extra purchases they will go down a treat in Downpatrick . Merry Xmas and happy new year x

We had a family function here. Booked and deposit paid with no hassle. Closer to the event, a few couldn't go and we were told by the owner Emmet, we weren't allowed the function room upstairs as our party only had 13 adults and 16 children. Minimum adult allocation for this room was 20. I was also told that the buffet could only be booked for 20 adults so it was agreed any leftover food would be packaged up and taken home. We were put in the a room just off the bar. Very small for our party. They had tealights lit everywhere in this room even though they knew there was a lot of children. Food was beautiful, couldn't fault it at all but at £15 per adult, Braised steak and guinness pie came with no accompaniment. Luckily I had ordered chips seperatly or our guests would literally have had a piece of pie on their plate and nothing else. The service and lack of leadership from manager Sarah was disgusting. She would walk in look at her watch, tut, Roll her eyes and walk out again. We were never told in the booking process, that we immediately had to leave after eating. A tray of sticky toffee pudding was ordered for the adults at a price of £80 and a trio of Ice-Cream for all the children. We sat waiting for the icecream, not wanting to pressure the one and only waitress we had and then after asking how long it would be, Emmet hadn't made them aware of it being ordered so we waited another 15 minutes for this. Afterwards, we got the rude hints from Sarah to leave the room so we went to sit in the bar area. The children were obviously children and were in and out of the smoking area and at the bar getting drinks. The stove had been lit the whole time we were there, setting off the fire alarm while we were eating and the doors into the smoking area had to be left open according to Sarah. Then their locals started to assemble around the bar from about 5pm and were complaining about it being cold so Sarah told people within our party, the fire was fine and the doors were to be closed. In turn she propped open the main door out to a busy town just to keep the smoke situation dispersed and the regulars happy. Not a single care in world for 16 small children, if one had ran out the door onto the main street. On emailing Emmet the next morning to complain about the service, the manager, no accompaniment with one of the dishes and the stove, he played who flung dung... he said he could only apologise for the stove as it was now out of order and was out of all their controls but and I quote exactly from his email: "There was 2 brown takeaway boxes of pie and a black container of curry and rice taken away so this would suggest that there was plenty for the meal and indeed for a few days later. We regularly are told how great value it is. Sara is without a doubt a top professional and it seems there was alot going on, i received reports that there were kids running everywhere, when i came in for the evening shift the tidying up and brushing up between crisps and debris everywhere to candlewax over tables was like nothing I had witnessed before!" This is the response of someone who had received very close to £600 knowing that we had less adults than what they catered for hence the leftover food that he was paid for, we were made feel like we were an inconvenience remaining in the room our meal was served in and the few chips that fell off children's plates and some crisps was such a nuisance to them to clean up. Hence why I state non-child friendly! The management is shocking! It is situated in such a lovely little town with many things close by, but I will never set foot in The Tailor's House again.

Prices are a disgrace near £12 for a purple skittles , that’s is a shambles feel disgusted thinking about it , would not recommend.

Bit weird at first, bar maid seemed to be taking the mick out of us with the locals. Great singer came on and enjoyed it.