The best restaurants serving Other cuisines food in Northern Ireland

Fantastic sandwiches and lovely chips and coffee. Great friendly staff who are always up for a laugh.

The food was poor and the choice of mains was limited, with only one vegetarian option being the mandatory vegetarian’s nemesis ‘Risotto’ not so much a cliche, more of a lazy joke. I was charged £5.00 for a CAN of Guinness 00 ! There are pubs in the area serving Guinness 00 on draft for £5.00 so the Poet is simply overcharging in my opinion and the opinion of EVERYONE I’ve spoken to since. For my main I had their scampi, which was OK, but ‘Chunky Chips’ should not be served in those little miniature deep fat fryer baskets. Everyone on our table laughed at this, especially when I counted out the Six chips I received. My wife had the chicken pieces, which claims to be served with salad but I could have scooped more salad from a salad bowl using a safety pin whilst blindfolded. It was simply beyond a joke. So overpriced alcohol free CANS of Guinness and poor food. Surroundings…. The Poet inside is still quite attractive. It was quite well designed as The Lonely Poet back in the day and the design has stood the test of time. So I will say that inside, it is still an attractive bar and it’s way better than it looks from outside, as it’s stuck on the edge of King’s Square beside a disused Bank and a Co-op. We all know that you judge a bar by the cleanliness of its toilets and I can say that the toilets in the Poet are amongst the filthiest, most disgusting toilets I’ve ever had the misfortune to visit. The gents had one broken urinal, two broken hand dryers and floors which didn’t look like they’d been mopped for a week. The stupid plastic (assuming white) pull bar on the inside of the cubicle had black grime caked along its entire length…the lighting was so bad I almost touched it, but luckily I noticed the filth before doing so. My wife and family members said the Ladies toilets were of a similar shocking state. We are not hygiene freaks, I expect a pub’s toilets to be a bit rough and I almost expect one of the dryers to be broken, after all, that’s why Levi’s are so absorbent, but this was months of accumulated grime. The staff seemed friendly enough and I know they must struggle to stay motivated in a bar which apart from our party, was virtually empty by 9.30 on a Saturday Night! We got the feeling the place was being allowed to slowly die. Neither the menu nor the standard of the food is going to attract customers to return and word is spreading, so new repeat customers are an unlikely prospect. I wouldn’t recommend The Poet to anyone. We will not return and I would rather drive a bit further to a decent bar rather than waste money on an establishment stuck in the past and living on the reputation of the Lonely Poet.

Had a fry here and it was tasty. I pre-judged it and thought that it didn't look nice - but I was very wrong. Nice waiting staff and the decor is old-fashioned but charming.

This place is amazing. I came here to celebrate my 21st birthday and booked the venue. Incredible service, catering and views of the sea. Could not recommend this place any more.

Maud's ice cream is delicious, however they have no menu outside so you need to go in to look at the flavours. My daughter is autistic and takes a while to make decisions, however despite wearing her sunflower lanyard there was no recognition of this, and she felt pressured to make a decision which left her (and me) feeling anxious. At the very least a smile would have eased the experience.

I was in for my lunch one Tuesday afternoon.. i ordered a fry which was nice to be fair, but while i was eating i overheard the main chef shouting and screaming in an angry toxic tone to one of her staff, she was saying all sorts to this member off staff and i think it was completely unfair as the wee girl was genuine and kind when taking my order and dealing with my every need. The main chef obviously takes her staff for granted and needs to improve on her communication with her staff and show them a little more respect.

The fish and chips were cooked to perfection and the staff very courteous and attentive some thing we should all be.

Staff where very good to us, although quite un-organised and not overly helpful towards each other. My meal was over cooked especially the chips. I was disappointed with the food. A little back ground music would help make the experience more enjoyable/interesting. Most likely won't eat there again unfortunately.

The time kept getting delayed and I ordered 7 tenders and I only got got 5 and they forgot my garlic sauce overall the food was nice tenders a bit dry

It’s been a while from I’ve been in the Chelsea. Treated my mum yesterday for Mother’s Day, service attentive and the food absolutely delicious. I am planning a few events over the next few months and will definitely recommend the Chelsea!

An hour wait then marked it as delivered when it wasn’t

Certainly a nice place for an ice cream on a sunny day if you're around Ballymena.

Busy and had a bit of a wait. Food was ok.

Going here for years, nice place, food and service.... At times it could do with a deep clean that includes the toilets...

Went in with my wife, 3 year old and 1 year old for lunch around 1pm on Saturday 23rd November. Usually we have no issues with here or the sister business next door Bubba Drews but this time was shambles. Our food arrived with no cutlery on the table. Had to wait 5-10 mins before cutlery arrived. Our 1 year old was throwing a wobbler as he couldn't understand why there was food in front of him for 10 mins and we wernt feeding him. There was obviously no clean cutlery as we had watched a staff member clean someone else's dirty knives and forks in the sink beside the coffee machine for us. God knows if these were even cleaned right with hot water and soap. With no apology from the staff member for having to wait we received the knives and forks but no spoons for the kids dinners, had to ask a staff member for 2 spoons, we received 1..... then had to wait another couple of mins until a staff member showed up at the desk to ask for another spoon. By this point our food was cold. The food was average at best, we ordered a chicken pitta, beef buritto and a side of sweet potatoes fries. The meat on both was quite chewy and the whole dish lacked flavour. The sweet potatoe fried were also very soggy, felt like they were boiled and not fried. We had ordered drinks that never arrived also but at that stage I had lost the will to have to get up again to ask for them so I just left it and took the loss as you pre pay for food and drinks before you receive them. Noticed staff members running about with plates not knowing what table they were going to and asking tables was this their food. Very disorganised with no structure. I think I'll stick with Bubba Drews next door the next time as we have never had issues even though it's the same business.