Please mention ireland-guide.com when enquiring.

Deanes Restaurant

Following the recent makeover of Northern Ireland's most exceptional dining experience, Michael Deane’s city centre hot spot continues to fly ever higher. For not only has the prolific chef's hard working team been flamboyantly flying the flag of quality food but, with the dynamic duo of Derek Creagh and Alain Kerloc'h, in the kitchen and restaurant respectively, they have fashioned an outstanding all round package.

Diners can enjoy pre-dinner drinks in the elegant bar and lounge area before exploring the brightly lit, minimalist dining room. The smart, attentive and knowledgeable staff are plentiful and always on hand, providing unobtrusive professional service while, behind the open kitchen service hatch, Donegal born Creagh works his magic, and what magic!

An evening à la carte menu offers six choices on each course and reads deceptively simply, yet it is anything but basic and offers many luxury ingredients, artistically prepared in dishes of great refinement. Homemade breads come with tapenade, olive oil and balsamic vinegar, leading you into a meal that is sure to be a memorable experience and is, if anything, enhanced by the limited choice and simple menu offering.

Typically, you will find creative, perfectly judged starters like pan-fried local scallops with pickled carrot & watercress salad, orange and aniseed emulsion, or carpaccio of Oisin venison, with pan-fried sweetbreads and summer mushrooms, baby leaves & almond butter vinaigrette, and a flavour-packed speciality of saddle back pork belly with roast langoustine, Savoy cabbage, black pudding & apple caramel which proved to be a sublime encounter on a recent visit by the Guide.

This Belfast restaurants main courses may include a stunningly tender cannon of new season lamb, confit lamb breast, St Tola goat's cheese gnocchi, fennel purée & sauce nicoise, executed to perfection with seemingly effortless precision; and, perhaps, a much-loved French classic with a modern twist - saddle of rabbit with smoked bacon, macaroni gratin, roast cèpes, salsify & verjus reduction.

Every dish is brilliantly accomplished, perfectly judged, eye-catching and - something which is missing in too many restaurants - has real depth of flavour. Dynamic pastry chef Monto Mansour ensures that you will conclude your Deane’s experience on a high.

Accomplished treats such as warm pistachio tart with a sublime blood orange & rose water sorbet, and a Granny Smith tart fine with frangelico ice-cream and hazelnut praline are testament to this young man’s talent.

Lunch menus offer a good range of more informal dishes, but the same high standards apply. An appropriate wine list includes a champagne menu and many classic treats, as well as some more accessible bottles and a page of wines available by the glass and, as always, the discreet advice given to match wines with the food is outstanding.

Deane and his team have for many years been the pioneers of modern food in Belfast and further afield, and have been exceptionally courageous and tireless in advancing this cause, providing serious diners with a world class cuisine choice on their doorsteps. Deane’s has set the standard for the local scene, and few will equal it.

The first floor restaurant is available by arrangement for private parties.

* Deanes Restaurant was the Guide’s Restaurant of the Year in 2008.

Seats 80 (private room, 40); air conditioning; toilets wheelchair accessible; children welcome. L Mon-Sat 12-3, D Mon-Sat 6-10. Set L £17.50; 6 course gourmet D £60; also A la carte L&D; SC 10%. Closed Sun, Mon; 24-26 Dec, Jul 12-14. Amex, MasterCard, Visa, Switch.

Directions:

From back of City Hall, about 150m towards M1, on left .