The Good Food Guide 2020 Reveals Its Best Eateries in Northern Ireland
The Good Food Guide has announced its top eateries and award winners. Alongside the finest dining establishments in the country, the Guide, owned by Waitrose & Partners, celebrates quality eateries in local areas such as Wine & Brine in Moira and new discoveries including Six by Nico in Belfast. The top-scoring restaurant in Northern Ireland is Ox in Belfast.
Elizabeth Carter, Waitrose Good Food Guide Editor, says of the restaurant, “Stephen Toman’s place occupies snug but stylish premises overlooking the river Lagan, with Andy Scott’s Beacon of Hope sculpture just outside. A little creative redesign has exposed the kitchen to public view, but otherwise Ox is in a powerfully steady state, producing seasonally informed, imaginative tasting menus that concentrate on seducing the palate as well as the eye. Here, seasons aren’t defined as quarterly but weekly, emphasising the care that goes into sourcing.”
In total, Northern Ireland boasts 14 restaurants in the Guide, 8 of which are Food NI members. They are Ox, Belfast, Deanes Eipic, Belfast, James St, Belfast, Wine & Brine, Moira, Il Pirata, Belfast, The Muddlers Club, Belfast, Hadskis, Belfast and Harry’s Shack, Portstewart.
Other winners included Mourne Seafood Bar, Belfast Shu, Belfast, Yügo,Belfast, Six by Nico, Belfast , The Ginger Bistro, Belfast and The Bay Tree, Holywood, Co Down Northern Ireland has one new entry in this year’s Good Food Guide, which is Six by Nico.
Elizabeth Carter, Waitrose Good Food Guide Editor, says of the restaurant “From the Glasgow original of the same name, Nico Simeone’s enterprising formula of a six-course tasting menu that changes every six weeks has spawned two offshoots, in Edinburgh and here in the heart of the Cathedral Quarter. Small café tables on a parquet floor, with an open kitchen overseeing proceedings, form the setting for themes such as Childhood or The Chippie (the latter running from chips and cheese to – gulp – a deep-fried Mars bar).
The Good Food Guide is compiled by coupling reader feedback of eateries up and down the country with anonymous inspections by a team of experts.
The Good Food Guide is published by Waitrose & Partners on 12th September, available in Waitrose & Partners shops and online. RRP £17.99.
