FANTASY SIX COURSE TASTING MENU The Gourmet Boys

In previous editions, we had created a “Fantasy Menu” featuring our favourite Starter, Main and Dessert from our recent restaurant visits. In this issue, we have decided to turn it up a notch and, given the current trend for 6 course tasting menus in many local restaurants, we’d like to present our Fantasy Six Course Tasting Menu, championing some of the restaurants which we believe are really putting Northern Ireland on the culinary map.

Smoked Eel Tartlets at Roam

Roam, one of our favourite recent openings in Belfast City Centre, serves the finest local ingredients in its beautifully presented, utterly delicious dishes.

It began life as a pop-up concept aiming to provide a relaxed dining experience with its distinctive food, and this ethos is continued at Roam’s permanent home on Callendar Street.

We started our lunch with some great quality cocktails, and we were very impressed with the Smoked Eel Kimchi Tartlets-small, dainty, but bursting with flavour. The perfect amuse bouche snack.

Course 1

Cilbir at Duad

With its cool, contemporary vibe, Duad on Belmont Rd serves small plates, cheese and charcuterie, main courses and desserts, accompanied by excellent wines, cocktails and vinyl grooves.

We tried some of the dishes on the recently expanded menu, including Cilbir- Turkish Eggs with yogurt, dill, lemon, & chilli butter, with lots of sourdough for dipping. Strictly speaking, it’s really a breakfast dish, but we loved it so much, we had to include it in our Fantasy Menu!

Course 2

Miso Cod Gyoza at Broker

Broker Wine Bar is an exciting new venture from the team behind Oliver’s on the Upper Newtownards Road, and is now open for breakfast, brunch, lunch, and in the evening. We love the stylish interior, relaxed vibe, and tempting choices.

At night, Broker has a fusion style menu, with a variety of Asian and Mediterranean dishes. There’s also a great cocktail and wine selection.

From the Small Plates “Land and Sea” section we chose the Miso cod gyoza with orange ponzu dip, fresh and tangy Asian dumplings with a delicious umami filling.

Course 3

Spiced Cauliflower at Noble

This buzzing Holywood restaurant, featuring a changing, seasonal menu, has had a recent addition in the shape of a downstairs winebar with an evolving, exciting wine list and selection of nibbles.

We had booked the popular Sunday Lunchtime sitting, and we were bowled over by the delicious plates on offer, especially the wonderfully earthy Spiced Cauliflower with crispy mac “n” cheese and golden raisins.

Course 4

A delicious, Mediterranean inspired 6 Course tasting menu, was just the ticket to banish the winter blues and transport us to sunnier climes. A feast of Greek inspired dishes accompanied by perfectly paired wines, all served up in Gnostic’s gorgeous cosy upstairs dining room in Corporation Square, this was a relaxed yet sophisticated celebration of great food and drink.

Although every course was faultless, our favourite was the crispy skinned Mackerel with Red Onion on a creamy bed of Orzo. Totally stunning, and an absolute must on our Fantasy Menu.

Course 5

Jerusalem Artichokes,

Sometimes, you stumble across something quite extraordinary, culinarily speaking, and that was the case with Frae, an unassuming little wine bar & dining room in the heart of Holywood. But looks can be deceptive.

The menu, ambiance and overall vibe are all wonderfully unique and delightfully different to the “run of the mill”. Frae serves locally sourced plates alongside an ever-changing natural wine list.

And there were some fantastic vegetarian dishes on the menu; both the Jerusalem Artichokes with cauliflower & chestnuts, and the Spelt and Pumpkin with dates, kale & Young Buck were hearty, seasonal dishes. Difficult to choose between them, so we had to feature them both on our Fantasy Menu!

We had been watching the renovation of this building on the corner of the Belmont Road for a couple of months with considerable anticipation, and at last, at the end of December, we witnessed the legend “Monad” being painted above the door.

The decor is warm and contemporary, with exposed brickwork, gorgeous tiling, & metallic interlocking circular lighting. And the menu continues this modern vibe with some stunningly good cocktails, wines and plates.

Everything was so beautifully cooked and presented, it would have been remiss of us not to have dessert. And how glad we were that we did; a cocoa-rich Chocolate Delice, sumptuously rich & smooth, perfectly paired with a glass of Kröv Steffensberg Riesling. A triumphant way to finish our Fantasy Tasting Menu.

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