California Food and Wine Blog

We stopped off in Sligo for a quick bite around 2:30pm on a Sunday. What we forgot to consider was that restaurants really don’t open until 3pm.. or whenever they feel like it. We tried to go to a traditional pub that came highly recommended on Google Maps but after an hour of circling trying to figure out when they were planning on opening, we finally gave up and went to The Belfry.

We ordered a pitcher of Bavaria beer and the Belfry Combo Sampler for €13.95.  The food was decent for bar bites even if a little pricey, but the beer was a good deal. 

Flavor: 3/5

Price: 3/5

Service: N/A

While staying at Lough Erne Golf Resort we enjoyed a traditional and flavorful Irish Breakfast to start off our morning on 10/13/2012!

Nathan ordered the Full Irish Breakfast which included a variety of meats and traditional Irish Pudding; summed up by AMAZING.

Jessica ordered a lighter breakfast of a poached egg over a bead of rice. Both her and Nathan’s eggs were poached to perfection with a smooth texture and yolk that burst with flavor. Very good. 

Flavor: 4/5

Price: Included in B&B Booking

Service: 4/5

After a little tour and whiskey tasting at Bushmills Distillery on 10/13/2012, we walked through the town around 3pm looking for our first taste of real Fish and Chips. We were sad to see so many vacant buildings and like many of the other tourists, actually went up to several pub doors just to walk away realizing it’d gone out of business some time ago. We walked past a few “take-away” only places and at first dismissed it, but then upon not finding any other options, settled on The Hip Chip.

We ordered two Cod and one Chip at about £4 each which seemed a bit steep for one piece of fish. Everything was cooked to order right in front of us and took about 15 minutes. The service was very friendly even through we could hardly understand through their accent and kept responding “huh?”

When we received our fish we suddenly realized we got quite an amazing deal for our money; each of us got about 1.5lb of fish in addition to a good helping of chips.

It may not look like much, but the fish was enourmous and very good. The batter was flaky and seasoned well much more than the standard salted seasoning. The fish tasted very fresh and wasn’t overpowered by the batter, although it did start feeling a bit heavy after about 1/3 of the fish, but that’s also because it was extremely filling.

Definitely set the bar high for our first European fish and chips experience!

Flavor: 4/5

Price: 5/5

Service: 4/5

On 10/12/2012 we had the opportunity to experience Restaurant Week in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Belfast is a great little town with exciting history and beautiful buildings; definitely somewhere we wish we could spend a little more time at.

After getting a recommendation from a few workers at a local coffee shop as well as picking up a full restaurant week booklet from the tourist office, we decided to go to The Apartment for a gourmet Irish dinner.

We were seated upstairs at a couch adjacent to a big glass wall overlooking town hall and the city center. The restaurant was very hip and modern and had a dance club attached just a couple rooms over.

For the restaurant week special we got to choose two of either an appetizer, dinner, or dessert in addition to a glass of wine for €13.

We ordered an appetizer of smoked salmon with beetroot mousse, rye bread, and gherkins. The mousse was really something special, but when you got a perfect bite with each item on the plate it was mouth watering. Usually €5.50

Appetizer from The Apartment in Belfast

Nathan ordered the Northern Irish Bacon Chop (Usually €10.95) with traditional black pudding, garlic potatoes, and cauliflower puree. We’d never  seen bacon served as a slab, but it was pretty epic, and yes he ate the whole thing. It was a little on the salty side, but well worth the experience. The cauliflower was amazing and left us searching for a recipe!

Jessica ordered the roast local cod with potato mash (Usually €11.95). The cod was cooked to perfection with a buttery goodness that highlighted the delicate flavor. The artichoke puree complimented it very well. They really know their purees and mousses! The mash was very cheesy and tasty, but nothing too special. Nathan’s garlic fries were better.

For our final course we ordered their steamed chocolate pudding  with honeycomb ice-cream (Usually €4.95) and a latte. The dessert was almost like a lava cake but with a very enjoyable and unique texture that made it lite and delicious. The caramel drizzle and ice cream were a perfect pairing.

The latte was delicious and a perfect rounded ending to a very good meal.

Rating

Flavor: 4.5/5

Price: 4/5 (Even without the restaurant week deal, the quality of food was well worth their price points)

Service: 3.5/5

Overall: 4/5

**Definitely recommend for some great gourmet food at a chic restaurant and club!