My New Favourite Restaurant in Belfast- Canteen at The MAC.
/The World of Kitsch certainly didn't start out as a restaurant review blog, but I've had lots of wonderful opportunities in the past two of my five blogging years to share with you the best spots to get grub all over Northern Ireland. I love places who use lots of local produce, and The Canteen at The MAC, Belfast, structures it's menu especially to show of Northern Ireland's best of the best.
The good news is because it's Belfast Restuarant Week, The Canteen have two courses for £10 which is a steal. This isn't 'canteen' food, it's melt in the mouth perfection. I have to admit I've always been snobby and thought from the name, Canteen, made me think of plates of floppy, ham sandwiches with a few crisps on the side. Instead here is yet another of my restaurant reviews bulging with praise! It's getting a little embarrassing. Someone should suggest me somewhere poor to eat and review via Twitter so I mix things up a bit, as my review for The MAC food is a ten out of ten!
As you can see the Canteen is big and airy, but it's worth booking a table especially on busy weekends. The MAC is an art gallery, and even the tables were part of an art installation. There is an old fashioned phone at each booth. You can actually ring through to another table anonymously and have a chat and flirt!
Perhaps more of a night time game when the cocktails are flowing, we had fun being arty which we waited the short while for our main course.
I'm a seafood lover, and althought the salted chilli quid appealed, I was fairly hungry so went for the battered coley with beer battered chips and peas for £9. Of course that meant for an extra £1 I got the Restaurant Week deal and a dessert!
The batter was delish, so perfect, and the chips freshly made. The peas were mild and a perfect compliment.
My husband had the Morrocan spiced chicken which he describes as one of the tastiest things he's ever eaten in his entire life. Now there's a recommendation!
Our son had a great kids' menu to choose from. Not just the standard anything with chips, he also had mildly spiced chicken skewers with noodles, or sausages with mash to choose from. Surprisingly to us he went for the house special, the MAC and cheese with pinenuts crust. We all had a little dig into this as it is available on the adult main course menu too. It is tasty indeed, and the pinenuts give it an usual sweet, vanilla edge.
Dessert time and the boys went for peanut butter brownies. My husband's brownie was intimidatingly huge, like a brick or the monolith in Space Odyssey 2001. Both boys loved them and the delicious accompaniment of Glastry icecream.
My choice was the cherry bake well tart. It was a little tiny compared to the boys' but it was beautiful.
I strongly encourage you and your family to try out The MAC this week when the Restaurant Week deal is on, and get back to me on Twitter to let me know your thoughts on what you chose to eat. And someone, please, suggest to me somewhere to go and review that I might NOT like, so I stop looking like a rumbly, tumbly sycophant!
Don't miss out on the free galleries to visit while you are in The MAC.
