15 Best Restaurants in Northern Ireland

With its raw wooden tables, wood-burning stove, sand on the floor, and outdoor terrace, this beachside restaurant in Portstewart, about 20 minutes from Dunluce, is the destination restaurant par excellence of the north coast. Brunches might consist of pancakes with maple syrup, smoked salmon and scrambled eggs, or pasta. Dinner highlights include the just-landed Greencastle hake with chorizo or whole lemon sole, while summertime sees lobster, langoustine, or mussels on the menu. A deck with picnic tables and an outside bar have been added so you can watch the sea coming right up to the front door. The food is a great value and the outside attracts crowds for both eating and enjoying a pale ale (try the house Shack beer), a stout, or crisp beer from the local Lacada brewery.

Halfway down a narrow lane is the 19th-century Morning Star, one of the city's most historic pubs, first built as a coaching stop for the Belfast-to-Dublin post. There's a traditional bar downstairs and a cozy velvet and wood-panel restaurant upstairs serving locally sourced food. On the menu you might find venison and game in winter, lamb in spring, and grilled haddock or roast Antrim pork in summer. Also notable is the steak menu; you'd be hard-pressed to find a larger assortment of aged cuts, and they are enormous: sizzling steaks, some up to 42 ounces, arrive at the table in red-hot cast-iron skillets and are served with a flourish by the friendly staff.

Starting life as a street food truck, PNP is now a full-service restaurant (with a liquor license) but is still serving up its authentic street-food dishes such as Legenderry, Veganderry, and Jalapeno burgers. Long bare bulbs hang over rough-hewn tables made with thick wooden scaffold planks and 1960s reclaimed school chairs. The kopa oven spits, sizzles, and confers a distinctive smoky barbecue flavor to marinated grass-fed wagyu steak, fish kofta, or pork chop with sides of potato rancheros, tortillas, or salad. Squid, masa chicken, baja fish, and cauliflower all come under the tacos menu wrapped up in the best of local produce in what is possibly Derry's coolest spot.

The famous Derry Girls mural adorns one outside wall of this old-school tavern. Inside, wood-paneled walls are covered with photos of local sporting legends. Those with a big appetite can wash down lavish portions of filling pub grub with what is claimed to be the best pint of Guinness in Derry, and the menu also includes bar snacks such as toasted sandwiches.

The owner, Ian Orr, a former maestro chef who has handed over the cooking to others, has put Derry on the culinary map. Candles on tables and leather-upholstered horseshoe booths with calming cream and brown timber shades set a stylish scene, where the three-course dinner menu at £27.50 is a hit. The menu showcases seafood chowder, chargrilled steak, chicken wings in a honey hot sauce, or braised shoulder of Lough Erne lamb. If you have space for a dessert, then indulge in the chocolate fondant or banoffee profiterole. Attentive service and comfort means you leave here with a mellow afterglow that lingers.

The Merchant Hotel's lively gastropub combines all the decorative charms of a traditional Belfast watering hole with a great choice of ales, wines, and whiskeys, and a menu that blends old-school favorites with imaginative modern fusion twists.

In this atmospheric, whitewashed coaching inn dating to 1642, noted for its architectural merit, exposed oak beams, stone floors, and a large open fireplace testify to the antiquity; the Snug bar top was crafted from timbers of ships wrecked in Lough Foyle. On the menu, solid traditional dishes dominate—fish from Ardglass, chargrilled steaks, burgers, chicken, and spring lamb. The best-selling craft beer is Maggie's Leap, an India Pale Ale from the Whitewater Brewery brewed with American, Australian, and New Zealand hops and packed with citrus flavors. Back in the mists of time, it was a member of the same Denvir family who gave his name to a small settlement in Colorado, later modified to Denver. The six spacious guest rooms retain the old inn's character, with original wooden floors, mahogany sleigh beds, and pristine white linen. Live music in the bar mixes traditional Irish with old classics on weekend nights.

In a world of behemoth coffee chains it is heartwarming to find an independent store with a funky vibe serving freshly ground beans from plantations in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Guatemala. Right in the heart of the Cathedral Quarter, this unpretentious café with its minimalist surroundings, communal wooden tables, and cement floor attracts a crowd of MacBook and smartphone lovers, as well as those gasping for a caffeine hit. Most popular are filter coffees, and the barista's choice may include espresso tonic with lemon and lime, or honey, cardamom, and cortado. Nourishing bowls of honey and coconut porridge are served until noon, while buttermilk pancakes, salt beef sandwich, or bubble and squeak are on the lunch menu. A tempting array of ever-changing snacks includes flapjack, cornflake cookie, or cinnamon swirl. Sunday is pie and drip day featuring apple crumble, peanut butter fudge, or cherry pie.

A place to linger where latte art has risen to a new level---but be aware that food service stops at 3, by which stage the café can resemble a computer lab.

If you feel like a treat, several dozen colorful flavors of ice cream including chocolate, honeycomb, mint, and Ferrero Rocher are available at Joe Jackon's bustling city center café. Belgian waffles, crepes, muffins, apple tart, and other snacks are served during the day along with shakes, smoothies, or sundaes such as the Shoeless Joe or MoJoe.

Lavazza Italian coffee comes with a free mini cone.

Hearty eaters adore this long-standing institution, which has served fish-and-chips for more than 100 years, and now serves wine and local beers with food. The completely basic Athol Street premises, close to the city center, welcomes garbage collectors, business execs, schoolboys from the nearby Royal Belfast Academical Institution, and patrons from every sector, who flock here for the secret-batter-recipe fish. They also offer gluten-free fish suppers such as lemon haddock, or fish goujons; you'll also find hamburgers and cheese or chicken burgers. It's the best value in town.

Though its name is derived from a revolutionary secret society that met here 200 years ago, there is nothing exactly covert about the Muddlers Club restaurant, beyond the fact that it is hidden away in a historic back alley and kind of hard to find. Fashionably unfussy, the succinct menu showcases blackened Mourne lamb, sea trout with Caesar salad, turbot, crab bisque, and pasta all artfully arranged. They also have a six-course seasonal tasting menu (£60) with wine pairing an additional £40, as well as a vegetarian tasting menu. For dessert, the divine plum chocolate and coconut ice cream is rich and faultless as is the chocolate, passion fruit, and dulce de leche.

On the banks of the River Foyle, this airy and cool main restaurant of the City Hotel, taking its name from the old Thompson's Mill that once occupied this site, is a fine place to chill while taking in some great river views. The menu might include pork belly, oven-baked salmon, or supreme of chicken with an herb stuffing.

Reservations are recommended (and practically essential on weekends).

The Wine and Dine menu (available every night except Saturday), based on two people sharing two courses, is £39 for two. There's also an impressive but not expensive wine list. Breakfast is served daily, but lunch only on Sunday. The adjoining Coppins Bar serves wine and cheese (£9.95) and runs a special Tapas Friday from 4 pm at £4.50 each or 3 for £12.

Beside Casement Park—home ground of the Antrim Gaelic Athletic Club—this popular restaurant is just the place to catch your breath after taking a Black Taxi tour of the nearby political murals. The menu focuses on steaks and burgers, but you can also enjoy a wide selection of salads. The cocktail list includes the Wolf (gin, cucumber, and ginger lime) and the Whistle (vodka, limoncello, lime juice, and thyme).