Wednesday, 21 August 2013

Home - Wellington Place - Belfast


As we walked into the restaurant, I silently rewarded myself for my choice. On our left, the bar offering an impressive sight with its beautiful display of home baked scones and fresh muffins, on our right, all the tables, organised into two separate islands. Just in front of us, the kitchen pass, behind which the chefs rapidly produced amazing looking dishes! All of a sudden, I was starving.


A waiter instantly guided us to our table, at the back of the restaurant from where I could survey the food coming out of the kitchen and also enjoy the satisfying view of a wall entirely covered in wine shelves…all sorts of wines from many different origins. Such a tantalizing prospect!
The menu was reflecting the whole atmosphere of the restaurant: creative, original, a great variety of options including a separate vegetarian menu.


My partner opted for the spiced fish cakes while I chose the crispy chilli squids that I had caught a glimpse of at our neighbours’ table. The fish cakes were deliciously golden and crispy and got a nice kick from the harissa mayo that was on the side. They were not too big or heavy and came with a refreshing giant couscous salad: clever and savory.


My crispy squids definitely exceeded my expectations. It was a ten out of ten: aesthetics, incredible taste and texture and unique touch with the addition of an “Asian slaw” which offered all the crunch and punch of coleslaw without the heaviness of the mayonnaise. I have officially a new favourite squid dish!


Moving on to the main courses now! We both picked the same: the very appealing scallops, butternut squash and bacon risotto. After such magnificent starters, we both had very high hopes regarding the rest of the meal but the risotto was actually a tad disappointing. Even if I was happily surprised by the novelty of the flavours, bursting with fresh herbs, the dish definitely lacked some texture. It was very soupy, too liquid and not cheesy enough. We could barely taste the shy and scarce Parmesan shavings and didn’t get any of that lovely creamy and comforting sensation usually associated to risottos.


That won’t stop me from coming back. The chefs proved their genius by serving us delightful starters and now that I saw the sweet corn and jalapeno cheeseburger leave the kitchen counter, I have to sample it! They also had a very promising desserts menu with a choice of revisited classics that seemed to be worth trying. All in all, Home certainly gets a spot on my “must eat out” recommendation list.

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