Frankie and Benny's - Victoria Square - Belfast

I just realised that I completely forgot to write a review on a dinner Damien and I shared in Frankie and Benny’s. To be honest, it probably has something to do with the fact that I was not overly impressed.

I remember that night, we both badly wanted to get out of the flat and at the same time we really needed something cheap and cheerful. That’s exactly how we ended up in Frankie and Benny’s on a very busy pre-Christmas night.

I have to say that I was fairly impressed by the little wait despite the restaurant being absolutely packed.

Damien and I were both ravenous and ready to give up if there was going to be too much of a queue but we barely waited 15 minutes and had time to order a bottle of wine before being directed to our table. That was some amazingly efficient service!

At Frankie and Benny’s, everything is some sort of comfort food, either inspired of American classics that you would get in a traditional diner or rich, simple Italian dishes such as oven pasta in creamy sauces.

Burgers seemed to be a good option, perfect to satisfy our hearty appetite without presenting too much risk of disappointment. After all, what can really go wrong with a burger? Well to start with, even for people like me that tend to be a bit specific about red meat, a dried out-no-juice-left patty is not so much fun to chew on! Let’s be fair though, except from the buns that came straight out of a packet, the rest of the burger was not too bad. A generous number of bacon crispy stripes topped the melting cheese and a lovely béarnaise complemented it all and kind of compensated the dryness of the patty. 

As for the fries, congratulations to the chef, I couldn’t say if they were homemade and they were probably not but they were skinny and cooked to the perfection, providing that amazingly satisfying crunch at each bite! Yum!

After that, I still had cravings for something sweet, as per usual. So, after a quick look at the menu I chose the banoffee brownie while Damien ordered the salt caramel cheesecake. If I had been truly honest with myself I shouldn’t have had high expectations really. Well, the brownie was awful, I mean dry, crumbly, cardboard style looking and covered with banana slices and bottled caramel sauce: massive disappointment on my behalf obviously. 

As for Damien, not being as difficult as I am, he ate away his cheesecake without excessive enthusiasm and concluded that his dessert as well, was industrial.

Our dinner was certainly cheap; you can’t beat 11.95 for a main course and dessert. The wine was not too bad either and the place was packed and buzzing, which is always nice when you go out. I won’t be back any time soon but I won’t say it didn’t do the trick for a non-pretentious non-expensive night out either.

Coppi - St Anne's Square - Belfast - Sampling the new menu

I already told you all about Coppi’s beautiful food in one of my previous posts but when I walked past it the other day and caught a glimpse of the new winter menu, I couldn’t resist trying it out.

So I walked in, booked a table for two and brought the menu home with me. It was tantalizing, full of exciting promises and I couldn’t wait to go.

When the day came, I already had a pretty good idea of what I was craving for. Damien and I shared several of the cichetti/tapas, as a starter. The crispy squid, served with a wedge of lemon and a refreshing tangy lime mayonnaise, were a real treat. The contrast of textures between the soft, tender squid and the light crunchy batter was absolutely amazing. We had ordered feta fritters as well, those are a classic we have become addicted too. The hot tasty feta melting inside a beautiful golden crust and layered with rich honey; who could resist that? The last one we ordered was called “popeltini”. They looked like meatballs but tasted so much better. The mince inside was rich and bursting with flavours, an incredible mix of fresh herbs and spices. It was also coated with a very thin layer of batter that kind of had the consistence of choux pastry. Oh my god, I couldn’t have enough!

Choosing the main course was more difficult as they were so many new appealing options on the menu. I opted for a revisited carbonara, which blew me away. There is nothing like homemade pasta. They were served with buttery guanciale, crispy chunks of bacon and sprinkled with shaving of aged Parmesan. The sauce was juicy rather than creamy and brought a whole new dimension to that classic dish. It was not as heavy and so much more refined.

As for Damien, he had ordered a pizzeta topped with Parma ham, fresh roquette and Pecorino cheese. It was a real Italian cheese pizza, thin and crispy dough, tasty ingredients scattered all over but not loaded with melted cheese and tomato sauce. We both enjoyed it. With the pizzeta, he had asked for a side of rosemary and Parmesan fries and sage butter green beans. Both were unreal! I am usually not a big fan of green beans as I have traumatic memories of them from my childhood but those were a revelation, crunchy and deliciously coated with the rich sage butter. The fries were gone in no time as well, skinny, hand cut, rubbed in olive oil and rosemary and sprinkled with grated Parmesan. Those are definitely one of my favorites.

Coppi is definitely on my top 2 restaurants list; their cuisine is so creative and tasty. I wish I could go back every week and sample everything on the menu. So, please do yourself a favour and try it as soon as possible, you won’t be disappointed!

Le Coop - Cathedral Quarter - Belfast

“Cheap and cheerful”, there are no better words to describe that intriguing new addition to the Made In Belfast’s family.

Located at the heart of the Cathedral Quarters, this brand new restaurant certainly has a unique style. The farmhouse atmosphere cleverly engineered by a combination of rustic furniture and open plan traditional “rotisserie” is not without charm. Hats off to the people behind this concept: I loved this quirky little nest…

Back to the food now: the menu was original and mouth-watering. No fake promises, everything we ordered with my friends was a reflection of what we hoped for.

The multicultural inspiration, from Louisiana for the savoury dishes, more generally America for the desserts and finally hints from France through the formulation of the menu, was quite exciting!

In Le Coop, everything is chicken and chicken is cooked in every possible way: roast obviously but also fried, grilled, buttermilk battered, in a bap, a sub, on flat bread or even on its own. I was dying to try a little bit of everything.

For starters, we shared a beautifully performed classic, “the hot mess” and part of the pleasure of savouring it was to devour it with your hands, definitely getting messy! The contrast of textures and flavours brought by the crispy wedges versus melted cheese and the refreshing effect of the sour cream over the spicy burning creole sauce was unreal. 

We had also ordered the “smelly” garlic wings, heavenly combination if you ask me, probably the best chicken wings I ever had and I am usually not that fussed about them.

To follow, I had the fried chicken BLT bonnet. For those who like me, wonder what is a bonnet, I can now tell you that it is a word used to describe the traditional bap. I am still not too sure why, considering that in French a “bonnet” means a hat but hey, why not?!

My bonnet was lovely, the chicken tasted delicious, the bacon was crispy, topped with fresh rocket. The only criticism I have concerns the lack of sauce or mayonnaise that made the whole dish a bit too dry.

My friends had opted for the Christmas bap, which was filled with battered chicken and rich layers of Brie and cranberry sauce: brilliant idea and apparently very good.

Both dishes came with a side of homemade fries that tasted delicious even though (I have to be honest) a bit too greasy.

All in all, we had a lovely experience and the charming and very helpful staff contributed a lot to the success of our evening.

My final recommendation would be to try it but maybe bear in mind that it is more about the originality of the concept and the influences in the cooking. I wouldn’t go there if I was dreaming of something refined to stimulate my palate but it is the perfect destination to satisfy comfort food cravings.

James Street South - Belfast - Part two

When we came back to James Street South and had a second experience not only as good as the first one but maybe even better, I decided to write about it again. It was only fair to give the restaurant another review it clearly deserved.

This time around, we had booked a table on a Sunday night and were warmly welcome back by the manager as we walked in. He directed us to the bar and handed us the wine list so we could order drinks while our table was getting ready.

We ordered a bottle of French wine “Rives-Blanques” which I highly recommend! It is so good to find a place like this where the wine selection actually matches the quality and refinement of the food.

For starters, we couldn’t resist the temptation of the fabulous truffle and Parmesan homemade fries. No disappointment there, they were as fantastic as the previous time! We also shared Stilton fritters served on cured beef. There are no words to describe the combination of flavours, textures or the skills and creativity that were demonstrated in this beautiful starter. The contrast between the cured meat, sliced as fine as a carpaccio and the hot fritters was magical. The blue cheese accompanied perfectly the slightly smoky and salty taste of the beef. We simply couldn’t have enough of it.

After such an exciting start, we were impatient to sample our main courses. I wanted to have the mushroom risotto again so that Damien could try it too. You can trust me when I am saying that it was even more sublime than the first time I had it. Between the abundance of gorgeous chunky wild mushrooms, the velvety consistence of the rice, the delicately creamy sauce and the touch of truffle oil, each mouthful was heavenly.

Damien had chosen the ham hock parpadelle. The richness of the large stripes of home made pasta lightly coated in a flavoury sauce, was incredible. The ham was meaty and fondant, cooked to the perfection. The addition of fresh parsley and breadcrumbs gave a nice kick to the dish, smart association of simple but interesting and powerful ingredients. It was unreal!

We were both blown away. James Street South has everything you wish in a restaurant: talented chefs, inspiration, warm and efficient service but more importantly beautiful and carefully selected produce…

You would be a fool not to try it!