Made in Belfast (restolounge, Wellington Street, Belfast)

After a couple of weeks off, it’s back to work for me on Monday. So part of today was spent racing around Belfast doing some of the little tasks that are so much harder to cram into your lunch hour.

A while back I used to work in Wellington Street. The ground floor of the block tended to be dominated by trendy clothes shops. Now they’ve been replaced by a trendy restaurant restolounge. (Their word, not mine.)

So today, Alan in Belfast found himself lunching in the recently opened Made in Belfast.

The menu had a pretty good selection of tantalising dishes on offer. In step with the décor, the presentation of the food was quite fantastic. My burger was served on a wooden board, sat inside an enormous Belfast Bap, and had a cup full of chips! It’s not the cheapest of lunch venues, but the food was good quality, and the service was very good. And there was no quibble when we asked for some tap water.

But leaving the food aside for a minute, the décor is quite amazing. Every table and chair in the place is unique.

The walls are all different. In fact, there are variations across different parts of the same wall.

There’s a huge old-fashioned vertical radiator running across the middle of the room.

Bare bulbs hang from the ceiling, casting shadows that look more like chandeliers. Angle-poise lamps are mounted on the wall instead of spotlights to highlight the “art”. Sections of corrugated iron have been painted to look like wall paper.

I can pretty much guarantee you’ll not run out of things to talk about while you wait the short time for your food to be served. From the crowd in from lunch today, it looks to be very popular with teams of work colleagues who don’t mind spending £10–12 for their special lunch.

And everywhere you look there are quotes and comments chalked onto black surfaces.

My conclusion (which could maybe make it to the wall outside!) ...

"Made in Belfast – well worth a visit for good food and a fantastic atmosphere. Bring your camera and some chalk too." Alan in Belfast.blogspot.com

Gourmet Burger Kitchen - Victoria Square - yummy but expensive

There’s something very reassuring about a burger and chips. It’s the reason that airports, railway stations and sporting venues have burger outlets. A lot of people enjoy munching a bit of beef between two pieces of bread, and eating salty chips.

But society has a funny way of bringing the fast and convenient, and making it trendy and frankly, more expensive. And so we’re now blessed with gourmet burger restaurants. Belfast got its first Gourmet Burger Bank on the Belmont Road a couple of years ago, with a second branch now open on the Malone Road. (Not that there haven’t been establishments capable of serving up a decent burger – like Dixons in Ballynahinch – long before the word gourmet entered the signmakers’ vocabulary.)

A year or so ago, I ended up eating in a lot of different “gourmet” outlets in central London – Ultimate Burger, Gourmet Burger Kitchen and Burger Shack.

While the main Victoria Square complex opened in March, a lot of the food outlets remained closed until last week. We nipped into the new Gourmet Burger Kitchen branch (GBK – the English chain – not the local GBB).

It’s a bit strange. Practically empty restaurant. Waiter comes over, takes a drinks order and then gets us to walk across to the cash till to order burgers, sides and pay up. Efficient, not.

The décor is smart but basic. There’s a picture of George Best that makes it feel very local. But then there’s a picture of an old Evening Standard van that makes it a lot less Belfast.

The food was excellent. My Chicken Camembert & Cranberry burger with fries was wonderful. Typing this brings back the taste into my mouth. The salty, thick cut chips. The cranberry mixing with the melted cheese. Umm. Heavenly.

A colleague enjoyed his Blue Cheese burger. The problem comes that you’ve got to pay quite a bit for the burger, and then extra for the fries, and over the odds for the (soft) drinks. (The menu suggests that they’re licensed – offering wine, beer, lager and cider.)

Overall it’s a bit very expensive for lunch – might be good for a team lunch, but not for a quick bite to eat. Charging £1.60 to add a piece of bacon into a Cheese burger seemed excessive. But terribly, terribly tasty if you’ve the spare cash or want a treat.

Gourmet Burger Bank – still good for lunch – anyone want the foie gras?

Back to Gourmet Burger Bank for lunch today.

Given the holiday season, it wasn’t too busy at 1pm.

Great, fast service. Scrummy Blue Cheese burger and fries.

(Wipes out that poor first impression!)

They’ve expanded the menu since I was last there ... adding chicken and fish dishes rather than just burgers.

One menu item that caught my eye was the Fillet Burger Rossini ... Foie gras on the Belmont Road? Umm. Not so sure about that?

Though I just love the cow that stares from the wall at all the customers eating beef burgers!

Bennetts, a poor dinner before a good film

Tonight is a story in two halves.

The poor half begins in Bennetts – a fine lunch venue at the intersection of East Belfast’s Belmont Road and the Holywood Road. Only snag is that it’s a much less good dinner venue.

Starting with an inaccurate drinks order; taking 35 minutes of so in a half-empty restaurant to serve the food; bringing a dairy-free salad with cheese sprinkled on top; forgetting to put the cheese in my cheese burger; taking a second drinks order but not bringing anything, then being reminded and still not bringing anything, and finally puring the drinks but leaving them on the counter, causing one of us to walk across to the bar and carry them back to the table.

Unimpressive. And surprisingly so given the usual good service at lunchtime.

Update: Forgot to mention that one of the tables had two couples come in and sit at it, and then leave before placing their food order. One lot had order drinks which never arrived, the other just seemed to get bored waiting for attention and wandered out. Not a good sign to be half empty on a Friday night.

Also wanted to say that Movies and Mochas closes bizarrely early on a Friday night - refusing to serve us tea/coffee when we got out of the cinema at half nine. Not a glorious night for Belmont catering!

(Oh, and I hadn’t realised before tonight that the Bennetts over at the Odyssey has now closed.)

Gourmet Burger Bank - scrumptious lunch

Had a lovely late lunch in Belmont Road’s Gourmet Burger Bank yesterday.

The blue cheese burger was utterly delicious and duck salad was enjoyed too.

Burger Shack - disappointing

Stuck in London last night, as promised I headed around to grab dinner in one of central London’s three Burger Shack franchises. Irving Street proved the most convenient—just south of Leicester Square’s Odeon cinema.

It turned out to be table service. The Chicken, Brie & Cranberry burger arrived about 60 seconds after ordering and was tasty, but not particularly special. The mango milkshake was the highlight (though it arrived about 5 minutes after the burger).

Overall, Burger Shack was low on atmosphere.

Not a patch on Gourmet Burger Kitchen (London), Ultimate Burger (London) or Gourmet Burger Bank (Belmont, East Belfast).

Gourmet Burger Kitchen - London Soho - How does it compare?

I haven’t been very true to the Alan in Belfast moniker over the last fortnight, having spent time in San Francisco, Ipswich, London, Ipswich and back to London again.

On Thursday night, the only cinema in London’s Leicester Square showing Casino Royale was sold out. So along with a colleague, I popped up the road to Gourmet Burger Kitchen on Firth Street, off Shaftsbury Avenue on the recommendation of Aaron who left a comment a couple of weeks ago.

It was about a quarter past eight, but they still had a few tables free.

How would it compare with Belfast’s own Gourmet Burger Bank on Belmont Road or London’s Ultimate Burger chain? The differences can be summarise as:

• the menu seemed shorter than the other clones, no onion rings;
• after you’re shown to your table and given a menu, customers have to go up to the counter to place their order and pay (in advance);
• there’s not much atmosphere, the décor is bland, and the tables are packed in. (Though it was brighter than Ultimate Burger.

The Blue Cheese burger and fries, along with a magnificent strawberry milkshake arrived quickly. My colleague’s approach of picking up the burger and eating it with his hands was a big mistake! Definitely needs a knife and fork to attack the layers of salad, sauces that fly out onto your shirt, and cheese that drips onto the plate.

Overall, it was good quality, fast, but not terribly exciting. I think this just leaves the Burger Shack chain to check out!

London’s Ultimate Burger vs Belfast’s Gourmet Burger Bank

Googling for Gourmet Burger Bank still lists the Alan in Belfast postings (one, two and three) reviewing the Belmont Road eatery, and your comments, good and bad.

But East Belfast isn’t alone in offering smart burger joints. London has four Ultimate Burger restaurants. On Wednesday night I had a meal in the branch nearest to the British Museum on the junction of New Oxford Street and Bloomsbury, just east of Tottenham Court Road tube station.

Dark, half empty and small, half empty: it was quite a contrast to the Belmont Road with it’s bright, bustling and a tall ceiling.

Shown straight to a seat—no sitting around nursing a drink while waiting for a table to clear—the menu was familiar but without some of the more exotic meat options. Prices seemed about £1 dearer than Belfast.

My Smoky Mountain burger arrived with skewer through the middle, with layers and layers of cheese and mushroom fillings. The milk shake was huge. At the end of the meal I had the same feeling of indigestion. The burger, fries, onion rings and shake came to £14.

All in all, apart from the queuing, I’d say the Gourmet Burger Bank in Belfast is better :-)

PS: If you’re in London on a Thursday or Friday night, check out British Museum Court Restaurant up on the upper floor. The food’s great, and the tables overlooking the library offer a great view. Shame it doesn’t open all week.

Gourmet Burger Bank - a local resident's opinion

I reproduce a comment left this morning to my original posting about the Belmont Road's Gourmet Burger Bank in Belfast.

So far, most of the discussion has been about the quality of the food and service from a customer perspective. Now we hear from someone who lives nearby.

- - -

I won't deny that Gourmet Burger looks the part and on the few occassions that I have been in when it first opened, the food was fine, but you wanna try living in the surrounding streets.

Try stepping out your back door to the smell of burning meat EVERY day! Try living around the corner from this place when they leave out their empty glass bottles much to the amusement of the local kids who use them as ammo and throw them at the cars parked in the surrounding streets.

And what's the attitude when you ring up to ask if they can store their empties more carefully ? [Quote] The kids were here before we (Gourmet Burger) were, so I think you shall find it is not us (Gourmet Burger) who is the problem, it is the kids [Unquote]. Nice attitude eh ?

Try walking past the end of the alley way to see the chef sitting on the ground of the dirty alley having a quick break and then getting up and going back into the kitchen to prepare your meal. Nice. Hygenic too.

Try getting back to sleep at 6am in the morning when the industrial bins are being wheeled out into the next street to be emptied - have you heard the noise a full to over-flowing industrial bin makes?

As well as looking after the customer, the staff are very well looked after too. They have been provided with a large smoking area straight out the back door in the dirty alley way beside the stinking bins. It's very well equipped - deck chairs beside the bins for them to have their fag breaks and then go straight back in and serve you your food.

So, yeah give Gourmet Burger a go if you want your food cooked by someone who sits in an alley way and is "Assistant Managed" by someone who doesn't give a toss about the local residents.

Oh yeah, and if you are lucky enough to take up one the parking spaces in the surrounding streets, cross your fingers that the kids who pile in from other areas don't use your car as target practice with the glass coke bottles that Gourmet Burger kindly leave out. You can always resort to what the residents have to do if you come out and find the kids sitting on your bonnet (glass bottles in hand) - ring Strandtown PSNI station and they shall come and move them on.

10 out 10 - keep up the good work. Seriously.

Posted by pyssed_off_resident to Alan in Belfast at 8/28/2006 11:47:33 AM

- - -

I've been minded to try and interview someone from GBB - since they seem publicity shy (they opened without any advertising and thrive on word-of-mouth recommendation) and opinions on their standard of service and quality of food seems to vary wildly between customers. Something to pencil in for September.

PS: The weather in Newcastle and down the coast to Kilkeel switches between bright sunshine and heavy rain with a period ("T" - for the physicists reading!) of 10-30 minutes. Constantly either soaked or sweltering. But having fun nonetheless.

Bennetts, Storm Cinemas, and Superman at the Odyssey

A fortnight ago we went for an evening's entertainment at the Odyssey in Belfast. Update: I emailed the post into Blogger that night, but it took 10 days to appear! Arghh.

The 15% off voucher being handed out at the Odyssey entrance by Bennetts' staff should have warned us that there's a reason they're not busy.

While the staff were friendly, and the cheesy nachos made a more-than-ample starter, the main course was indigestible. The chicken burger had been pan-fried to the point of leather - a steak knife would have been a useful tool to cut it.

The banks of monitors showing distracting videos that bear no relation to the songs blaring over the tannoy don't help the atmosphere either. Not half as good as Bennetts at Belmont. Back to the Red Panda next time.

The Warner Village cinema has recently been sold onto Storm Cinemas - a growing chain across the island of Ireland.

Think back to the last time you paid for something in person by credit card and didn't get a receipt. Can you remember? Storm Cinemas can't give you a receipt if you pay by plastic - the software at the ticket desk doesn't allow them.

On principle, I whinged and eventually a manager was tracked down. With no receipt, how could I dispute an incorrect charge on my next card statement? They're upgrading to something new (and better) in September. Looks like Warner didn't leave them their system as part of the handover, so they've gone lo-tech in the meantime. "Do you want me to write you something out?" was the suggestion.

I guess if there's no VAT on cinema tickets then a receipt isn't essential - just good practice?

And Superman Returns ... it was a fine addition to the existing collection of tales. Well made, plenty of action, not to distressing. An action hero who craves the appreciation and attention.

Does the world only need a saviour when we're crying out for help? Are we alright as long as we're not in a crisis? Do we really need to be saved from criminals and power-hungry maniacs?

Away from Earth five years, Clark Kent gets his old job back, but life has moved on. Lois Lane has a partner and child. While there's a certain amount of posturing between the two males in Lois' life, Superman ends up dealing with the complicated situation very gracefully and maturely.

And he has one of those near-death experiences that makes you doubt if heart rate monitors actually work!

I'm sure it's not the best film on release at the moment, but its not a bad way to spend a couple of hours at the end of a long week.

Gourmet Burger Bank – We Went Back

Update: it did get better!

We went back to the Gourmet Burger Bank in Belmont Road tonight. It's still the search term that hits this blog the most - on average 6 times a day! Either the owners are paranoid about finding reviews or lots of people are trying to find it!

Unlike the last meal, there was no long wait for our order to be taken, and the food arrived pretty promptly. So unlike the last time, we had to pay for this meal!

To add to the scrumptious dishes we enjoyed before, be assured that the Blue Cheese burger, Avocado/Bacon burger and the Mozzo/Pesto burgers are yummy too. We regretted not getting a side order of onion rings when a plate went wafting past to another nearby table.

At about 5.15pm on a Tuesday night we had beaten the rush – there were only a couple of tables occupied. By 6pm, it was starting to get busier. There’s no booking, but if you go early you’re sure of a table. Their child friendly too – it was no problem to get a booster seat for a 17-month old, and there doesn’t seem to be any smoking.

You'll find the Gourmet Burger Bank at 20-22 Belmont Road, Belfast, BT4 2AN, (028) 9047 3333. Very tasty.

And look out for the Apple Mac running iTunes which provides the ambient music. No CD player with multi-changer in this joint!

Gourmet Burger Bank, Belmont Road – worth the wait

UPDATE: If you've read this and been to Gourmet Burger Bank, leave a comment and let me know what you thought of your meal. It did get better!!!

Given that this blog is called “Alan in Belfast”, all this talk of Manchester and Segwaying across the USA needs to come to a stop!

At last, there’s somewhere to give Bennetts a run for their money on East Belfast’s Belmont Road. Bennetts is packed out most lunchtimes, so there is plenty of trade to share around.

Gourmet Burger Bank - the name gives away so much about this newly opened restaurant on Belmont Road:

• the menu revolves around burgers;
• good ones at that;
• and they’ve gutted a bank to create a warehouse-feel, with heavy wooden furniture and off-white (light grey) walls, leaving the cash machine still in the wall outside to point to the building’s previous occupants.

They offer about fifteen different types of burger – beef, duck, venison, as well as vegetarian alternatives – and some salad dishes. These aren’t fast food burgers. Think instead of a big hunk of meat, cooked, sitting on a toasted bap, piled high with salad, thick cheese, and with a wooden skewer holding the 4 inch-high creation together. A burger will set you back between 6 and 8 pounds; chips – chunky hand cut or thin – another £2.

It was quite busy at 1pm on Good Friday when we called in, so we sat on the comfy sofas in the holding area perusing the menu and order a drink. After a while we moved to a table ... but no one could take our order. “You’re in the queue for ordering, there are other people ahead of you.” Turns out that although the waiters and waitresses can serve food and take drink orders (presumably to keep you in the building!), only one guy can come alongside your table to scribble your order onto his magic pad.

For the record we ordered Duck burger, The Works, and shared a chunky chip.

Forty-five minutes after arriving, still no food on the table. When it eventually arrived, it came with onion rings, an apology, and the news that the meal was on the house. The food was excellent, well cooked, tasty, good flavoursome ingredients, if a little slow.

So despite the bad start, I’d recommend you give the Gourmet Burger Bank a try. But go early before the main lunchtime rush!

Update from 9 May - we went back!