MODERN MAKEOVER
IF I had been friends with Belfast on Facebook, up until this year our relationship status would have read: ‘it’s complicated’.
It goes back to my teenage years when I went up with a Connaught development squad to play our Ulster counterparts in Ravenhill. The ground was a cold, concrete uninviting place to play; where you could hear each individual insult being hurled at you from the sideline.
We were beaten that day and on the bus home, I decided that I cared not for Belfast. Subconsciously that feeling has stayed with me for almost two decades.
That all changed in March when ‘the lads’ headed north to play golf. Seeing as the Open and the Irish Open will be hosted in Portstewart and Portrush, we organised three courses in three days but based ourselves in Belfast. I was initially hesitant at such a move but after some slight cajoling from one of my playing partners I signed up to the idea and pressed ahead with my own personal reconciliation.
Of course, Belfast has come a long way in 20 years and is very much a cultural hotspot, buzzing with urban art instillations, street theatre, the Odyssey Arena and, of course, the commercial jewel in the crown, the Victoria Square shopping mall.
Our journey started at the Europa Hotel, the residence which comes with the unwanted label of being the most bombed hotel in Europe. Unsurprisso, ingly the landmark has been given an extensive makeover and the marble lobby is quite impressive when you walk through the revolving doors.
THE rooms are modern and have extremely comfortable beds while the bathrooms were again newly renovated and came with a walk-in shower.
For Friday night we dined out in the Muddlers Club, a somewhat hidden restaurant on Warehouse lane. It took our taxi driver a while to uncover the location of our clandestine eaterie but, boy, was it worth the wait.
It’s up an alley no one knows is there, it’s in Cathedral Quarter which is the social beating heart of Belfast and it has an informal old-fashioned feel even if it is a modern restaurant.
The dining room is open-plan with a wonderful long open kitchen. The energy from the chef spills into the softly lit dining room.
The menu is limited to three starters, three mains, with onion soup, pigeon and goats cheese to choose form. The pigeon was beautifully cooked, tender with a silky game flavour. The white onion soup the same and the goat’s cheese as pretty as a picture. For mains we all chose spring lamb, again served rosé and packed with flavour.
When you put together a short menu there is no place to hide (outside of the location) and they pulled it off.
Belfast was buzzing but as it was our first night and we had to play Rory McIlroy’s home course the next day we opted for a nightcap at the Cloth Ear, the main bar at the boutique Merchant hotel (where Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel like to holiday). The long wooden bar was packed but also comfortably with tourists, hen parties and rugby punters watching Ireland lose to Wales.
The next morning, before teeoff, we decided to take the black taxi tour of the city with our driver Billy Scott.
He took us through the four quarters of the city: the centre, Queen’s, Titanic and then onto West Belfast.
Being a Galwegian, I have been blessed by being spared the true ferocity and brutality of the Troubles. But driving with Billy into the estates that house the political murals on both the Shankill and Falls Roads gives me an insight into life here.
There is an air of sadness that resonates through the trip. The red poppy crosses on the sides of bars and buildings that were blown up are impossible to ignore. But what is more resounding is the real sense of new community; a communal ideology that the past, while it will never be forgotten must never be repeated. Nothing sums this up more than the Peace Wall, a hulking mass of wrought iron and concrete built to divide both Catholic and Protestant communities.
BOTH sides of the divide have taken a leaf out of Berlin’s book and have painted bright positive images and murals to show that love and peace can triumph over any adversity.
Billy produces a black marker and offers us the chance to sign the wall and become part of new Belfast’s history. The taxi tour is something all visitors to Belfast should do. It is both eye-opening and uplifting.
In nearby Hollywood golf club, though, there is but one space with a name on the wall, that of their favourite son, Rory McIlroy. Go inside and marvel at replicas of The Open’s Claret Jug and the US PGA and US Open trophies.
The course is hilly but wellmanicured and a great test for four amateur golfers happy to be pacing the home track of arguably the world’s best player.
Having worked up an appetite the good news was that we had secured a table at Deanes Meat locker and we looked forward to a serious carnivorous treat. Chef Michael Deane is regularly cited as Belfast’s most notable restaurateur and has held a Michelin Star for 15 years, the longestever in Ireland.
The flagship on Howard Street is divided into three distinct spaces: haute cuisine prix fixe at Eipic, champagne and ocean friendly Love Fish and succulent steakhouse at Meat Locker. In essence Deanes is to steak in Belfast what Shanahan’s is in Dublin, only more affordable.
The room is simple in decor with tables and banquets draped in crisp white linen facing an open kitchen and a signature floor-to-ceiling window which gives an impressive view of their asador grill.
Our waiter announced that there were three specials of Tbones left which produced a Hunger Games style round of rock paper scissors for the coveted cuts. Alas, poor old rock lost out and I opted for a chateaubriand for one, a thick piece of tenderloin that was given due care and attention by the charcoal grill.
The wine list is short and simple and we went for a full-bodied South African cabernet. Deanes’s reputation ensures that their reservations list is well-stocked and it is with good reason.
What arrived on our table was superb, thick cut T-bones, cooked beautifully to order and flanked by neat piles of beef dripping chips. My fillet was crispy on the outside and pink and velvet in the middle.
So good was Deanes that we decided to have our nightcap here and feasted on their signature whiskey cocktails until it was kick-out time. The next morning, when it was time to leave Belfast and head to play Portstewart I felt very differently to when I departed in 1996.
Belfast has something very special and different to cities like Dublin, Cork or Galway. There is an embracing sense of community that is infectious. The locals are engaging and helpful while the vibrant nightlife is devoid of any political inferences. It is a city that likes to remember but also looks forward.