No.36 — Restaurant in Belfast

Myself and a friend went to No.36 for lunch following a recommendation from a friend. We did have our 2 babies with us and being a small cafe we weren't sure we would be able to fit in.

I went in to check whilst my friend waited outside with the babies and we were greeted my a lovely waitress - initially she didn't think she would be able to accommodate us but before I left someone left a table by the window. The waitress followed me out and said that a customer was leaving and thankfully the table that they were leaving was large enough to accommodate us and our children without us getting in the way. We were grateful and I went outside to let my friend know that they had space for us. As we returned a lady from another table had moved to the one the waitress was getting ready for us. The waitress politely explained that she had already reserved this table for us and we would not fit at the table that this woman had moved from - the woman was not happy at all. She made us feel very uncomfortable and was very rude and horrible to the poor waitress.

Despite her rudeness and hostility the waitress tried to then accommodate this woman at the table that she was demanding as other customers were leaving but this woman had already got a bee in her bonnet and wasn't going to stay.

I felt so terrible for the waitress - she honestly did nothing wrong. The woman was clearly having a bad day and took it out on her.

The waitress was apologetic despite it not being her fault at all. Once this mean lady had left the atmosphere in the restaurant was lovely, food was delicious and we couldn't fault it.

Thank you so much for your hospitality and I hope your future customers will be kinder and more understanding than this lady. I commend the staff with how they handled this. I see that she has left a review and it wouldn't feel right for no.36 to be penalised because of this woman so hopefully this makes the situation clearer. We were a table of 4 and not a table of 2 like she stated...

Number 36

It’s was a busy lunch service and the three of us, somewhat unsuccessfully, tried to squeeze onto a table for two! However, a gentleman sitting nearby, witnessing the kerfuffle, offered us his table for four so that it wouldn’t be such a tight squeeze. Thank you, kind sir!

As always, we had great craic with the staff, who balance efficient service with friendly good-humoured conversation. There were some tempting lunchtime specials on the menu so we decided to go for the following dishes;

Loaded fries with pulled pork - a large bowlful of comfort food, with a generous amount of tender pork. Sweet potato falafel flatbread with Frank’s hot sauce - lovely middle-eastern flavours smothered in creamy houmous. Scrambled egg with smoked salmon and toasted wheaten - a brunch favourite. Simple and tasty with rocket and a squeeze of fresh lemon. If it ain’t broke........!

The portions are always generously sized, and this is a great value local cafe- a favourite of ours on the Belmont Road.

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This restaurant/coffee shop has incredible food at the core of it's being, which is really what it is all about. The food is truly spectacular, there's really no other way to describe it. We go for lunch all the time (try the toasted wrap - YUM) and decided to go for dinner a few weeks ago. The food was incredible, but the service was disappointing. The waitress hadn't been briefed on the menu and had to keep going to the kitchen to answer our questions. It was obvious she hadn't worked much in a restaurant. Although the staff were friendly and courteous, I think a little more service training would be good if they are to open as a restaurant as well as a cafe. However, for the prices you pay, you really could not complain too much. Think Deane's standard of food at McDonald's prices. Definitely...