The Northern Whig — Restaurant in Belfast

Booked this on Monday 31 October for dinner on Tuesday 1 November. Asked if I could have a booth in the restaurant and this wasn't a problem. Booking was smooth and pleasant enough with the booker stating they looked forward to seeing us. On arrival we were greeted and after confirming booking we were shown to our table. We had a party of 12 older German gentlemen opposite but they behaved themselves and weren't a bother. Attentive waiter came over was pleasant and asked us for our drinks order. 1 bottle of prosecco and two french martinis delivered up while we browsed a quite extensive menu that personally I would say will cover most people's tastes. Deep fried Brie and bang bang chicken skewers to start were delicious. Portions not over generous but average I would say. Main course of Korean chicken and sirloin was good. Really chunky chips and tobacco onions with the steak. Ok it won't set the culinary world alight but was cooked to my taste and not too much fat. Creamy whiskey sauce was so smooth and complemented the meat. Korean chicken with a side of chips came on a wooden platter. No room to cut up chicken except in the bowl it came in. Perhaps it would have been better served on a plate. Chicken had a nice smooth coconutty taste to it. Not too over powering and the nice almost tempura batter gave the chicken a bit of bite. The wine and cocktails going down well, the waiting staff, made sure our food was ok and we had enough to drink. Gave it about half an hour, sipped the martinis had another glass of prosecco then the sweets beckoned. Nice selection on offer but in the end not being too adventurous we opted for raspberry tartlet and sticky toffee pudding. Both fine. Staff didn't pressure us to move and we had a nice relaxing sit finishing bottle and martinis. About 3 hours in total. Total bill including wine, cocktails and soft drinks was £90. Great night out during the week. Don't know how quiet this would be at the weekend. I suspect being a pretty popular destination you wouldn't get the luxury of a 3 hour dinner but that's only to be expected...

If i could give zero stars I would. Never experienced customer service like this in my life. Walked about to look for an employee, seen a guy who was about to walk past me and asked him "excuse me?" He said he was busy, about to walk on before stopping and saying "do I need something." As if I was such an inconvenience to him, a paying customer in a bar/ restaurant where the competition is extremely high. Never the less I asked "do you work here" (as I have never been greeted by such an unwelcoming and hostile manner before in hospitality, maybe i am mistaking this man in the Northern Whig apron and shouldnt be approaching him) he replied yes of course and I asked would you have a table for 3. He said we should be standing at the sign where it says to wait for a server. (I assume this is at the front entrance, we came in via the side door which was open and has no sign at it, so I must have left my crystal ball at home last night unfortunately) he checked and told us there wasn't any availability for another 2 hours. Which is quite shocking as there was only about 4 tables taken and if you have ever been to Northern Whig before you know they have about 20 odd tables. Been in plenty of times in the past and always have a lovely meal with friendly staff but that just leaves a bad taste when the employee makes you feel so uncomfortable, for just approaching them and asking if they have availability. Really poor. Went to pizza punks which we were lucky to get a table as the place was rammed, lovely friendly staff and yummy food. Maybe its not really shocking Northern Whig only had 4 tables taken with that level of...

We had just arrived in Belfast off the ferry and were looking for a nice place to eat. I did a google search and found a couple of places close by the Ramada by Wyndham. We walked and looked at a few places but we decide on The Northern Whig. We looked at the outside menu and prices and it fit what we were looking for. The atmosphere is very nice, not too dark and not too bright. They asked if we had a reservation but we didn’t; we lucked out because we got there before the regulars came in. My wife and I ordered the fish and chips because we wanted to share the meal. The couple with us ordered the Beef and Stout Pie and Fish and Chips. WOW! Wow! Everything was sooooo good! The fish was lightly battered, fresh and no fishy taste. The fries were great too! Our friend that has the Beef and Stout Pie said the meal was soooo tasty. It was roast beef pieces in meat gravy and it was covered with a round croissant pastry. She let us try some and it was awesome. Our serve Hannah did a fantastic job taking care of us, we told her that the food and atmosphere was soooo good we wanted to come back. She went ahead and made a reservation for us so we would have a spot and the same table. We also had desserts Chocolate Fudge cake and Cheesecake, both were outstanding! You’ve got to go and...