Frae — Restaurant in Northern Ireland

Located on the main street of Holywood, Frae is both easy to find and easy to access by all types of transport. The venue itself is compact seating only about 40 people but is bright, light and very modern. It's a fixed menu tasting style experience in which one of everything is brought out in preset waves. Starting with the rosti, soured cream and trout caviar it was perfectly crunchy, with a sour twist and a sweet pop from the caviar this 2 bite treat was well balanced and light. Next there was the cheese and ham Jambon, presented almost like a profiterole it was rich and decadent with the wonderful familiar flavours you'd expect from a classic jambon. The celeriac fritter was incredibly crunchy with a pleasant piquant from the pickled walnut, with the smoked gubben offering up a silky creaminess with subtle smokey undertone. The artichoke and smoked haddock chowder was wonderfully unctuous and velvety, perfectly balanced and deeply flavourful, served with bread that was somehow both the fluffiest and crispiest I've experienced. Round 3 was the braised shin, radicchio salad and the garlic potatoes. The shin was melt in the mouth tender whilst the split pea and carrots were very crisp and perfectly cooked. The shin bone with marrow was an added bonus of richness and punchy flavour. The salad was so fresh the parsley giving a fragrant lift. As for the potatoes, delicious crunchy packages of butterey garlicky goodness, I would truly buy these by the bucket. The dessert was profiteroles, aside from being utterly massive these are deep, and rich the richness is wonderfully offset by the silkiness of the cream. The service was exactly what you'd hope for, friendly and attentive without being overbearing and intrusive, the timings seemed well choreographed as if to not ask you how you're doing whilst you have a mouthful. I enjoyed everything about this experience, and I'd be surprised if Frae doesn't have a star in their future. I 100% hope to...

Frae

Sometimes, you stumble across something quite extraordinary, culinarily speaking, practically on your doorstep. And that was the case with Frae, an unassuming little wine bar & dining room in the heart of Holywood. But looks can be deceptive.

The menu, ambiance and overall vibe are all wonderfully unique and delightfully different to the “run of the mill”. Frae serves locally sourced seasonal plates alongside an ever-changing natural wine list.

The fluffy Bara Bakehouse ciabatta was served with umami-rich, salty marmite butter. We then had a lightly crispy Potato Rosti with cultured cream & smoked eel, and Celeriac with pickled walnut & smoked Drumlin. Both utterly delicious.

Next, the Chicken Liver Parfait with prunes was silky smooth, and there were some fantastic vegetarian dishes on the menu; both the Jerusalem Artichokes with cauliflower & chestnuts, and the Spelt and Pumpkin with dates, kale & Young Buck were seasonal winter dishes, perfect for a Christmas sharing feast.

We also loved the fresh & zingy Cured Cod with watermelon, radish & clementine, and the hearty Beef and Guinness bun with horseradish.

The fish dish of Roast Coley was more than enough to share, and was sprinkled with brown shrimps in a leek vinaigrette.

Even our accompaniment of Fried Potatoes with caramelised garlic was a cut above the ubiquitous “garlic fries” served up with monotonous regularity in lesser establishments.

All washed down with a stunning Domaine Muret Syrah, this was a simply outstanding...

A real hidden gem, just 10 mins on the train out of Belfast. The service was brilliant, really knowledgeable without being intimidating or pushy, and instead helped us order without overdoing it. The wine selection by the glass was great, and good value too, again, great recommendations. The food is the real star of the show, we went for the lightly grilled oysters, the jambons (which really feel like one of those dishes you’ll be craving every few days after), the moreish artichokes, steak tartare Caesar salad which was great fun, skate wing and their signature crispy potatoes. The food comes out when it’s ready in a really clever order, no rushing. The Veda treacle tart was a standout for dessert, and ask for a ‘Belfast coffee’ - like an espresso martini but nicer. By no means cheap, but quality of ingredients and the vibes were brilliant. We’ll...