Established Coffee — Restaurant in Town Parks

I - The place

A hip and trendy coffee with excellent breakfast options at the heart of Belfast, with a very nice staff and good vibe.

II - The Food and mood

First of all, I must say out of 14 days in Belfast we probably spent 10 mornings at Established, as we loved it so much the very first time we came.

Big without being too loud, the space offered by established is very pleasant while being mindful of the health measures. The furniture is nice and comfy wherever you sit. The staff, and I believe the owner, were always lovely and noticed our regular visits with friendly welcome. You quickly feel at ease and at home.

The breakfast options are fantastic. I got addicted to their breakfast tacos which are, objectively, a weird combination of Mexican Food x Irish Fry, but work SO well. Their buns are also very good, along with their toasties. Another highlight was their revamped Kouign Amann which is more of a crossover between a Kouign Amann and donut / croustillon than a proper Kouign Amann, but as exciting and good. I think we tried about everything they had to offer and all was from very good to excellent. The coffee, trusting my partner, was good and my hot choc always very nice too.

They also sell an interesting array of coffee related goods, with nice branded glasses and mugs.

III - Anything special?

The tacos and the Kouign Amann, definitely unique and most excellent.

IV - Verdict

I'm not sure we will ever find a place we will go to as regularly if / when we come back to Belfast. A lovely...

Over £3 for an espresso left me feeling like a mug! The cake was good (and fairly priced) but the coffee was pretty acrid; maybe that’s just extra fancy coffee?

Although we didn’t eat lunch the menu was exciting with five options that were contemporary and appetising.

The menu behind the counter only lists the more obscure coffees (I.e. with multiple things like caramel and bits of nut or whatever added in) but no prices for Americano, latte, cappuccino etc etc. So the espresso bill made me do a double take. We’re visiting Belfast from London, where even in the most snazzy and pretentious coffee places you don’t pay £3 for a single shot of coffee. Perhaps the price is set to put off the many people who seem to use this place as their office all day? And at that price service should be quick, friendly and accurate. The guy serving us seemed to be having too much trouble trying to get a shot glass of milk to balance inside a round bottomed tea cup balancing on top of a teapot without spilling it (as if it’ll taste any different) to really engage with us or serve what should take 30 seconds to make rather than 3 or 4 minutes!

So go if you like to feel trendy, like pungent coffee and don’t mind poor service. Otherwise this area has plenty of other places. We had lunch at the Yellow Door cafe in the MAC and it was flawless. With customarily cheerful Belfast...

I’ve been coming to this cafe for many years but after today I don’t feel comfortable coming back. I ordered and I sat down to work on my computer while having a bit to eat before heading to town. 15 minutes in one of your workers explained to me that I had to leave because you can only stay up to 1 hour with your computer at busy times. I said I completely understood that but I walked in to order not even 20 minutes before and I was nearly finish with my coffee and happy to go after I finished what I paid for. Right after that, another worker approached me telling me that if I wasn’t ordering anything else, I had to leave because I was way past an hour, which wasn’t true- I left my house at 11:30 and I leave the cafe at 12:05…-. At that point I rushed my coffee and left as I felt incredibly uncomfortable and embarrassed as this was handle in front of everyone and the other customers were staring at our conversation. There was a group of three and another couple of groups of two on the same big table who were already eating when I was queuing and they were still there finishing their drinks when I left. I don’t understand why they let me order food and a drink to sit in if I was expected to finish my bun and coffee in less than 30’ and why I was the only one rushed to leave the table when practically everyone else in there where sat for way...