This week’s Tuesday Goodie Bag features
🍽 Cyprus Avenue
🍽 Frae
Our venue of the week:
🔵 The Harrison
Cyprus Avenue
Cyprus Avenue in Ballyhackamore is open daily over the festive period for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and has just launched its gorgeous Christmas Menu.
We chose from the Three Course Mid-Week Dinner Menu, which is great value at £33. To start, we enjoyed a bread selection with CA’s tangy hop butter and tapenade. There are also some brilliant festive cocktails to sip whilst perusing the menu.
Our appetisers included an absolute favourite of ours, the Crispy Duck Pancakes with hoisin, pineapple & black butter marmalade, and the Brie, Cranberry & Hazelnut Vol au Vent, and CA Chicken liver parfait, with mango, almond & peshwari soda were also excellent choices.
Another delicious CA staple, the Mixed Grill of East Coast seafood is one of the main course options, and there’s a meat-free, wholesome and tasty Nut Roast with all the trimmings & vegan gravy. And the Roast Duck Breast with leg sausage, apricot & red onion marmalade, and a chickpea fritter is another great dish.
Desserts are also wonderfully indulgent and the perfect way to finish any festive feast. Whether you choose the Black Forest Delice, Ma Brady’s Christmas Pudding, or the Baked Alaska, you can be sure of a sensational sweet treat!
And don’t forget about CA at Home this Christmas. Let the team do the work this Christmas by prepping your x5 course dinner, available for collection or delivery on Christmas Eve. With a few minimal heating instructions, you will have a CA quality Christmas dinner in the comfort of your own home this year!
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 food adventure.
Frae website HERE
Previous review HERE
The Harrison
Recently we had the pleasure and privilege of staying in Melanie Harrison’s wonderful Chambers of Distinction; elegantly restored, landmark Victorian merchants’ residences dating from 1879. Ideally located near the Lyric Theatre, Queens Film Theatre, the Grand Opera House, Crescent Arts Centre and just opposite Botanic gardens, this “Bohemian Bolthole” is an absolute delight. Unique & quirky, this gorgeous building is a celebratory tribute to Belfast’s artistic, historical and cultural past, seamlessly combining the owner’s exquisite collection of art and curios, with sumptuous comfort, modern facilities and incredible attention to detail.
On our arrival, we were warmly welcomed by our host who was preparing the front lounge for an afternoon of festive jazz with the wonderful Marion Jordan on vocals. What a terrific start to the Yuletide season! With a great selection of jazz standards and Christmas tunes, the appreciative crowd were soon singing and dancing in no time, helped along in no small part by the drinks served by the friendly & enthusiastic staff.
That evening, we were staying in the Ruby Murray Suite; huge bay windows, reclaimed floorboards sympathetically restored antique furniture, sumptuous velvet curtains and a stunning freestanding bathtub. And the nostalgic old record-player, lined up to play Ruby’s Greatest Hits on vinyl, was a delightful touch. Utterly charming. All around the hotel, we found a myriad of pieces reflecting the underlying mischief and tongue-in-cheek humour of the hotel’s playful personality.
Breakfast in the front lounge was the perfect way to start the day. Continental in style and staying true to the high standards of every aspect of the Harrison; overnight oats and fruit, granola and croissants, breads, cheese and charcuterie, tea served in humorously cute teapots: everything has been carefully considered and expertly executed.
Our stay was an absolute treat, and we cannot recommend The Harrison highly enough. As the old adage behind the reception says, “You Treat This Place Like A Hotel! ” And this hotel certainly knows exactly how to treat its guests!
One word. Perfection.
The Harrison website HERE
Link to Blog
