Deanes Eipic Michelin Star

 The search for somewhere nice to dine in Belfast began 14,000 kilometres away in our home town of Auckland New Zealand. 

Booking online to ensure a table was available and the restaurant was located only metres from our hotel. 

We entered through their restaurant Deanes Meat Locker we were shown through to Eipic their fine dining restaurant and began with champagne and a beer. 

Whilst sipping we were shown the menu selections and we went for the surprise menu with ‘The Book’. More about the book later. 

Now we have eaten out at beautiful restaurants many times in our lives however, this was the first and likely the only time that I have been given a wee table for my hand bag to rest

The first surprise arrived as a threesome. Crispy chicken skin which had been rolled flat and crisped up. When I have had chicken skin prepared in this way previously it has always had a bit of a pungent fatty taste, but not this chicken skin. It was light and crunchy. 

The small quenelle shaped fish and potato pieces were rolled in polenta and lightly fried. They were piping hot and delicious dipped into the green dipping sauce. I can’t remember what the sauce was except that it cut through the flavour of the dumpling perfectly. 

And then the goats cheese. Lance doesn’t really like goats cheese, but what a shame that he loved these little morsels and I didn’t get to eat both of them myself. Sorry, I don’t know what it was coated in. I tried to take a bite so that I could investigate the insides, but it started to collapse in my fingers so down the hatch it went.

A beautifully presented sliver of seared tuna was shrouded in seaweed, greens and seeds and was sitting top a ponzu dressing. 

Along came the bread, and I generally don’t eat bread, but these two looked so good that I had to try them.

The bun had a light an crispy outside with an equally light inside, but without feeling cakey, this was Lance’s favourite bread, mine was the Irish sofa bread made with a local brew and topped with seeds. It had a sort of a treacle flavour, and the two butters complemented the bread with the sweet or salty option. We just gobbled both.

What followed was my favourite of the evening. Three baby balls of cheese were floating in a light grassy sort of oil. Sorry, but I found it hard to understand our lovely Irish waiter. A warm broth was poured over the delicate balls. I was expecting them to be more like a mozzarella however they had the smooth texture of mozzarella but had a really cheddar taste.

And now for the main course. A tender piece of rare lamb rump was, we think, cooked in a sous vide. It was served with a small potato ball (not in the photo) and a tiny copper pan with fresh peas and some sort of bean in a minty juice with tiny garlic flowers. A beautiful jus was ladled from a small copper pot . This was Lance’s favourite dish.

I paired a German pinot noir with this dish. 

We opted in for a cheese board and a desert wine. Lance went for a more alcohol based accompaniment. It was described as a wine that is not a wine. I can’t remember what it was called or where it was from, but it was a little bit brandy based and Lance loved it.

Myself, I chose a more botrytis type, it was a sauternes that was light and a perfect accompaniment for the following course.

And now for The Incredible Book. Alex Greene, the chef, won the 2020 desert that was created to celebrate 150 years of British children’s literature. He was inspired by the Oliver Jeffries book ‘ The Incredible Book Eating Boy.

The book arrived in a wooden bookish case which was opened to reveal a small 8cm x 10 cm cake that replicated a book to perfection.

We were encouraged to flip through the pages before eating it.

The book had a variety of flavours that grabbed your tastebuds as you consumed each chapter. At 25 pounds it was an expensive risk, but the flavours and the experience to truely worth every pence.

But wait, there’s more!

And now for desert. These little apple tarts had round of cooked apple that were still form but not crunchy and they had a little spice that accentuated the apple flavour.

And last but not in any way least we completed out feast with some petit fours.

We highly recommend Deane’s Eipic restaurant and can see why they deserve Michelin star status. The service and food were impeccable.