The first time that I was in The Jailhouse I wanted to leave, but that was due to 10 kilos of Peruvian Cut that I had tried to smuggle into the country in Quaker Oats boxes and the authorities weren't having any of that.
...
Joke swing and a miss.
I did want to leave the first time I was in The Jailhouse though, that much was true, but that was due to it being the official opening night and I had made a poor choice in clothing and no amount of Dove Clean Comfort antiperspirant was going to save me.
In subsequent visits I have been wiser though, and if me using the plural form of 'visit' didn't give it away: I really like The Jailhouse.
It's a very cool bar.
The brickwork and old timbers aesthetic is very cool in a 'dirty but not' kind of way, the staff are really on the ball and everything is kept clean and as well served as can be in a busy bar on a Saturday night.
Of course it isn't the bar aspect that I want to talk about, although it must be said that they do have a great selection of beers on tap, mostly a selection from the (semi-craft?) Franciscan Well, and they have a very respectable selection of spirits.
But no, I want to talk about the dining.
I dropped in with a friend to give it a try as whilst we were quite familiar with Henry's Bar when it was called McCracken's we had yet to sample the food in The Jailhouse.
To start I had a potted duck with cucumber salad and my friend had a pint of prawns, the general consensus was that the starters were delicious. I would have thought maybe a hoi sin drizzle or something over the salad but that's not a complaint,  the flavour mix throughout was great (and I'll be the first to admit hoi sin could have overpowered that). I liked the wee jam pot of duck, which was very tasty indeed.
For main I went for a simple steak sandwich, which was excellently cooked and I'm glad I went for it, although it was a tough call because I had passed someone eating a bowl of mussels on my way in and they looked amazing. My friend went for a Sunday Roast, which surprised me because usually he's all about his seafood, but given the way he attacked the plate I think it's fairly safe to say that he enjoyed it.
The staff were friendly and very attentive throughout, the prices were reasonable, and the food was great.
I'll definitely be back. 
Disclosure: I had to nick the pictures from OpenTable as I forgot to take any when I was in.

Address
4 Joys Entry, Belfast BT1 4DR

Open
Mon-Fri 8am - 1am (2am Fri), Sat 9am - 2am, Sun 9am - Midnight

Parking
High Street Multistory 2 mins walk, Victoria Square Multistory 5 mins walk, limited on-street

Website
​​​www.thejailhousebelfast.com/

What can I say? This restaurant was a fantastic discovery.
A quirky little place I spotted during a should we say less than sensible walk back to my hotel during the Dublin Horse Show, I reckoned that it looked like the kind of place that I would like to take a date.
In a way fate seemed to conspire the following day, I didn't get a date but a couple I am friendly with said that they were going to try it and invited us along, so a table of two became a table of five and the team were more than happy to accommodate.
The decor is the quirky kind of cool that I love, and in the bar made of books I was even able to make a suggestion for a book that would fit perfectly into a gap at the top. Because sometimes you have to be shameless.
The menu is an eclectic blend of French and Irish and at one point I was even tempted to go vegetarian as the options sound so moreish. I didn't though and instead opted to go for Goose Croquettes in an apple and celeriac remoulade followed by a Slow Cooked Lamb Shank with lardons and a potato and bacon strudel. If your mouth isn't watering yet it should be.
As a group we would be known to be big eaters so when it came to ordering additional sides our bubbly server stopped us at two because she would only have to throw them out. And she was right, the portions were incredibly generous which was not something one would normally expect when the food is of such high quality.
They had a good selection of beers available, I was delighted to see my old favourite Erdinger on the list, and the wine list was fantastic (yes, I had a pinot noir, and unfortunately I can't review it because I forgot to take a picture of the label and might have been a little tipsy).
The team were attentive and they were running everything to a T, there was no rush in getting our main course out after the starters, we were allowed time to rest before the main event, they were professional in checking up with us but not so professional that they couldn't have a bit of craic too.
The whole place has a friendly atmosphere in a cosy and quirky setting, with food that I really couldn't rave enough about.
And I didn't even mention my rhubarb and strawberry crumble. Nom.

Address
1st Floor, 10 Merrion Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4

Open
All week 12 - 9.30pm (10pm Fri & Sat, 9pm Sun)

Parking
On street, on Herbert Park Road

Website
​​​​girlandthegooserestaurant.ie/

There is also Club Sixty6 making up the storeys above the Grande Cafe, but I'm not going to review the club here as that is a separate experience.
The National is one of those places that I seem to spend a wee bit too much time in. If I'm about during daylight hours and fancy a light snack I always enjoy a quick bit off the brunch menu, I'm quite a fan of their eggs benedict. That's not to say that the portions are small, the beef brisket hash makes for quite a filling meal and the deluxe sandwiches certainly will not leave you going hungry.
The coffee may not be to everyone's taste as they use quite a bitter bean, but that isn't a criticism, taste is entirely subjective, and whilst I'm personally not fond of bitter coffees (I prefer Columbian) I still regularly enjoy a cappuccino here.
I find that it is a great place to meet with friends for a beer on a Sunday, or a late breakfast after (in most cases for us) ending up in the National on a Saturday night. There is always a good mix of ages on a Saturday night and you can usually find someone to talk rubbish to.
They have a decent selection of craft beers and probably the best spectrum of spirits in Belfast, the National is one of the first bars I can recall having such a large range of vodkas, gins, rums and whiskeys in the city.
There is a very chilled atmosphere on a Sunday, usually with live music in the Cafe or out in the beer garden if it's a nice day.
Whilst I am clearly a fan of the National I do feel that it is now in need of a bit of a revamp, moreso in the beer garden than indoors. The National was one of the first beer gardens in the Cathedral Quarter but with the rise of newer and fresher competition I think that they need to look a rejuvenating the area before they get left behind. I say that with the best of wishes of course.

Address
62 High Street, Belfast BT1 2BE

Open
Monday to Friday, 8.30am - Late, Weekends 9.30am - Late

Parking
On street or High Street multistory across the road.

Website
​​​​www.thenationalbelfast.com/

House of Zen is probably my favourite Chinese restaurant in Belfast, certainly the one that I eat in the most.
The menu above is the lunch menu and the bulk of this review will be referring to Sunday lunchtime, however I have been in the evenings as you'll note when I get to the inevitable mention of taking a date here. The evening menu is broader and the portions larger, and the quality is just as high.
I'd love to tell you about how nice the variety of starters all are but I always order the delicious Signature Starter: king prawns in a light batter on a bed of curry leaves with roasted garlic and sliced chillis, with one oven cooked birdseye chilli just for punishment.
The other starters all look very nice though.
I've sampled a lot more from the mains and I can genuinely say that I haven't had a bad meal in House of Zen. I'm quite fond of the asparagus and ribeye steak rolls, tender steak wrapped around spears of asparagus on a bed of onions and a black pepper sauce.
The Chinese Roasted Duck is another pleasure to sample, and their salt and chilli chicken is fantastic (something I usually use as a barometer for how good a Chinese takeaway is the quality of their salt and chilli).
The restaurant itself is dimly lit in a comfortable way, with well-cushioned chair if you're planning to sit around having a particularly enjoyable date, although the service is always prompt and efficient so you probably won't have any other reason for sitting long. I did however take a date once and the table next to us had rotated through four groups in the time it took us to finish up our conversation, so fair play to Zen that they didn't move us on.
They have a good selection of gins and other spirits available, and a few nice beers too, but sometimes it's just nice to sit back and relax with a nice pot of tea.

Address
Unit 3, St Anne's Square, Belfast BT1 2LR

Open
Monday to Friday, 12-11.30 (Late Friday), Sat 1-Late, Sun 1.30-10.30

Parking
St Anne's Square multistory part of same building

Website
​​​​www.houseofzenbelfast.co.uk/

I'm starting to think that I have a type when it comes to wee cafes and restaurants as the word 'kitsch' tends to come up a lot in my reviews. Of course I could justify this in saying that I particularly look out for restaurants expressing their own sense of individuality rather than a corporate job like TGI Friday's where no matter the store you'll see the same Darth Vader mask staring at the same Elvis record with the same dead-eyed staff singing a royalties-free version of Happy Birthday whilst silently wishing for death.
So there's something I really like about Harlem Cafe.
Maybe it's the lady who was working in it who had a sort of air of oblivious happiness, of course I didn't know until I came to write this review that said lady was actually the owner. She projects a nice and untroubled air that really filters down into the restaurant, and the attitude seems to be reflected well among the staff who were good humoured and professional.
Visiting for Sunday brunch with my friends and a hangover I got to play 'guess the celebrity and what did they die from' looking over all the old black and white pictures of rock and punk stars on the wall. It's a good game to play, but you can't just say 'drugs' for every answer.
I went for a simple poached eggs breakfast with bacon, sausage and rocket on sourdough, a simple breakfast with a nice twist, and had an espresso milkshake along with it because of the aforementioned hangover. And you know what, after cappuccinos and martinis I think I've found something else that espresso goes great with.
Also on our table was a scrambled eggs breakfast which also involved smoked salmon, avocado and rocket, and there was also a breakfast bruschetta which I'll admit almost gave me food envy except I was really looking forward to my poached eggs.
I can't pass any comment on the lunch menu as I've never had it but if the food is of similar standard to the breakfast then I imagine it will get the same review: simple with a twist and very tasty.
I think Sunday brunch in Harlem is something that I would enjoy doing with my girlfriend... so I'm going to have to look into getting a girlfriend.

Address
34 Bedford Street, Belfast BT2 7FF

Open
Monday to Friday, 8-5 (Late Friday), Sat 9-Late, Sun 8-4

Parking
On street, several multi-storey parks within 5 minute walk

Website
​​​harlembelfast.com/

I'm being a bit cheeky in writing this review as I'm doing so in the coffee shop that used to be managed by the lady who now owns the Granary.
The Granary is one of those places that I never really wanted to go to, I had always thought of it as something of a greasy spoon cafe, one of those relics of a bygone era in which the menu choice was chips with brown sauce or chips with ketchup. And me being a snob about my foamy coffees and overpriced under-filled sandwiches it wasn't the place for me.
Snap forward to when the Granary was taken over by the aforementioned lady who used to run one of the local chain coffee shops in town. Apparently it wasn't a greasy spoon before takeover, but at the risk of sounding ageist it was an 'old persons' cafe, and according to my mum all the regulars were leaving because 'they introduced a load of healthy stuff onto the menu'.
But it seems to have bounced back, good food tells the tale.
As a wife and husband team the Granary has a great friendly atmosphere, good coffee, good food, and the kind of kitsch 'creaky floorboards' surroundings that people are paying big money to replicate in Belfast.
I went for a Power Bowl plate of steamed green veg with grilled chicken fillet, somewhat healthier than I was planning and the portion was bigger than I was expecting. I was torn before ordering because the chicken burrito special on the menu board sounded quite awesome.
Whilst I was waiting for my food I saw several large plates of sandwiches and paninis coming from the kitchen, so the one thing to take away from this review if nothing else is that you will not go hungry dining here.
The pastries all seemed to be homemade, which is a big bonus in these days of desserts that have been blast frozen and then defrosted on the day like the food had been put into hypersleep and then reawakened in time for a Weyland Yutani plot twist.
Sorry, there're the movie references spilling over from when I did the review for Sam Neill's Two Paddocks Pinot Noir.
The Granary is a cosy little spot, I'd say seating maybe 20 plus a couple of tables outside, but during the half hour I was there I also counted about two dozen people getting lunch to go which is a pretty good testament for their product given the level of competition in the town.
So long story short I think it's a pretty good spot for a healthy lunch or a good sandwich, and a nice coffee. And with a good friendly atmosphere that will keep people coming back.

Address
50 James Street, Cookstown BT80 8LT

Open
Monday to Saturday, 9-5.30 (9pm Thursday)

Parking
On street

Website
​​www.facebook.com/thegranarycookstown/

Ok, this is going to be a mixed review. I'm putting that out there now because I'm trying to express my opinion in these things without using a star or number system, so don't go away thinking that I'm entirely negative on 44 Hill Street.
The staff were really friendly and created a nice atmosphere, background music was pretty cool, and there were a nice range of wines on display. The decor of a trendy Mediterranean bistro struck a nice balance between homely and cool, it's a nice place.
Ok, so you've probably gathered that my foibles are with the food.
We ordered 3 tapas dishes to start. The lamb belly tapas was genuinely lovely, very tasty little dish of crispy lamb and olives, but seeing a flavoured mayo drizzled over it gave me pause. The prawn slider tapas again was quite heavy in marie rose sauce or other flavoured mayo, and the squid (which was perfectly cooked) also came with a dollop spicy mayo.
Maybe it's just me but reliance on mayos is just lazy, and not particularly 'Mediterranean'. The squid for example could have easily been served with a nice chilli and ginger glaze, something with a nice kick. The lamb belly would have been fine by itself, or with just a dash of olive oil. The prawn slider was literally just prawn cocktail in a roll, I would suggest maybe something like prawn pil pil or a zesty slaw. The mayo usage just seems like the lazy approach you'd get in a chain restaurant rather than in a restaurant trying to forge a reputation to equal their previous venture 'La Bastille'.
For main course we both ordered the smoked chicken tagliatelle. Too much oil and too much pesto (at time of writing it's seven hours later and it's still all I can taste), there was a nice flavour with the chicken, tomato and parmesan, I would have thought that a light pesto cream would have created a better overall balance.
Obviously I can only critique what I sampled and I wouldn't presume to call out the entire menu, but I do feel that from what I sampled they do need to re-examine what it is that they're trying to do.
I'll say again that the lamb was lovely and crisp, the squid was cooked perfectly (and squid is very easy to bugger up and leave tasting like rubber boots), the chargrilled chicken had a nice flavour (it was just buried in oily pesto). If you miss Prezzo or fancy something different to the Cuban chain restaurant that used to be Vaudeville you'll find the menu to be of the same standard. I just think that they're trying to achieve more.
I'll finish with saying that I do think 44 Hill Street has got everything else right, they just need to tweak (not change, just tweak) the dishes and it would stand alongside any of the top restaurants in Belfast.

Address
44 Hill Street, Belfast BT1 2LG

Open
7 days a week

Parking
Some on street on Talbot Street, St Anne's Square car park two minutes walk.

Website
​​www.44hillstreet.com/

Yep, pretty much where you go for a good burger.
Big thick juicy burgers, cooked to your taste and served to your liking in the same traditional wrap reminiscent of the American burger bars of old. I ordered mine cooked medium with all the toppings, with tasty hand cut fries on the side, and a lovely strawberry milkshake. My only complaint: as tasty as the milkshake was, it was not worth £4.
From the menu to the fit-out everything was minimalist, but I like that. You know what you're there for and know what to expect: burger. I like what they've done, it's basically back to the bare bones just like how McDonald's started, but don't take that as a parallel of quality.
The staff are well on the ball, with good cleanliness and quick, friendly service, they do the place proud. 
It's pretty cool that the simple menus are presented as business cards on your table, small menu so why waste space on massive big boards.
My mate Aidan has become somewhat of a regular and is a big fan of the double burger, however today was my first visit and I'd already had a nice breakfast in the National so opted for the single burger. The single is still a big lump of meat so the double must be a bit of an epic feed.
I forgot to get them to take the tomato out which was a whoopsie on my part that I only noticed when the bun started to disintegrate. I never got the tomato slice in the burger thing. Thankfully there are plenty of napkins on the table next to the condiment bottles. There were big, ignorant slices of pickles in the burger though which made me happy.
I'll probably just end the review here because there's only so much you can say about a minimalist place that does tasty burgers.
I wasn't aware at the time that Bunsen is actually a Dublin chain, I'm hoping now that they are eyeing up a few other sites in the North.

Address
6-8 Hill Street, Belfast BT1 2DX

Open
7 days a week

Parking
Some on street on Waring Street and Talbot Street, St Anne's Square car park two minutes walk.

Website
​www.bunsen.ie/

Made in Belfast City Hall is one of those wee places you might not find if you didn't know where to look, or one of those little gems that you stumble into. It all depends if you're having a goal orientated day or waiting to see where your feet will take you.
The interior is very 'urban cafe' with mismatched furniture, random tiles, posters and graffiti, and exposed brick and pipe. It all looks very cool and I find is a great place to impress when you're out with a few friends.
But lets talk about the food, that's the important part when reviewing a restaurant after all.
The food is awesome.
Myself, I'm fond of the flat iron steak (served medium rare) with beef shortrib, buttermilk onion rings, and beef fat fries... today as any other day it came out to perfection.
Their burgers are a nice big handmade affair, and of course there are baskets of chicken wings, cups of soup with tasty big lumps of foccacia bread, big pots of mussels... oh I could go on and on.
They make a big thing about having sustainably sourced and ethical foods, which I'll admit I always think is a gimmick when I see that in any restaurant, but I do get the feeling that MiB is actually trying.
The menu caters well for vegetarians and vegans, but to be honest given that I've waxed-lyrical about the flat iron steak I'm probably not the man to talk to about that.
Cocktails is something that Made in Belfast has a good reputation for, although since I'm normally driving I can't say I've sampled anything, and the last date I took there considered gin and tonic to be the only cocktail that she needed. Fortunately the gin selection is fantastic, so there's a reason for you to go and check it out.
The beer selection is pretty decent, although craft beer is exclusively Whitewater Brewery. If you've been following my reviews you'll know that I think this is no bad thing, but it is an area I think Made in Belfast have room to broaden their horizons given the sheer spectrum of local craft currently on the market, perhaps as beer specials or a beer of the week.
Last to mention about Made in Belfast City Hall is the service: I can't speak highly enough about the team. They're friendly, on the ball, and (for example) when you land in on a rainy day with a party of six and no booking they'll do their best to squeeze you in (I promise I won't make a habit of that).

Address
Units 1 & 2 Wellington Building, Wellington Street, Belfast

Open
7 days a week

Parking
On street and nearby multistorey

Website
madeinbelfastni.com/

Note
This review applies only to Made in Belfast City Hall. I haven't eaten in The Grill restaurant mentioned on the website, I'll do a separate review whenever I have. It also does not apply to the Cathedral Quarter restaurant. 

The Perch Rooftop Bar is one of those places in Belfast that I was always hearing about but had never actually been to, mostly because if I had been enjoying a drink in sister bar Sweet Afton I would later turn toward the city centre rather than look around the corner of the building to head upstairs.
I finally managed to correct this deficiency in my knowledge and I found The Perch to be something of a kitsch gem. The darkened entrance tunnel is lit by fairy lights as birds twitter from speakers all around and then you travel a manned lift to to the top floor of the old converted warehouse, or you can walk five storeys if you are feeling energetic.
The bar itself sits in the centre of a bright and airy room, half of which is permanently covered and half of which has a retractable roof to make the most of those rare days of sunlight that cook us up like vampires.
The furniture is a mix of trendy conservatory and patio furniture, along with a few stools and long tables, with wooden floors on the inside and artificial grass outside. It's quirky without being annoyingly so.
Cocktails are the big selling point on the menu, but they also have a decent selection of more niche beers on tap (I won't say 'Craft' because I have a friend who would have a coronary if I called the Coor's owned Franciscan Well beers Craft), and the mandatory prosecco.
I was quite surprised to see that they also offered a decent range of pizzas and nibbles to snack on, but I know usually that if I had the option to sit and graze all day I would probably never leave, so fair play.
I had a giggle to myself when I noticed that they literally just sawed through the joices of the old Victorian warehouse to lift the roof off and make the bar, that's the ingenuity we're famed for.
And you know what, the whole thing works. There is just something cool about sitting on a patio sofa drinking a cold beer on a sunny day five storeys above the traffic.

Address
The Gate, 42 Franklin Street, Belfast

Open
7 days a week

Parking
On street and nearby multistorey, but don't be thick if you're driving

Website
www.theperchbelfast.com/