How to spend 48 hours in Belfast

For the perfect start to your weekend in the city, we recommend grabbing some breakfast at Cafe Parisien. Located in the heart of the city centre overlooking City Hall, you can enjoy some delicious French-inspired breakfast dishes and great coffee while watching the city come to life. Boasting a chic yet comfortable ambience, this continental-style eatery is a local favourite for a reason.

Open from 10 am, their brunch menu features everything from Eggs Benedict and Eggs Florentine to a hearty Parisien Breakfast featuring a pork and leek sausage, back bacon, tomato, mushrooms, toasted sourdough, and a fried egg. If you feel like going the extra mile, you can make your brunch boozy by adding your favourite cocktail or wine, enjoying up to six glasses alongside a brunch dish of your choice for £49.99 per person. The perfect place to kick off a couple of days in the city, you can fill up here and feel well ready to explore all that the Northern Irish capital has to offer!

Brand new to Ballyhackamore, Banh Boy brings an authentic taste of Vietnam to East Belfast. The perfect spot for a hearty and flavourful lunch, this fun and friendly spot specialises in epic Vietnamese flavours with everything from Korean BBQ Ramen with BBQ pork, corn salsa, fat noodles, ponzu egg, and nori to Roast Cod with tom kha, pickled tomato, kohlrabi, and samphire.

As the name suggests, they also offer a delicious range of authentic Vietnamese banh alongside banh with a Belfast twist, such as their Breakfast Banh with crispy bacon, a sausage patty, spicy ketchup, kimchi, and a fried egg. With a vegan alternative for pretty much every item on their menu, no one needs to miss out on the incredible flavours on offer here. For example, their Vegan Breakfast Banh comes with crispy mushrooms, tofu, spicy ketchup, and kimchi. If you fancy something more authentic to Vietnam, we recommend either their Kung Po Pork Banh or their Kung Po Tofu Banh, both of which come with pickled peppers, naga aioli, scallion, herb salad, and sesame.

The newest venture from renowned local chef Michael Deane, MrDeanes Bistro Bar and Social brings together the legacy of his former restaurants in the city to offer a truly unique and memorable dining experience. The perfect place to enjoy a relaxed yet refined dining experience, you are guaranteed to enjoy one of the best dining experiences in Belfast eating here.

A spacious 100-seater dining area flooded with light thanks to a conservatory-style ceiling with a long bar connecting two rooms, this is the perfect place to relax and soak up the atmosphere of an evening in the city, while enjoying high-quality dishes made with love. The menu serves the very finest local food sourced from across the island, including their own homemade pork sausages and luxury locally-caught fish dishes. Offering a unique bistro twist, the menu here features something for everyone, making it an absolute must-visit while spending a few days in the city.

A beloved neighbourhood bistro located in the leafy East Belfast suburb of Ballyhackamore, Cyprus Avenue is one of the best places to enjoy a slow and relaxed breakfast in the city. Open for all-day dining with a menu that focuses around the very best locally-sourced seasonal produce from all across the Emerald Isle, you can expect the very best quality dishes each and every time you dine here. Their simple yet creative breakfast menu offers something for all tastes and dietary requirements, from meat-eaters to vegans, vegetarians, and those following a gluten-free diet.

Breakfast is served from 9 am, so you can start your day early before heading out to explore the city. Their signature Cyprus Avenue Cooked Breakfast is a fan-favourite featuring bacon, sausage, black pudding, fried egg, and their homemade breads, including potato oaten, soda bread, and treacle wheaten, alongside mushrooms, tomato, and beans. If you’re more of a fan of a sweet breakfast, you’ll be delighted with their epic Cinnamon French Toast or their indulgent Buttermilk Pancakes, which come with refuge hot chocolate and marshmallows.

For the past two decades The Ginger Bistro has been collecting awards and firmly establishing itself as one of the city’s best restaurants. Chef Simon McCance is a superbly talented and creative cook that champions top quality, locally produced ingredients. He loves cooking seafood especially so keep an eye out for these dishes on his menu. The Roast Hake with Light Tomato Sauce, Cannelini Beans, Fennel, Scampi and Chorizo is a great shout for your lunch. The ‘Ginger always has’ Squid with Garlic Mayo and Sweet Chilli Dip, Mussels with White Wine Cream and Parsley, or Sauteed Scallop, Black Pudding Bon Bon, Parsnip and Chorizo Butter as staples on its menu too.

If you want to end your time in the city in style, then there’s no better place to do so than at A Peculiar Tea in the University Quarter. This unique concept restaurant offers an ever-changing six-course tasting menu, all focused around a central, creative theme. Previous menus have included a Roald Dahl themed menu with dishes inspired by the wacky creations from the novels of the iconic children’s author. They’ve also served a Harry Potter themed menu with everything from pumpkin pasties with a twist to a signature take on Butterbeer.

What makes this dining experience stand out from the rest, however, is the lengths to which the team goes to make you feel as if you’re really stepping inside the theme they’re trying to create. Not only is each and every dish inspired by the current theme. Rather, the entire restaurant is decorated to match with no small detail left untouched, making it a playground of good food and great fun. So, if you’re hoping to indulge in one of the city’s most memorable dining experiences, you need to book a table at A Peculiar Tea. However, tables book up well in advance, so make sure to be organised with this one to avoid disappointment!