Lunch At Molly's Yard

It was virtually impossible to find a parking space near College Green in Belfast today. It's most likely the same every day. Eventually I found a space on Botanic Avenue. I bought a Daily Telegraph and ambled up the Avenue towards Molly's Yard. In case you don't know, Molly's is a bar and restaurant in College Green Mews; the entrance is actually in Botanic Avenue, just round the corner from College Green.

This was my very first visit to the establishment. You walk through a kind of entry and wander right to the rear of this former coach-house and stables attached to College Green House. I pushed the door open and stood surveying the place. There were about four others there. The waiter showed me to a small table opposite the bar-counter and presented me with the menu.

Before I elaborate, I should add that the bar is tiny: no more than about five or six small tables. I was seated on a narrow, wooden bench with cushions scattered everywhere. It's an intriguing little place, really; certainly cosy, with a particular ambiance and engaging staff.

The waiter explained how he couldn't write the list of "specials" on the black-board, so he recited them aloud. I ordered the home-made beef-burger with onion jam and Oakwood smoked cheddar cheese, served with chunky chips and mixed leaves. I waited about fifteen minutes for this, which is fair enough because it was cooked to order. Everyone else waited a similar time, too.

The meal arrived on a trendy, oblong, white plate. The burger was about two inches thick! Genuinely meaty and well seasoned. It was skewered with a wooden cocktail-stick. The cheese and onion chutney sat atop. The chips were real: Home-made, chunky; dry on the exterior and quite fluffy inside. I liked it. My bill was £8.50 for the hamburger and £1.75 for the large apple-juice.

I wandered upstairs on my way out, in order to have a look at the dining-room which is more formal and spacious. The á la carte menu includes six starters; six main courses; and six puddings. Two courses cost £22; three cost £27. They always have a fresh seafood item available; and service charge is not included (unless there are six diners or more).

On their next boozy trip round the British Isles, that wondrous duo of connoisseurs, Oz and James, ought to consider paying a visit to Belfast and Molly's Yard, the meeting-place of a circle of artists in Belfast whose symbol was the Headless Dog. That aforesaid haunt happened to be the premises now known as Molly's Yard; and if you look carefully enough at the base of the coach-house, you'll still see the silhouette of a headless dog on the wall.