The Best Restaurants for Lunch in Belfast
Your guide to the absolute best lunch in Belfast. Avoid the rest, eat only the best.
Lunch in the City
Lunch in Belfast will provide a solid and satisfying, middle of the day, meal. You’ll be happy to hear they don’t do tiny portions in these parts at any time of the day.
The city is heaving with great restaurants that serve properly good food. The type that leaves your belly full and your soul happy. You’ll find local lunch favourites like stuffed toasted paninis (with a side of creamy slaw) and Ulster frys. But also, experimental and exceptionally crafted brunch plates or fresh, spicy bao buns – plus much more.
Whether you want a café, formal sit-down restaurant, or a quick but delicious bite – one of these restaurants will leave you satisfied.
REMEMBER:
Vegan options
Your carnivorous friends will also find options here
Neighbourhood Café 🌱 🍗
So good, you’ll have to queue. But worth it in every conceivable way. The coffee is outstanding, the service is welcoming, and the food…delicious. Also, in particularly long queues they dish out free shots of their luxurious hot chocolate. A queue etiquette we can get on board with.
Too many good options to mention other than to say we wouldn’t judge if you ordered more than one. If you glance around the restaurant, you’ll notice a few tables sharing extra dishes. An act we commend. The French toast is not to be missed if you have a sweet tooth (a worthwhile table sharer) and the buttery richness of their Turkish eggs is cut through with the sharp, garlic-spiced yoghurt. A perfect lunch spot.
Stax 🍗
North Belfast local favourite, Stax, is the café you want to visit if you love a lunch of sandwiches or toasted paninis – not to mention their first-class coleslaw.
The food tastes fresh and is cooked with care, plus the staff are always friendly and welcoming. We highly recommend creating your own concoction from their many ingredients – including their welcome list of sauces to take your sarnie to the next level. A great choice for takeout and platters too.
French Village (Botanic) 🌱 🍗
Perhaps best known as a wholesale bakery delivering divinely appetising bakes to the masses, the French Village café in Botanic is where it all started.
The perfect cosy spot to catch up with friends, they have a menu that caters to most diets with a nice balance of breakfast and lunch dishes. We recommend their French toast for something sweet and the hefty vegan stack for a filling savoury lunch.
Established Coffee 🌱🍗
Established coffee might be known for their coffee but it’s their brunch plates that really make this place standout. That isn’t to say their coffee isn’t excellent, it is, just that the uniqueness of their food shines against the fry’s and loaded soda breads of this city like no other.
With a constantly changing menu you can expect to be surprised by dishes that take risks which pay off. They usually have a sweet dish, French toast or waffles etc, but the toppings depend on the creative direction of the chef. We love their non-standard approach to lunch and how they are continually crafting new and delicious plates – such as their vegetarian take on eggs benedict with deep fried cauliflower and coffee infused hollandaise.
Bao Bun 🌱🍗
Not big on frills but big on flavour, Bao Bun is a welcome addition to Belfast’s diversifying food scene. Their pick n mix style approach to Taiwanese street food means getting exactly what you want and how you want it.
It’s an excellent casual option with the choice of bun, fries, rice, or salad – great if you have picky friends. For a loaded fries extravaganza, we recommend pairing them with walnut mushroom and the house combo. According to their website the bao is made with a modest amount of gluten making them the perfect, easily digestible lunch option.
Orto 🌱 🍗
Not only serving up delicious pizza for dinner but also for lunch along with some fresh focaccias, flatbreads, and salads. With all the exceptionally tasty ingredients they layer on their pizzas in the evening you can expect the same quality at lunch.
We recommend the caramelised onion and goats cheese focaccia for a lunchtime sarnie that will be infinitely better than anything you bring from home. They also have a strong offering of pastries to wash the savoury down with. A treat.
Freight 🌱🍗
A lunch spot in Belfast bringing exciting and uncommon flavours and dishes to the food scene here. Including a much appreciated and thoughtful vegan menu section.
The breakfast quesadilla is a welcome change to standard scrambled eggs and the, ever more popular in Belfast – Turkish eggs are elevated with the addition of spiced chickpeas. For something more lunch-like try the onion rosti or spiced cauliflower sandwich. Their eggy bread with whipped Nutella is a real lunch time indulgence.
The Pocket 🍗
Another special place on the Belfast brunch and lunch scene is The Pocket. Again, queuing is likely, but again, worth it. Usually, you don’t have to wait too long and once in you’ll be looked after by the lovely staff.
They excel at big brunch plates with surprising ingredients. The veggie bapper is chockfull of every conceivable vegetarian brunch item (we recommend eating with a knife and fork in public). The veggie version of the chorizo brunch is a refreshing change to the (sometimes) greasy and nutrient deprived fry.
Maggie Mays 🌱 🍗
A casual and economical spot in Belfast – perfect if you’re craving some carby food with a healthy dose of milkshake to wash it down with. They serve many Belfast centric dishes such as the Belfast Bap and Belfast filled soda for a hearty lunchtime meal.
Renowned not only for their “cheap as chips” menu but also those aforementioned outrageous milkshakes that just looking at will cause your blood sugar to spike. A restaurant known for providing a public service to the severely hungover of the city.
General Merchants 🍗
A long-time favourite of the Belfast brunch crowd, you’ll often find a queue at one of their three locations (one kiosk, two sit-down cafes), and for good reason. They have a unique menu which is evenly balanced with traditional dishes such as eggs your way or good old-fashioned Irish oats porridge. But without depriving the more experimental eater with some unconventional plates such as the Street Hawker with chilli oil scrambled eggs (veggie option available).
Most importantly, no matter what you choose, the food will be good. We also recommend saving room for their selection of baked sweet treats from the counter which you can glance over while patiently awaiting your food.
Cyprus Avenue 🌱 🍗
We adore a restaurant that has an entire menu dedicated to the vegans and vegetarians of the world. They serve dishes based on the produce of the moment in their seasonally refreshing menus.
The menu is varied enough that you’ll find something regardless of your tastes and cravings. They usually have a robust veggie burger of some sort on offer. Their dishes are fairly adventurous – deviating somewhat from the expected. But still filled with big, wholesome flavours.
