Deane's: Belfast's Michelin Star

Restaurant Michael Deane in Belfast wins 11th Michelin star in a row

Mar 12, 2007

Restaurant Michael Deane in Belfast has won a Michelin Star for 11 years in a row, making it the longest consecutive run of Michelin Stars in Northern Ireland

To win a Michelin Star for eleven consecutive years shows a consistency that few restaurants can match. Certainly not in Northern Ireland, where Restaurant Michael Deane in Belfast recently retained its Michelin Star for the 11th consecutive year. This is the longest run of gourmet success in Northern Ireland. Restaurant Michael Deane is also the only restaurant in Northern Ireland with a Michelin Star, so it can justifiably claim to be the best restaurant in Belfast and the best in Northern Ireland.

Deane's Brasserie also retained its Michelin Bib Gourmand, one of only three restaurants in Northern Ireland to earn that accolade. Michelin awards its Bib Gourmands for good food at moderate prices.

Restaurant Michael Deane and Deane's Brasserie closed for refurbishment at the end of 2006, but re-opened in February 2007. They have been given a simpler, more modern and more open-plan look. Admirers of Michael Deane's cooking needn't worry, though, as there has been no drastic make-over of the food. It remains focussed on locally-sourced ingredients, imaginatively prepared and presented. It is the finest Irish cuisine, subtly done.

The best bargains are to be had in the lunch and pre-theatre menus, where two courses cost £15.50 and three courses £19.50 – that's as much as you'd pay for one entrée in many London restaurants. On those menus you can choose from dishes like Aged Ribeye of Beef with Chilli and Garlic Butter or Breast of Chicken with Tarragon Mash and Roasting Juices.

Michael Deane was born in the Castlereagh area of Belfast, and after a spell at Claridge's in London he moved back to Northern Ireland, where he opened Deane's on the Square in Helen's Bay in County Down, four miles west of Bangor. In 1997 he moved to Belfast to open Restaurant Michael Deane, which immediately won that Michelin Star that it has kept ever since. Deane's Brasserie is on the floor of the same building, and the Deane empire has now expanded to include Deane's Deli and, in January 2007, Deane's at Queen's, his restaurant at Queen's University, Belfast.

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