Discovering the north of Ireland

I have now been living and working  in Enniskillen a couple of weeks now and I’m starting to know my way around  and I am enjoying every minute of it, it is a small busy little town, I am getting on very well in the hotel and I have settled in really well and have got to know most of the staff in my department, the kitchen that I am working in offers a great work life balance and the hours that are not half as bad as previous kitchens that I have worked in, this meant that I had a lot more time on my hands than I usually had and me being an active outdoor person I looked in to some of the activities that Enniskillen had to offer, Enniskillen is Irelands only “island town” and there are tons of lakes, ponds and rivers located in and around the town and me being a passionate  fisherman wanted to take advantage of this, so I brought up my bicycle and fishing rod up with me and went out most mornings before work and then on my first two days off I spent most of them fishing and hoping that I could hook something nice for my dinner!

Everywhere in the north of Ireland is under an hour and a half from Enniskillen so rather than traveling home to carlow on all my days off I taught I should go discover a bit more of the north of Ireland while I’m living up here and make the most of it! The first place that came into my mind was Belfast, I had never been there before and it seemed like a small vibrant, interesting little city with a lot of history so I booked a cheap apartment on the internet and I was really looking forward to going there. On my next few days off I headed for Belfast and then checked in to my apartment which I couldn’t get over how nice it was and that I had really got a bargain! After a stroll around the city and after a little bit of shopping we headed to get some food, me being a chef had done my research on the best places to go to and me being me wanted get value for money too which was going to be a challenge! We went for dinner in Holohans at the barge, which was a fine dining restaurant with 3 courses and a glass of wine for £30 which was an absolute steal, highlight of my meal was the gin and beetroot cured salmon.

We then heading into the cathedral quarter for a few pints, some live music and most of all a bit of crack, out of all the pub, bars and night clubs I was in that night my top 3 where the Harp bar, The Spaniard and the Dirty Onion. 
The next day I had booked us a table in the 1 Michelin stared OX restaurant which is one of the top restaurants in the north of Ireland and although there a la carte menu was a small bit out of my price range, there lunch menu was very reasonably priced at 3 courses for £25 I was most impressed with the service and their intention to detail and the level of professionalism of there waiting staff but the meal its concluded a great trip to Belfast. 
By conor nolan.