Michelin starred dining at Deane’s Eipic

Deane’s Eipic is a one Michelin starred restaurant located in Belfast’s city centre. It has held the accolade for just over six years. The kitchen team here has been led by chef Alex Greene who comes from Dundrum in Mourne Country, Northern Ireland, for the past two years. Having worked in prestigious restaurants such as Petrus by Gordon Ramsay, Claridge’s by Gordon Ramsay as well as the House Restaurant at the Cliff House Hotel in Ardmore, County Waterford, chef Alex Greene has a wealth of knowledge and experience. I was lucky enough to dine at Deane’s Eipic for a tasting menu experience on one of my days off. The restaurant is open from Thursday to Saturday for both lunch and dinner and offers a range of dining experiences such as the menu surprise and the tasting menu/vegetarian tasting menu experience. In addition to Deane’s Eipic, the group which is owned by chef Michael Deane also owns a range of other ‘Deane’s’ experiences such as Deane’s Love Fish and Deane’s Meat locker.

I opted for the twelve-course tasting menu for my dining experience. This consisted of five snacks, two starter courses, two main courses, two desserts and a selection of petit fours. The highlight courses for me were the linseed, lovage and nasturtium snack, the venison with pumpkin puree, pickled blackberries, and compressed beetroot and the souffle of hazelnut, banana and tonka bean.

Linseed crisp, lovage emulsion and nasturtium leaves. This course was the first course of the tasting menu, it was full of flavour and set the bar for the rest of the meal.

 Venison, pickled blackberries, pomme anna, pumpkin puree, pickled beets, bone sauce. Although I am not usually a lover of venison this venison was flavourful and tender and not overpoweringly ‘gamey.’

  Souffle of hazelnut, banana, caramel and tonka bean. This souffle was light and airy. It involved a tableside preparation element whereby the waiter put a quenelle of ice cream on top of the souffle in front of the guest. It was a nice touch to the dining experience, which saw a more personal interaction between the guest and the wait staff.

To add to my dining experience, I opted to pay an extra supplement to try the ‘incredible edible book’ experience. Chef Alex Greene created this dish when he took part in the series the ‘Great British Menu.’ It is an edible book based on a book by famous author C.S. Lewis. This was an incredible way to bring the meal to an end. The book was completely edible, and you could also look through some pages of the book. For £85 this was a very reasonably priced dining experience. The edible book was £20 extra but personally it was a must….

By Ben Roche