BELFAST | 65 - 67 Dublin Road (The Gallery) | 32m | Complete

hypnotoad24 said:

Yes, that was the best chinese restaurant in the area. From what i have heard, of the man who ran it, his wife passed away and he unfortunately is ill.

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Sad news, and remarkable how such personal events and tragedies/upheavals can have an effect on the city

Hopefully it can return in some form or other, it always seemed like a classy (maybe I mean authentic?) joint compared to the other nearby places.

WiseJoeyD said:

it always seemed like a classy (maybe I mean authentic?) joint compared to the other nearby places.

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It was... I always thought it had an authentic, retro feel to it, like what you would expect a chinese restaurant to be like in San Francisco's chinatown back in the 70's.

There was no attempt to project a polished feel to it like a lot of places in Belfast now. I'll tell you what though, the salt and chilli squid in that place was like no other. It was superb.

In a similar vein, Hudson's recent turn is all down to one simple, family related, change.

I guess it is a good sign in a way that these aren't some global-mega-chains that can just parachute in people to take over, and instead proof they were run by locals.

Sadly it looks like with the Dublin Road as a whole will be far less welcome to local owners than globalism forces - We've already got the prerequisite Nando's, Weatherspoons, and Tesco who can weather a family loss.

It'll be fascinating to see any gentrification set in Belfast - many still feel it has that underdog quality, but sadly in those glitzy consultations, it simply is a naive way to view a cash cow that has "growth opportunities" (in sales of brown envelopes).

I can't wait for the scandal* to be exposed in a few years - it's just a shame such harm and loss will take place in the meantime, and all the while we lose places like the All Seasons.

The new cafe looks good, but we've seen a lot of closures of artisan cafes and replacement with Caffe Nero or Starbucks - it'll be interesting to see how long it can survive, given you're removing reasons like the cinema to hang around the area and not drink alcohol...

*(It would be interesting if it turns out we know people who were involved in it, or were well aware of what was going on...)

WiseJoeyD said:

Sad news, and remarkable how such personal events and tragedies/upheavals can have an effect on the city

Hopefully it can return in some form or other, it always seemed like a classy (maybe I mean authentic?) joint compared to the other nearby places.

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Yes. As they say, you can always tell how good a chinese restaurant is.. by the number of chinese people who eat in it.

My favourite dish in it was the monkfish. Deliciously good.

WiseJoeyD said:

The new cafe looks good, but we've seen a lot of closures of artisan cafes and replacement with Caffe Nero or Starbucks - it'll be interesting to see how long it can survive

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Hasn't it been the opposite? Artisan cafés have been doing rather well in Belfast, they seem to be opening all over the place...

Yea there is a pretty big trend that when a chain coffee store opens, an artisan that pops up will do well.

The chain gets people into coffee, and the artisan steals customers who then want quality.

That's why i welcome chains, if only for the counter reaction! :lol:

Off the top of my head there aren't any chain coffee shops on the Dublin Road anyway.

There's a new place on Botanic beside Chip Co that does coffee. Worst Mocha I've tasted.

damianmcr said:

There's a new place on Botanic beside Chip Co that does coffee. Worst Mocha I've tasted.

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Noticed that, it was Sinnamon and they did a lovely breakfast with waffles and bacon.

I tend to avoid Chinese restaurants as their meat is often inedible and vegetarian options tend to be crap so not even that is a viable option. The takeaways in particular must be some vegan conspiracy as never before has eating dead animal been so painful for the consumer as well as the animal, alas even the Indian takeaways have embraced water injected chicken with the obvious dire consequences. However if you want to taste fatty meat that is actually very good, Same Happy on Donegall Pass is great. I've only been at lunchtime so I don't know how easy to get into it is at night (it's tiny) or even if they sell beer like God intended. It's not what you would call traditional Chinese food though.

Good idea in my opinion - a planning application has been submitted to convert the vacant ground floor restaurant into co-working office space :

https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/...igh-end-co-working-office-space-38972290.html

Planning application : "LA04/2020/0387/F | Proposed change of use from restaurant to offices | 65-69 Dublin Road Belfast"

http://epicpublic.planningni.gov.uk...ils.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=Q5P44ZSV30000

Something like that was bound to happen. Was speaking to a friend in hospitality and there’s been major issues with that unit. It’s completely unsuitable for a catering purpose, the kitchen space is tiny and poorly designed. Every potential tenant that has viewed it has criticised the kitchen and then there’s been a few potential leases that have fallen through as a result.