AN online guide to European pubs has given a big thumbs-up to Belfast after a weekend city centre visit.
‘The European Bar Guide’ says on its Twitter/X bio that it’s “on a journey” around the “top pubs and bars of Europe”.
Among the cities recently visited were Valencia, Split and Prague, all of which got the European Bar Guide seal of approval – but the online guide was particularly enthusiastic about the watering holes it sampled on a pub crawl in Belfast.
It arrived in the city on Friday and its first port of call was the Garrick on Chichester Street, where the usual Friday live music added considerably to the atmosphere. The guide commented: “Lovely central option that like the best Irish city pubs manages to combine busy city fare with an intimacy you'd expect from a smaller town.”
THE GARRICK: "An intimacy you'd expect from a smaller town."
On Saturday it was the turn of the historic Kelly’s Cellars in Bank Street, a bar which achieves the not inconsiderable feat of being equally popular with tourists and townies. Kelly’s got a rave review not only for its age and tradition, but for the quality of its Guinness. “Beautiful pub dating from the 1700s,” the Guide notes. “A top 10 Guinness for me, all the more notable when it hasn't been that great in Ireland for a while.”
KELLY'S CELLARS: "A top 10 Guinness for me"
From Kelly’s it was a tipsy traipse across town to Belfast’s best-known pub, the National Trust-owned Crown bar on Great Victoria Street. The Crown is a listed building hugely popular with visitors and acknowledged as one of the finest Victorian drinking establishments in Ireland and Britain. “Utterly extraordinary,” the Guide comments simply. “Every bit as impressive as the hype. Probably not a local hangout but this is for the whole world.”
THE CROWN: "Every bit as impressive as the hype."
Heading back across town on Sunday, the European Bar Guide next took a stool in the small and funky Spaniard on Skipper Street, which it described as a “colourful fun little dive bar,” adding: “A local legend with good music.”
THE SPANIARD: "A local legend with good music"
Turning north, the Guide next visited the Sunflower in Union Street, famous for its listed security gates from the worst days of the Troubles. It too received a resounding “Cheers!” from the Guide. “Near legendary pub we couldn't miss out on, enduring quality from a willingness to adapt to changing tastes while retaining charm and character, something requiring a delicate, yet brave approach. Good Irish beers plus a cask line.”
THE SUNFLOWER: "Enduring quality from a willingness to adapt to changing tastes"
The Guide’s Belfast visit finished with a pint at Madden’s in Berry Street, the home of trad music in the city. “Irish Nationalist pub renowned for live folk, group of youngsters playing. Felt welcome, messages of solidarity and love inside. Lovely pub.”
And because this is Belfast, the Guide couldn’t resist a reference to the conflicts of the past: “Tricky to navigate Belfast without the sense of trenches.”
MADDEN'S: "Messages of solidarity and love inside. Lovely pub"
*Pics from European Bar Guide. See @europebarguide on Twitter/X.
