First Floor Bistro

First Floor Bistro is a weekend evening venue, open from 6.00pm Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  If you don’t know where it is, you can find it at 455 Ormeau Road (above The Bengal Brasserie).  In a previous life, it was home of the iconic Three Bears Restaurant, a place which holds many happy memories for me.  Being taken to the Three Bears as a child was a real treat and a reward for enduring my Mum trying on all the latest styles in Elizabeth Boyd Fashions (now Bengal Brasserie).  Apparently, this was the high end fashion store of its day.

Nostalgia done, I can return to the Bistro.  What a joy!  A warm & welcoming atmosphere, friendly & attentive staff and best of all, great food!

I was invited to visit the restaurant by owner, Mary Harris, who set it up with her husband, having previously run SoulFood Cafe, also on the Ormeau Road.  Mary joined my Friend, Karin and I  as we dined and I was taken by her passion for the place.  It was hard not to get caught up in her enthusiasm.

Having admired the decor and ambience (couldn’t be further removed from the Three Bears), Karin and I settled into perusing the menu.  This is always my favourite part of dining out!  So many decisions, largely based on how adventurous I am feeling!

For my starter, I chose the Turkish leek fritters with green herb yoghurt (£5.00).  I wasn’t sure what to expect from this but was delighted with my choice as it was fresh and spicy with a real kick.  Karin opted for the pork and pak-choi wontons with black bean sauce and carrot salad (£5.00).  I am not a fan of wontons but I bravely tried a bit as Karin and I sampled each others dishes and I was pleasantly surprised by how tasty it was and the carrot salad was a perfect partner for the wontons.

For my main, I selected the pan fried hake with seaweed butter, spinach, puy lentils, feta and herbs (£14.00).  Put simply, there was nothing on this plate that I didn’t love!  All the ingredients worked together and the salty feta was a real treat!  Karin had the Roasted corn fed chicken supreme, 3 root mash, red wine jus and spinach (£12.00).  Again we sampled each others dishes (I hate it when people don’t like sharing!)  The chicken was tender and for me the highlight was the the rich red wine jus which was delicious.

For pudding we decided to share a sticky toffee pudding and a cheese board (both £5.00)  A sweet and savoury choice to share- total genius!  The sticky toffee pudding came with toffee sauce and vanilla cream- yummy.  The cheese board had a selection of Irish cheeses, Cashel Blue, Durrus and Cooleeny, all served with apple and oatcakes.

I loved my visit to First Floor Bistro, sitting in a window seat, watching the comings and goings on the Ormeau Road while dining on great food- what’s not to like?  There’s even an off licence just a short walk away if you forgot your wine or need to top up supplies!  I will definitely be visiting again and soon!