Lunch by the seaside in Pier 36, Donaghadee

Pier 36 is situated in Donaghadee, right on the quayside of one of the prettiest harbours on the coast of Northern Ireland.  Every visit to Donaghadee reminds me of childhood days out, Ice-creams from the famous “Cabin” shop and stories of my parents and grandparents swimming in the harbour as children during annual holidays!  Put simply, it is a very happy place for me and I cherish every visit. By happy coincidence, my very good friends, Fran and Gav live moments along the coast in Groomsport and when they suggested lunch in Donaghadee, I jumped at the chance.

Pier 36 is multi award winning, largely due to its locally sourced ingredients, quality of dishes and excellent service.  I can honestly say that I have never had poor food or service during my many visits and this one was no different.

When we arrived, we were told that the restaurant was fully booked but we managed to secure a table in the bar area.  We settled with a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc to peruse the menu at leisure.  While the starters are delicious, we decided to go straight for main courses and potentially a pudding.

After much consideration, I opted for the Bang Bang Chicken.  Regular readers could probably have guessed that one as I am a renowned sucker for anything with peanut butter.  I wasn’t disappointed with my choice.  It came served with Asian salad, tobacco onions (another favourite), satay sauce and skinny fries- delicious!  Mr, Eating Ideas chose the rib eye steak with pepper sauce and chunky chips.  Fran opted for Seabass and Gav had the roast beef with all the trimmings.  Their son, James chose the kids burger with fries and you can’t really go far wrong with that!  We were all delighted with our choices with me especially in a peanut butter induced glee!

We all declared ourselves full to bursting but one of my favourite things about Pier 36 is their selection of mini indulgence puddings.  These are tiny versions of puddings served in shot glasses.  Just enough to give you the flavour of the pudding and provide that sweet kick at the end of the meal.  We chose 3 of these between us for a little sugar kick and they were divine!

If you haven’t paid a visit to Pier 36 yet, I would encourage you to go.  Great food, excellent service and a lovely walk around Donaghadee’s famous lighthouse on the pier- what’s not to like about that?

Our Bill:

1 ribeye steak- £18.95

1 Chef’s roast- £13.95

1 Bang Bang Chicken- £13.95

1 Seabass- £17.95

1 Kids burger & chips- £5.95

3 Mini indulgence puddings (£2.95 each)- £8.85

1 bottle Sauvignon Blanc- £15.90

TOTAL- £95.50