Review - Neill's Hill Brasserie
Lunch with the Hen Party
We have been meeting for over 40 years now, ever since we met at university as innocent teenagers, fresh from school. My husband called it "The Hen Party" because it seemed to him that we cackled when together. We used to meet at each other's houses. And when it was at my house, the "gulls" used to gather, my husband and children, later, son in law, waiting for the left-overs from all the nice things bought to entertain each other.
We Are Retired Now
The last of us retired this year, so instead of travelling all over different parts of Northern Ireland at night, we are now able to be "Ladies Who Lunch". This is a posh term for women with enough time on their hands and sufficient money to afford to frequent restaurants as a gathering place.
Neill's Hill
Our first lunch date was at a restaurant called Neill's Hill in Ballyhackamore, Belfast (Norther Ireland). We straggled in over the course of about 15 or 20 minutes, with the staff being very friendly and handing out menus while we waited for the last one to arrive. There was a good selection of lunch type items and the prices were reasonable. I had two poached eggs on smoked salmon on granary toast. This cost £7 (about $10) and was very tasty. It was served hot and the egg yolks were lovely and runny. Yum!!!!!! Coffee was £2 for Americano, £2.45 for Cappucino. A number of us had the same meal as me, one had battered hake, another had a burger. Everyone enjoyed their meal and there was no pressure from the staff to move, but the bill was made up quickly when we asked. After looking up the place in the search engines, I see it is called a "Brasserie".
Verdict
Clean, friendly, welcoming, good value. Would go there again
Travel
This is a busy part of east Belfast, with a lot of traffic, parking a car can take time. You might be better to get dropped off. Public Transport right past the restaurant is frequent and close by.
NOTE - Picture
The picture is from Pixabay and is NOT of the meal. My eggs and smoked salmon were served on toast, not as part of a salad.
Image Credit » https://pixabay.com/en/breakfast-healthy-smoked-salmon-1058726/
Comments
CoralLevang wrote on February 20, 2016, 5:47 PM
I love the name of that place ...ballyhackamore. and I can see all you posh retirees lunching together!
VinceSummers wrote on February 20, 2016, 6:05 PM
On very fixed funds, I rarely eat out at anything other than a minimal bit from a fast-food joint.
MegL wrote on February 20, 2016, 6:13 PM
I very seldom eat out either, I generally begrudge paying for food I could make at home, however, I was meeting them after about 2 or 3 years of not going to any get togethers, so I wasn't too anoyed
MegL wrote on February 20, 2016, 6:14 PM
Don't think I would call us posh. Some of us maybe, not me! I was brought up in a mining village and my father taught me to use my fists! His words were, don't start a fight, but make sure you finish it. You wouldn't be allowed to do that these days.
lookatdesktop wrote on February 20, 2016, 7:00 PM
It still seemed yummy sounding to me. I like the way you described it all.
CoralLevang wrote on February 21, 2016, 11:56 AM
The one thing about writing such short comments, is that you cannot see the tongue-in-cheek. The last thing I would ever think of you would be posh in the sense of the upper aristocratic kind of posh. I don't do well with that kind of uppity attitude, that we can see in many things. Now as far as being a scrapper, I am NOT a scrapper with fists and I would never know how to do that. Actually I'm a big chicken. So I learned to do it with words, so that there was little that someone could get me on. I've never been one to simply punch somebody in the nose with my words. But you want to do a little battle? I certainly know how to do that! And it also gets one into trouble sometimes!
MegL wrote on February 21, 2016, 12:53 PM
Lol. The pen is mightier than the sword!
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