Neighbourhood cafe’s brunches are famous locally, and the little green restaurant has a permanent queue out the door, with customers lining up to try their Turkish eggs or eggs Benny in a sourdough croissant. And while they don’t have an Ulster fry on the menu, they do serve a breakfast bap with bacon, egg, sausage and cheese, for those who just have to have a bit of bacon with their breakfast. But, if you can’t quite handle the queue at Neighbourhood, they are just round the corner from Bakari, a tiny bakery serving beautiful breads, pastries and sandwiches to take home.

And – on the topic of sandwiches – one sandwich place in particular has taken Belfast by storm. Stran Wiches on Stranmillis Road serves seasonal sandwiches which truly take no prisoners: barbacoa sandwiches with guacamole, pico de gallo and feta, sandwiches filled with caponata and goat’s cheese and even ones with half a dozen different types of cured meat. These are not for the faint of heart, and well worth seeking out.

If you’re looking for some high quality ingredients, there are no shortages of beautiful delis and cheesemongers in Belfast. Sawers is a local institution, which stocks foods from around the world. The deli is filled to the rafters with everything from Mexican chillies to Italian tomatoes, and a great place to pick up some treats if you’re cooking dinner at home. If you’re looking for somewhere with more local foods, Indie Füde sells a wide range of artisan Irish ingredients, from cheese and chutneys to chilli oil and peanut butter. Try some of their black butter on a roast ham, or some local cider in a loaf of barmbrack. Indie Füde's hampers also deliver to the UK mainland, if you don’t have any space in the hold (or your suitcase!).

The brilliantly named Mike’s Fancy Cheese (named after a quote from a book on cheese from 1896) is another lovely place to stock up on delicious local cheese. The ethos at Mike’s is more about taking cheese seriously than taking themselves seriously. The team runs relaxed beer and cheese nights with local breweries, where different beers are paired with their own cheeses, and generally try and make learning about cheese fun and unintimidating. ‘Lots of people are almost afraid to come in but you just give them a bit of cheese and that’s the best way to disarm someone.’ laughs Mike Thomson, the founder, when I speak to him.

‘I’ve always sort of been a cheesemonger. When I left school I ended up working in a wee deli in Belfast called Arcadia.’ Mike tells me. After working in England for a few years and completing a course in cheesemaking at the School of Artisan Food, he came back to Ireland.

Mike’s is especially known for its Young Buck cheese. Young Buck is a raw milk blue cheese, made just outside Belfast in Newtownards with milk from a small herd of 150 cows, and is on the menu at restaurants across Belfast and Ireland. The delicious and young blue cheese is what helped give the tiny cheesemongers its name.

‘It’s what we’re famous for,’ says Mike. ‘We don’t really do much marketing or anything like that, so it’s word of mouth.’ Despite Young Buck’s reputation, lots of locals are still discovering the shop because it’s so hidden away. ‘There are loads of people who are coming in the shop, who have been here about four and a half years, and they’re almost angry.’ he laughs.

After you go in the small shop, you are greeted by a mountain of cheese on the deli counter, and a fridge full of delicious things to eat with it like Abernethy butter, Ispini charcuterie and Bethel’s Kitchen dill pickles.

Modern-day Irish farmhouse cheese, Mike explains, really got its start in the late 70s, and much of it is inspired by European traditions. And, while there are many dairies which are now well-established in Ireland, like St. Tola, Durrus, Gubbeen and Mileens, there are more springing up all the time. Mike particularly recommends The Lost Valley Dairy.

‘They’ve got a cheese called Carraignamuc which is like this real wild washed rind, tomme style...they’ve only been making cheese for about two years now.’ He also recommends cheese from Blues Creamery, and Ballylisk’s mild Triple Rose, especially for those who are skittish of funkier blue cheeses. He’s clearly someone passionate about bringing good cheese to as many people as possible. As well as supplying Young Buck, Mike’s is the main cheesemonger for lots of local chefs, and he has a close relationship with the chefs who buy from him.

'They come and they taste, and whatever they like that week they’re going to bring back to the restaurant. So you’ve got that really nice relationship…they’re buying their cheese while we’re telling them about it. It’s just a really nice way of doing business, you’re not just sending price lists over and all that kind of stuff. You’re literally tasting the cheese with the chefs.' One such chef is Ryan Jenkins, who opened Roam in 2022 after running several very successful pop-ups, and told me (unprompted) when I asked about local producers that Young Buck is his 'favourite cheese in the world'. His restaurant serves modern Irish food with an emphasis on local ingredients.

'It mattered to be in Belfast because that’s where me and the whole team are from. We love Belfast, especially the food scene here and really wanted to make Roam a part of it,' Ryan explained. 'I think the food scene in Belfast right now is incredible. So many restaurants are doing great things and all in their own way. Tasting menus to tacos and everything in between. It’s exciting to be a part of it.'

Closer to the river, Stephen Toman's Michelin-starred OX has an ever-changing seasonal tasting menu which features produce from a range of local suppliers, while Michael Deane’s EIPIC (also with one Michelin star) has a spectacular tasting menu.

For a more relaxed meal, Ginger Bistro serves bistro favourites done very well, with dishes like pan-fried sea bass with cannellini beans and chicken breast in parma ham. Niall McKenna’s James Street is a longstanding restaurant with phenomenal steaks and desserts, as well as lighter options like a homemade ricotta and fennel salad. And, if you’re interested in learning to make some of the restaurant’s spectacular dishes at home, McKenna also runs a cookery school, now located at Waterman House.

In the years since our last guide to eating in Belfast things have only gone from strength to strength. All in all Belfast is a fantastic place for food lovers to visit, full of a wide variety of options whether you're looking to keep it ultra-traditional or in search of something new.