Restaurant awards recognise quality of Northern Irish food

The premium quality and outstanding flavours of contemporary Northern Ireland cuisine was showcased in this year's prestigious Irish Restaurant Awards.

It was a record year for Northern Ireland restaurants in the Irish hospitality industry's most important competition.

Northern Ireland restaurants, which specialise in using ingredients from local suppliers, mostly artisan enterprises, won a record four of the top categories in the awards.

The awards, the biggest, brightest and best-ever, especially for Northern Ireland, are another significant boost for the local food and drink industry as it gears up for next year's planned Year of Food and the year-long celebration of the very best of food and drink being produced, particularly within the dynamic artisan sector.

The recognition for excellence being achieved by local restaurants supports the work of Tourism Northern Ireland in the drive to attract visitors from the Republic and other international markets. It shows that they are now able to find superb cuisine in restaurants specialising in local food and drink across Northern Ireland.

Over 30,000 nominations were received for restaurants, chefs, gastro pubs, hotel restaurants and restaurant managers in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

The Northern Ireland category winners were:

Best Gastro Pub in both Ireland and Ulster - The Poacher's Pocket, Killnchy, Co Down

Best Newcomer in both Ireland and Ulster - Deanes EIPIC, Belfast

Best Wine Experience Kindly in both Ireland and Ulster - OX, Belfast

Best Restaurant Manager in Ireland -Saul McConnell of Deanes at Queens, Belfast

Best Restaurant in Ulster- Ox, Antrim

Best Chef in Ulster - Neven Maguire of MacNean House and Restaurant, Cavan

Best Hotel Restaurant in Ulster - Ardtara Country House, Derry

Best Casual Dining in Ulster - Graze, Belfast

Best Customer Service in Ulster - Church Street Restaurant, Derry

In addition to the awards, several Northern Irish products were featured in the gala menu for the dinner at the awards ceremony in Dublin. These were salmon from Keenan Seafoods in Belfast, which was cooked using Broighter Gold Rapeseed from Limavady and Red Hand Ale from Tyrone.

The all-Ireland cheeseboard featured Causeway speciality cheese with dulse which is made at Fivemiletown in Co. Tyrone.

The 2015 Irish Restaurant Awards were organised by The Restaurants Association of Ireland and are the largest and most coveted awards in the Irish restaurant industry.

They achievement and excellence in the restaurant and hospitality industry throughout the 32 counties of the Island of Ireland in 20 categories and celebrate all aspects of the industry from chefs and restaurants, cafes and gastro pubs, to food producers, restaurant managers and cookery schools.

The nomination and awards selection process was independently audited by BDO to ensure that best practices and standards have been adhered to throughout the process.

The 2015 involved rigorous judging including vetting by a mystery visitor. The awards are the only kind restaurant awards in the country that carry out mystery guest inspections.