Quality, wholesome food and fine dining
It’s almost impossible to talk about Northern Ireland and not mention the food or even the drink!
Northern Ireland is famed for the quality, variety, flavour and wholesomeness of its food, much of it locally grown and raised on lush green pastures. You’ll find an abundance of fresh meat and vegetables as well as salmon, trout, lobsters, prawns and oysters. And don’t forget the bread - wheaten, soda and treacle farls, potato bread, milk scones and the Belfast Bap.
And Northern Ireland’s own celebrity chefs are doing their bit to keep good food and fine dining firmly on the menu. Among the best known throughout the British Isles are award-winning chefs Michael Deane 
and Paul Rankin.
Michael Deane is the chef and owner of a Michelin star restaurant. A lively and sophisticated setting his restaurant and brasserie in Belfast often attract famous faces from music, arts, sports and television.
Paul and Jeanne Rankin’s trendy Cayenne restaurant has been placed in the top 10 restaurants in the UK in Time Out's "Guide to Eating and Drinking in Great Britain and Ireland" - the only Northern Ireland eaterie to make the list.
The restaurant offers a dynamic mix of hot and funky food in a cool urban atmosphere and has received awards from the "Jameson's Guide to the Bib" Gourmand from Michelin and more recently was included in the top 10 restaurants in the UK by the Time Out "Guide".
When it comes to food nothing compares to the finest natural ingredients Northern Ireland has on offer – except the setting. Freshly caught Portavogie prawns can be enjoyed in a waterside restaurant, or a creamy pint of Guinness with a plate of Dundrum oysters, just yards from where they were caught.
Northern Ireland, furthermore, has a wide selection of French, Asian, Spanish, Thai, Mexican, Chinese and Indian ethnic restaurants.
Substantial investment by international and local companies has also resulted in a new hotels, trendy cafés, gastro pubs, bistros, fast-food restaurants and nightclubs.
