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Dining in Europe > Londonderry Food lovers in Derry/Londonderry generally agree that dining out began in earnest there some time in the 1960s, with the advent of sit-in Chinese restaurants and less-formal hotel dining rooms. One important factor was the influence of Italian café owners in the north west. Fiorentinis introduced high-quality fish and chip shops and authentic Italian ice-cream to Derry. The family still have a very popular café here. A local notion is that people judge a restaurant by whether or not it gives " quare packin' " - Derryspeak for all-you-can-eat. Theres some truth in that value; and the attitude persists. Yet diners in 2001 have other criteria. The gastronomy map changed radically in the 1970s, when Indian restaurants were the rage. More opportunities for European and American travel also led to a demand for dishes like lasagne, pizza and real burgers. Derrys new restaurants responded positively. But it was during the 80s that the new-food trade took flight. They were brave pioneers who opened an all-Iranian/Persian cafe place. Others imported Tex/Mex concoctions and side-stepped the tedious licensing laws by offering the innovative luxury of the Bring Your Own drink policy. The 1990s saw eclecticism spread across the city. When the first Mexican restaurant in Northern Ireland opened in Derry there was, remarkably, not a fuss. The locals liked the dense and spicy food. In fact, it endorsed that traditional truism of quare packin'. This guide is split into five sections, with the restaurants listed geographically outwards from the city centre and the bars described separately. Overlap between restaurants-with-bars and bars themselves is inevitable. The categories read in order: City Centre, Semi-Suburban, Waterside, Rural and Pubs. City Centre Carlisle Road, near the west end of Craigavon Bridge, has always been a preferred address for restaurants. There are now some half a dozen acclaimed ones all within a couple of hundred yards of each other. India House (No: 51) has a long-established reputation for consistently delicious food and good service. La Sosta (No: 45a) recreates the homely ambience of an Italian ristorante, all fresh herbs and extra virgin oils. Fitzroys is a favourite with the young cool-chic people. Its two restaurants span three floors. Close by, Cafe Rureim (at McGinleys) on Foyle Street offers one of the best lunch menus in town and a tasteful, Mediterranean-style dining-room. On the Strand Road, the Strand Bar is a major meeting place for young nightlifers at the weekend. As well as having an enthusiastic buzz downstairs, it features a fine restaurant upstairs. With unusual dishes at less than £10, the Strand is a must-eat-there experience. Across the street, Nolans Bistro, annexed to the equally lively Trinity Hotel, faces on to the Strand Road. For people watchers this is the ultimate window on the street. If American steak/fajitas food is your favourite, O'Briens has all varieties of that real mid-west style. (Its at Strand Road.) Two pizza places near there are great eating-socialising venues. Folk seem to go to DaNano as much for the fun as the pies, and the pizzas are very well created. Piemonte Pizzeria is bigger, but has a similar jolly mood. Both are BYOs and located in separate parts of Clarendon Street. Semi-Suburban Situated on the Culmore Road on the outskirts of the city, Da Vincis Restaurant, upgraded in August 2000, sets the standard for big bar-cum-restaurants. The dishes are well-prepared and the service is prompt. Its pub area has ultra-high walls and a giant three-faced clock. More off the beaten track but well worth the extra few streets from town is Rafters Restaurant on the Northland Road. If there is such a thing as a community restaurant, Rafters would fit the term. The friendly staff make you feel at home; theres a warm family ambience. Steak and pizza are specialities. Waterside Three of the citys most comfortable and interesting restaurants are located in the Waterside area. Oysters is a well-run, classy but inexpensive, restaurant that has earned itself a loyal following. The chefs specials usually include fresh fish like Turbot or Red Snapper. Another real culinary oasis is Browns Restaurant, a short walk from Craigavon Bridge. Their creative process hinges on the ideas that each dish have its own twist and special. Informal and cool with the locals is the Gallery Restaurant and Bar. Matching a congenial atmosphere with affordable food has made it a very popular venue. Rural Londonderrys proximity to miles of stunning coastline means that seafood has always played a part in the cuisine. Local industries parcel up many a smoked salmon for markets abroad; the port of Greencastle in Donegal is one of Irelands busiest. Yet not all the fish is for export. The region has many splendid restaurants which make the best of the superb ingredients. The pick of the range outside the city includes Kealys of Greencastle, which is close to the harbour itself and has fine views of Lough Foyle. In nearby Carndonagh, the Corncrake Restaurant offers a small but truly excellent menu. (The owners run cordon bleu cookery courses.) Pubs Despite radical changes in Derry peoples lifestyle, the downtown bar infrastructure remains remarkably unspoiled. One of the key spinoffs of the so-called Troubles is that regulars, eg, foreign journalists, could quickly become au fait with the community outlook in the close-knit bar circle of the 1970s. Some of those distinctive pubs-with-character are still around. That instant network (Derrys early internet) survives in an enhanced version. A related plus is that at least two of the older-type pubs put on traditional and folk music each weeknight all year round. For many people visiting Northern Ireland that first time, the bar is the nerve centre of activity, a place where they can interface with the locals, absorb the talk and listen to music. Waterloo Street is the place for this visitor. A steep street that spirals up from the edge of the Bogside, it contains three of the citys best-liked tunes 'n' chat bars. Virtually every night of the week, Peadar O'Donnells has traditional music, performed by the cream of musicians from the city. Its brother-bar, The Gweedore, is located on the same premises. It too has spontaneously disorganised music sessions but widens the choice by offering new rock and original electric bands too. The Dungloe, just up the street, also attracts enough fans each evening to have live traditional music. Here, outside-players, in Derry for the crack, often join in. At weekends there are jazz and blues get-togethers. A newer bar that has captured the spirit of the older ones is Sandinos. Situated next to the main bus station, this Nicaraguan-themed pub champions acoustic acts and has roots-music sessions. Derry folk like their lunch - maybe its an excuse to break up the day with a lively news-update. And the city has plenty of distinctive bars that serve good affordable sandwiches or salad/soup combos. These are mainly located either near dramatic sights like the walls or the Guildhall or, conveniently, next to major shopping complexes. The Metro, only dating back to the 1980s, has nevertheless the feel
of a more ancient place. Naturally, this is a great meeting point,
especially during the day. Badgers is a homely mixed-age-groups bar and
very popular as a lunch venue. Its main door opens on to the street that
links Foyleside and the Richmond Centre, Derrys two biggest shopping
malls. An easy walk down Orchard Street, on Foyle Street, you'll find Shipquay Street, the steepest main street in Ireland, runs parallel to Waterloo Street and also boasts pubs that characterise the best aspects of Derry life. The Townsman is another 1980s bar; one that has quickly become a favourite with locals, who go there for lunch and for the vibrant night programmes. Directly across the road, The River Inn and Cellars is built upon the site of the oldest bar in the city and has managed to recreate the style-atmosphere of the original tavern. On the Strand Road, the Trinity Hotel offers Porters Cafe Bar. Long, high-ceilinged and flagstoned, it has expansive plate-glass windows. This busy precinct also features the Strand Bar, which heaves with a youngish clientele every night of the week; the splendid Jackie Mullans, with three floors of elaborate and ornate bars and the new and funky Cosmopolitan, which can magic up either a fine latte, a cocktail or a Guinness. The Clarendon Bar, favoured by a slightly older crowd (you can actually hear yourself think here), and the lively Ascension, the citys first gay/lesbian bar, are two other major venues along the Strand. Entertainment in LondonderryIntroduction The dramatic contrast between the old-world 17th-century city and the fast-changing 21st-century one is what makes Derry/Londonderry such a fascinating place. Small-scale accessibility is its other great asset. Almost all of its cultural activities-attractions are concentrated within walking distance of each other on the commercial west side of the River Foyle. Following the wide contours of the winding river Foyle into Donegal, the city projects itself as the regional centre for the north west of Ireland. Derrys well-liked convivial bars tend to dominate the entertainment schedule. Yet those new to the city also have a range of alternatives in theatre, museums, heritage-history centres, galleries, festivals and live music. The categories in this introduction - Arts-Entertainment, Heritage-History Centres and Regional Attractions - have been used because they best reflect Derrys specific cultural make-up and character. Arts-Entertainment Interest in the arts has continued to grow at a rapid pace in Derry, as can be seen in the number and kind of centres now operating. The Playhouse is the venue at the heart of innovative, experimental theatre. As much a community project as a drama house, its spacious Context Gallery brings together the best of visual art from around Ireland. The Verbal Arts Centre, situated right on Londonderrys walls, runs exhibitions and organises talks on literary themes about the north west. It too has a gallery attached. Well-known for its generous, wide-angled approach to the visual arts, the Orchard Gallery regularly presents the work of both local and international artists. The 100-seat Foyle Arts Centre is one of the citys most important independent venues. It stages folk-country concerts and also provides rehearsal space for community groups. More high-tech in outlook than these is the Nerve Centre, a multi-media organisation with edit suites, recording studios and a performance area that brings in some of the best musicians from Ireland and beyond. It also has a compact cinema, bar and coffee house. Derrys other major concerts are held in the Rialto Entertainment Centre. A 900-seater, the Rialto puts on everything from childrens shows to performances by international rock and country music artists. (A new £13.5m arts-entertainment centre, provisionally called the Millennium Complex, will open nearby in July 2001, with auditorium space for 1000 people.) Derry is a city full of film buffs (they hold marathon movie trivia quizzes), so its only fitting that it should have a good art-house cinema. The Orchard Cinema, home of the Coca-Cola Foyle Film Club is in the same building as the above-mentioned gallery and includes a very comfortable snug bar among its facilities. The Orchard co-hosts the now-major Foyle Film Festival, which takes place in mid-November. The Strand Multiplex caters for mainstream Hollywoodies. Heritage-History Centres Until the late 1980s, Derrys historical archives were few and fragmented. Then new projects were initiated to showcase the citys complex history. These happily coincided with the use of new technology to intensify the background details of heritage presentations. The Tower Museum - carefully built to blend in with the stonework of the old walls - represents Derrys ancient story retold via stunning audio-visual effects, life-like mannequins and display cases. Well laid out and easy to follow, the museums achievement is to make history entertaining as well as informative. In the same way, the distant era of the Celts becomes more clear after a visit to The Fifth Province, another sophisticated guide to an important phase in the citys evolution. This is housed in the Calgagh Centre. The Workhouse Museum, located on the east side of the river, deals with more modern-day events, centring on life in Londonderry during and after the Victorian era. The Amelia Earhart Centre focuses on the American pilots landing near Derry during a cross-Atlantic solo flight in 1932. Derry has a long railway history, celebrated in the collection of period pieces on show at The Foyle Valley Railway Museum, which also has a working steam train for short trips along the river Foyle. The Craft Village, off Shipquay Street, succeeds in recreating the quietly relaxing atmosphere of an old market square. Traditional music evenings often take place at Bridies Cottage, a reproduction old-style dwelling in the village. Regional Attractions Sometimes called the gateway to the north west of Ireland, Derry has the geographical advantage of being a springboard for visits to other interesting places in the region. The world-famous Giants Causeway rock formation is just an hours drive away on what is a beautiful coastline (the Bushmills Distillery is in the same area). The causeway coast has two fine entertainment-arts venues. The Riverside Theatre is attached to the University of Ulster near Coleraine. It hosts drama, concerts and sometimes television discussions. Just outside Portstewart you can find the Flowerfield Arts Centre, which runs hands-on courses and has a gallery with works by local artists. A new and unusual permanent exhibition opened recently in Bellaghy, County Derry. The theme of Bellaghy Bawn revolves around the villages part in the Plantation of Ulster. Also the birthplace of Nobel Laureate poet Seamus Heaney, " The Bawn " features excellent local insights into the mans life and work. The neighbouring counties of Donegal and Tyrone have much to offer in the way of diversion and culture. Thriving Letterkenny is alive with arts activities, as the diverse programme of the new An Grianán Theatre shows. The (unrelated) Grianán Aileach Centre on the main Derry-Letterkenny road has an interpretive area and a restaurant close to the famous circular stone site that dates back to the fifth century. Near Omagh, Co. Tyrone, some 30 miles south of Londonderry, lies one of the best living museums in Ireland. The Ulster-American Folk Park dramatises the story of emigration from Ulster. Its daily program features reconstructed town streets peopled by real Tyrone residents in character dress. In the summer, visitors flock to the park to enjoy outdoor folk and bluegrass concerts. Sports Soccer is very popular in the city. While many football fans also support English teams, the local one has never lost favour, because everyone likes a fighting-spirited side. Derry City Football Club play at their own ground, the Brandywell. For current information, match dates and background, see its very readable site. Fishing the Foyle is quite an angling experience. The river itself is only part of the attraction, as the huge Foyle system has many good salmon and trout waters. If you are looking for a good combined accommodation and fishing stay, Portneal Lodge in County Derry is one of your best bets. The coastal waters around Counties Derry and Donegal are still developing as underwater attractions, but there is a lot of growing interest, as is witnessed in the many clubs forming. The Omagh Sub Aqua Club, contactable at www.osac.org.uk, will advise you about diving venues all around the north west. M O'Hanlon |