please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Trendy looking modern bar just outside the Victoria Square shopping mall, inside it is less trendy and more down to earth. Only one ale from Whitewater on amidst a sea of formula kegs, this was Belfast Ale a rather thin and watery red ale with a slightly chocolatey taste, served very cold. Sadly as it warmed up a sour flavour was revealed. All the beer seems to be served in either a Magners, Guinness or a Carlsberg glass. Staffing was coolly efficient and the customers were a fairly average looking lot. The interior is mainly exposed brick, a neat tiled floor and with big clear windows to the street, the usual screens and machines are available, the screens being tuned to a racing channel.
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Only one beer on the handpumps during our visit - Whitewater Belfast Ale. The place was more similar to a nightclub than a pub, with the live music being so loud it gave you tinnitis. Wouldn't return in a hurry.
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Nice bar inside but ruined by the bar staff, been in with my wife
a couple of times and if you don't have anything to eat they look
at you as if you are an 'Alco' and look down on you........not a bar
if you and your wife are just in for a drink, and I agree with a previous poster we had a meal in once and I'am sure it was all
out of tins.....The Morning Star is a far better bar for a meal and
a drink.
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Looks and sounds like a bit of a posy place, like the Ha Ha Canteen chain on the mainland. However as I heard it was one of the few places to get real ale I gave it a go. It is primarily a kitchen bar as the name suggests with the emphasis clearly on food. Only two hand pumps and only one in use serving Clarks Brewery�s Take the Bait, which I did. It pulled up cloudy with a worrying floating sediment and was about to send it back but it smelled and tasted OK. The barman told me that�s the way it�s supposed to be, or at least that�s what the guy who delivered it told him, and that all English ales were like that. I begged to differ but being a proud Englishman and wanting to support it�s beer I even had another, neither cleared throughout and I suffered no ill effects. TV�s showing the test match on Sky but was unceremoniously turned over for racing without any thought for what customers were watching.
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Modern bar typical of student-oriented Belfast pubs; had 2 pumps turned around so stuck to Guiness (not over impressed by that either). Fairly busy on a Tuesday night, no doubt helped by opening of the (amazing) Vic Square shopping development.
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Had a meal in this pub a couple of weeks ago and...My God...The spuds were out of a can...YUK!!!
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I think not having the word "closed" attached to this bar's name on sites like this might help get more people in there.
anonymous - 19 Nov 2007 14:01 |
Following Real Ale starvation at
McHughs on Friday we ventured to the Kitchen remebering a packed boozer with live music and real Belfast character. To say we were shocked is an understatement. Whilst the live music remains and the trio in situ were brilliant we shared the pub from 22.15 to 23.30 with no more than two dozen others.
The only saving grace was that the Titanic Lifeboat was good and we still managed to attract a couple of characters.
The basic issue is that the place is now impossible to find for the visitor without GPS having been sandwiched between roadworks and a near complete but huge building development.
Not sure how it will survive without punters so please visit.
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Never managed to get to the Kitchen in its old guise and understand that it is a different bar now in lots of ways. LOTS of glass and leather, high ceilings make it feel much larger than it really is. In the Good Beer Guide for this year, but NO real ale when we visited. Black mark, I'm afraid.
Directly opposite Bittle's and is currently the poorer relation of the two, I feel.
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Good pub this, friendly staff, nice food and a wide range of different drinks.Its a good pub to visit on a crawl.
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Good to see the Kitchen back, albeit in a different guise. Still well worth a visit.
anonymous - 21 Sep 2005 12:05 |
The new Kitchen Bar opened in early November 2004. Although it is still run by Pat Catney, and most of the old staff have returned, it is considerably different from the old bar.
It is modern style bar, much larger than the old Kitchen. Apart from some old photos, none of the original bar's features have been retained. Only two real ales are on sale. In saying that it does still do Paddy Pizzas and has traditional music on Friday nights.
Woth visiting, but fans of the old bar may be disappointed.
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Any news on the progress of the "new" kitchen bar?
Will it have accomodation?
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I was walking by the Kitchen Pub area trying to find it and was astonished to find out it was destroyed. I couldn't believe such a lovely victorian place had gone forever. God bless Pat, the owner, for giving me the best memories I have from Belfast
Diana - 13 Oct 2004 21:58 |
Glad to hear that the old bar is not forgotton,it really was a fun place to work.yes the staff and customers and my parents living above the bar all blended to make it a truly trad. bar Hope to open 1st Non 2004 same street different house 36-40 Victoria sq.Hope the new Kitchen can follow the old pat
PAT CATNEY - 29 Sep 2004 22:55 |
I stumbled into this place while on business and it imediately became my favorite pub in Belfast. Evewry kind of character there, from working types to attorneys to rockers and old codgers, friendly to a person and very comfortable. I was there several weeks ago when the BBC camera crew was there to document the "closing", altough the owner was in the doorway saying "this is Custer's Last Stand here, and we aren't closing until the bulldozer comes to our door.." or words to that effect. Without question th best pub in Belfast. The Crown is nice to see, but the Kitchen was the best to go back to again and again. Sorry to see it go.
Mike Poole - 25 Jul 2004 00:46 |
I have lived all my life in Belfast and can safely say the Kitchen Bar is without a doubt my favourite pub in the city. The beer, the food and the craic are second to none. It is an absolute disgrace that it is being knocked down and will be a great loss to Belfast. Its a sad sign of the times here - what's next? The Crown Liquour Saloon?!?! The Kitchen Bar truly typifies what an Irish pub should be, warm, welcoming and traditional; somewhere where total strangers sit and chat over a pint at the bar or with those at the next table while enjoying a Paddy Pizza. Like White's Tavern, it is the sort of pub that brings tourists to Belfast and that us locals would love to preserve. If you haven't been before, go now before its too late. You might see me there propping up the bar!!
(Gerard Keenan, Belfast).
Gerard Keenan - 3 Jun 2004 01:27 |
i live in belfast and the lastest news about the kitchen bar as far as im aware is it is to close in mid to end of june to make way for the new victoria centre. was talking to the owner pat catney last week who told me that the new bar will be opening in hopfully mid december but he is not sure yet.
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has the Kitchen Bar closed?.If so when did it close?
thank you
cathy mahaffy - 14 May 2004 11:45 |
I love the kitchen!! The atmosphere, the decor, the food, the freindly welcoming staff. It is a real loss for belfast that its being knocked down.
jubbjubb - 5 May 2004 12:56 |
Shame the pub is being knocked dow. Sometimes the real ale can be a bit dodgy sometimes.
thomas - 16 Jan 2004 15:20 |
One of the last remaining pubs of old Belfast with genuine atmosphere. Sometimes free sandwiches, sometimes traditional music. Serves real ale too!
Ed Hitchings - 29 Sep 2003 15:21 |
