My girlfriend, Jaa, and I were enjoying our last evening together for 7 or 8 months as I go from Mexico to Antarctica by land. I had pushed the boat out and organised our last night to be spent at the gorgeous Culloden Estate and Spa ( read my review here) but my plans initially were to go into Belfast city centre for a special dinner, but that was before I laid eyes on the beautiful little restaurant on the Culloden’s grounds, the Cultra Inn.
The Cultra Inn
Dinner at the Cultra InnI love a nice restaurant, but I’m not a huge fan of stuffy, over formal affairs so the Cultra Inn was just perfect. Suave and classy, but still a down-to-earth vibe, it’s a high-end gastro-pub and the atmosphere was spot on.
Cultra Inn atmosphereWe got seated at our table and a couple of drinks were ordered and delivered in no time. After selecting our smoked salmon on (Irish) wheaten bread starter along with bacon soup we then decided on our mains. Before we could even begin to anticipate those delicious stakes, we were on the receiving end of some great wine advice, so that was duly ordered too!
Shiraz on an Irish night
Cultra Inn Wine MenuThe starters were divine, and the local appeal was a nice touch. The bacon soup came with a super fresh home-baked scone, and the smoked salmon was sourced in my small fishing hometown, Kilkeel.
Starters at the Cultra Inn
Irish soup and Irish scone to startOur main courses were both a ribeye steak and a sirloin steak, complete with 3 sides and the portions are huge! Don’t make our mistake and order 3 sides, it’s madness. Despite the up market decor, this is still old fashioned delicious Irish grub, not French, so the portions sizes are massive. The Australian Shiraz was a great accompaniment to the steaks too.
Rib-eye steakThe sweet tooth in me couldn’t refuse a dessert, so we ordered a banoffee pie. I would love to convince you guys that we shared it, i mean technically we did in that we had one plate and 2 forks, but I had 99% of it devoured before Jaa could lick her lips. No apologies here, it was delicious.
Banoffe Pie
An Irish whiskey to see it off…After calming down from the wonderful 3 courses, we finished the dinner off with an Irish coffee (with local whiskey) and Bailey’s coffee – a great way to finish a great dinner. I’ll be back guys.
As you know, blogging changed my life. I left Ireland broke, with no plan, with just a one-way ticket to Thailand and no money. Since then, I started a blog, then a digital media company, I’ve made more than $1,500,000 USD, bought 4 properties and visited (almost) every country in the world. And I did it all from my laptop as I travel the world and live my dream.
Salmon all the way from Kilkeel – nice touch mate. This is really good publicity for Northern Ireland too, love it! Jonny