The Shack,
Mourne Seafood Bar,
34-36 Bank Street,
Belfast,
BT1 1HL.
028 9024 8544
[ mourneseafood.comOpens in new window ]
FOR bars and restaurants, the pandemic changed everything, but even as restrictions lift and things edge back towards 'normal' not everything will change back.
That's a good thing - and not only because edging back towards normal is not the same as getting back to normal.
Some of the adaptations would have been welcome in a world that wasn't irrevocably changed by a rampant virus.
The ability to book a table in a pub and never go near the bar is a godsend for the old curmudgeons among me, while the expansion of takeaway and delivery to broader and better options is simply the mark of an enlightened society.
The more widespread collection of card details when taking bookings also gives restaurants some much needed protection against the scourge of no-shows.
And eating outside is now much more of a thing.
Some places invested so much in their al fresco set-ups that to dismantle them just because they're no longer legally necessary would be a waste of more money. And people like eating outside, even if our weather does its best to put you off.
Mourne Seafood Bar in Belfast city centre sunk £25,000 into creating an outdoor space that they've now branded 'The Shack', out the front of their long-standing bricks and mortar crowd-pleaser.
There's an informality about the actual seafood bar anyway. It's always felt like high-class dining by stealth, like an actual bar that just happens to serve plump oysters and majestic langoustines and cauldrons of mussels to lose yourself in.
The Shack takes things to another level of casualness by moving things outside to picnic tables, with the former summer beer garden turned into an all seasons covered restaurant.
The plates and cutlery are disposable and biodegradable, and the menu is a part stripped down version of big brother's offering, part its own thing.
It's a Sunday afternoon not long before the shops are closing, so there's no surprise there's more than one bag from the nearby Primark tucked under the tables.
Across the way, one customer is so pleased with his new jumper he puts it on for dinner. Though it may be because it's here and it's October. Thankfully both the gazebo-esque covering and the handy heaters keep things comfortable and make the Shack a genuinely year-round proposition, as does the food.
Half a dozen oysters shimmer in their shells, and they're fine specimens. Rich and briny, they're a good thing on their own but are helped by a bare squeeze of lemon after the first few. The mignonette mixture of vinegar and shallots is far too harsh for them and could do with being brought down a notch or two. But it's there by itself in the middle of the tray, so can be happily ignored.
Leaning into the street - beach? - food side of things means the oysters and the chowder are the only things on the menu not coming out of a fryer, but the punchy, shouty flavours generally stop things from getting too much.
The lobster corn dog, being both on a stick and in a roll, suggests it should be eaten with your hands, but it's a completely impractical suggestion. 'Hot mess' immediately springs to mind, with the roll bearing a well flavoured lobster and prawn sausage in a crisp-edged cornbread batter, with Jackson Pollock brought into garnish.
Lemon mayonnaise, sriracha ketchup, little cubes of emerald gherkin and strands of blush pickled onion are everywhere. But it still looks beautiful and if you take a knife and fork to it, it works beautifully.
Salt and chilli squid rustles as it should, helped with a curry-powered chilli jam, while the fries are good and hot, with a generous pile of sweet, juicy prawns.
Desserts feel like an add on, but still a good one with the ubiquitous sticky toffee pudding a bit better than the chocolate fondant.
Being a beach food shack right outside an actual bar brings the benefit of a proper drinks selection, with glasses of wine starting around £6.50 and bottles starting at £19.
The cocktail offering is all killer. It's difficult not to order everything. Every single one reads like a page-turner, and going by the one sampled - a combination of Bushmills rum cask whiskey, yellow chartreuse and honey and chamomile tea syrup - it's as interesting and well executed a list as you'll find anywhere, inside or out.
THE BILL
Half dozen oysters £9
Salt and chilli squid £9
Lobster corn dog £9
Loaded king prawn fries £9
Chocolate fondant £5
Sticky toffee pudding £9
Elderflower tonic £2.25
Bees in a Field cocktail £9.50
Service charge £5.58
Total £61.33
