Cú,
635 Lisburn Road,
Belfast,
BT9 7HL.
028 9590 3582
instagram.com/cu_belfast
WHEN we were in Cú on the Lisburn Road in south Belfast, I meant to ask what the name meant. But I forgot.
Thankfully the internet knows everything and I resolved to check when I got home. When I remembered a few days later – I'm easily distracted – to Google (other search engines are available) it came up with the most plausible explanation that it's a reference to the Cú bird from Mexican folklore, which basically ruffled some feathers because its feathers were just so good looking.
An email to the restaurant or a message on Instagram might have confirmed things but the truth is it doesn't matter.
A couple of weeks ago the Muddlers Club featured on this page. That was named after the 18th century United Irishmen-linked secret society that met near its Belfast city centre site.
As restaurant names go, that's a solid effort, but everything was so exceptional it could have been named after Jacob Rees-Mogg and it wouldn't have mattered.
So, despite the internet's best guess, there's a decent chance Cú doesn't mean anything.
The truth is, I forgot to ask because I was waylaid by the stuff that does matter: The food, the service, the place itself.
Cú is good. Whatever it means.
If it is named after that flash bird, the spectacular plumage is there for all to see. The colours are almost cartoonish.
The restaurant's only internet presence at the minute is Instagram, which feels right because everything that hits the table comes ready for its close up.
It also mostly comes with substance to match the style. There are tacos and small plates, but the plates aren't all that small at all – and they shouldn't be for being mostly between £7.50 and £12.
As well as the name, there are leans, nods and winks towards various parts of Mexico throughout the menu with an adobo mayonnaise here, some pico do gallo there.
Sometimes there's nothing at all. The blush pink slices of Iberico pork with apple purée, matchsticks of pickled apple and a gravel of hazelnuts could be on any menu, and would be welcome if it's done as well as it is here. It's also, like everything, a serious looker, splashed and dusted with colour.
There's more of Mexico in the scallops, with three plump specimens, a fresh burst of pico de gallo, a smokily chilli-powered cauliflower purée and matchsticks of crisp tortilla.
Char-edged padron peppers are a lush green in a grazing bowl, sitting there to be absent mindedly dredged through a whipped feta with lime every so often, being munched through like a bag of cheese and onion in front of Netflix.
A piece of sea bass is pearlescent under a golden tinged crackle of skin. There's a section of sweetcorn, cleaved from the cob, blistered from the fire.
A verdant leaf of crisp cavolo nero sits on top of it all, but under everything there's a corn sauce/soup/meaning of life that is as good a thing as I can remember eating in a long time. Sweet, soft, with a gentle heat, it's preposterously moreish. It's in a lovely piece of earthenware that somehow manages to make it back to the kitchen both in one piece and unlicked.
Cu goes big on tacos, and you get two for £11, or a little more if you want fish or prawns.
The green chorizo version comes with little crisp onions, a piece of charred pineapple and a deep, menacing salsa roja.
But taken together it's not overly hot, punctuated by the sweet fruit, and altogether gorgeous.
As helpful as the friendly, enthusiastic service crew was about making sure we didn't under-order, some chips were requested out of an abundance of caution. They were very hot and very crisp, so very good – as was the smoky adobo mayonnaise mentioned earlier. The good bit, not hot and crisp.
Desserts do a solid job, with a white chocolate cheesecake pleasantly blackened on top to give it the feel of a Basque cousin, and a mango sorbet with pineapple and lime salsa every bit as refreshing as that sounds.
Other refreshments – chiefly margaritas – are also available and dangerously good.
Things didn't end well for the Cú bird. One version of the story ends up with it hidden away in the dark, its colourful feathers rendered pointless by never being able to be seen again.
Its (probable) namesake restaurant deserves to seen by as many people as possible.
The bill
Padron peppers £7
Iberico pork £12
Seabass £10
Scallops £12.50
Green chorizo tacos £11
Fries £3.50
Cheesecake £7
Mango sorbet £5
Spicy margarita £10
Mexican cola £3.50
Total £82
