James Street South (the street) is a fairly unremarkable, narrow road – barely more than a lane – running south of, and parallel to, Donegall Square and Howard Street. In the normal course of things, it would have remained relatively anonymous; the shortcut, which everyone seemed to know, but could never name until about 14 years ago when fate was thwarted by the presence of its eponymous restaurant: James St. As a result, anyone who is anyone knows James Street; with the ‘South’ element to the name being dropped when the fine dining restaurant sadly closed last year and the grill extended across the space.
Do you, like me, ever feel that urge to go out to eat, in a place that’s busy but not obtrusively so; when you want to talk in a relaxed atmosphere, without the prospect of arguing about the service or the meal?… “My steak’s overdone… I’ve been waiting an hour!” …you know how it goes. At times like that – and many other times, to be fair – my mind will turn to James St. It’s that kind of place.
I’ve known Niall McKenna, the chef and owner, since I was about twelve years old. We shared a school bus journey. He hasn’t changed much. Still a cheeky chappy but an all-round good egg. His easy, fun personality oozes out of everything about James Street. You just know everything’s going to be fine and you can chat, socialise or do business, without unwanted distractions. Perhaps, it’s for this reason that it’s so popular with local execs, not to mention ‘ladies who lunch’; neither of whom want hassle.
There were some firm favourites, which were not going to disappear when the grill and fine dining restaurants combined; the Kilkeel crab & chilli linguine and Crab on toast with brown crab mayonnaise, to name but two. The Josper charcoal grill still takes centre stage, used to cook some of the best steaks and prime cuts of Northern Ireland, but also fresh, whole fish, pork and vegetables, too.
There’s now a larger bar area, with an extended range of wines, together with carefully selected spirits and an extensive range of whiskies. There’s room, too, for locally produced beer, cider and gins on the drinks menu.
Owned by Niall McKenna for over 15 years, the restaurant operation is managed by Paul McGovern; and very well managed, as it happens. The staff know exactly what they’re doing and do it in a friendly, engaging way. It’s a thoroughly pleasant experience, from start to finish.
To say the menu is wide-ranging is a bit of an understatement, because there’s a wide range of menus! If you’re feeling particularly ravenous, how about tackling the thoroughly adventurous ‘sharing steak’; a 1.2 kg Tomahawk, which is everything the name suggests. Sharing seems the best thing to do!
The ‘meals for two’ also include the ubiquitous Chateaubriand. The ‘surf & turf’ is another ‘Prime Cuts’ choice, to satisfy any appetite, consisting of half a grilled Killough lobster and a 6oz fillet steak.
As for desserts, the Lemon baked Alaska is a particular hit, it seems…and the soufflé…oh my! Yet again, I’m going to start reciting the entire list…whilst salivating! You get the idea… whatever choice you make you can rest assured the food will be excellent, which makes it my ‘go to’ venue, when friends visit, which I think says it all.
And speaking of friends, one of my favourite festive things to do – apart from eat here every Friday lunchtime in December for the brilliant atmosphere and all-round craic - is to grab a group of friends together and cook up a Christmas meal in the Cookery School upstairs, with Niall at the helm of the cookers and plenty of wine to wash down the titbits of ingredients as you go along. If you book your date cleverly, like I do, the leftovers and prep done in the school will see you through to Christmas Day and you’ll have your prawn cocktail sauce and delicious stuffing all pre-made, among other goodies. The Cookery School offers loads of classes – not all with Niall it has to be said – and another favourite is the sushi and cocktails one, or the Mexican, where I learnt to make the best guacamole ever.
And as this blog is called the F Words, I’ll round up this review with some F words about Niall and James Street - fun, fantastic food + friends. Boom.