Two NI restaurants make list of top 100 in UK

The two restaurants are Harry’s Shack in Portstewart and Ox in Belfast.

The list, which features in monthly food magazine The Dish, is compiled by a judging panel which includes Jamie Oliver, Antonio Carluccio and Nick Jones, the founder of Soho House.

The Sunday Times Top 100 Restaurants does not rank the establishments in the list, but selects eight regional winners and an overall winner, which will all be revealed in the magazine on Sunday.

Ox in Belfast is run by Stephen Toman, whose modern European approach to cuisine was refined in some of the best restaurants in Paris. His menu includes signature dishes such as Mourne mountain lamb, olive, artichoke, gnocchi, fennel.

Harry’s Shack in Portstewart is a National Trust-owned building which specialises in seafood. Owner Donal Docherty combines fresh fish from Greencastle, with vegetables from the restaurant’s own farm.

Editor of The Sunday Times Top 100 Restaurants, Laurel Ives, said: “The Sunday Times Top 100 Restaurants judging panel is made up of some of the most experienced and knowledgeable people in the industry, from chefs and owners, to our own expert writers. They have picked out the very best establishments that the UK’s impressive culinary scene has to offer.”