Delicious and welcoming... why Millar’s Restaurant is on path to greatness

Joris Minne

Millar’s Restaurant, 135 Upper Lisburn Road, Finaghy

Monkfish at Millar's

July 22 2022 12:30 PM

Belfast is particularly good at neighbourhood restaurants, as are many other places here.

Head out of the city and town centres and you will find any amount of bistros and restaurants where quality of food and service is maintained because the locals, won’t pay for anything which is less than good. Reputations can quickly die at the altar of public opinion, and when the relationship is as personal as it is between a neighbourhood restaurant and its neighbourhood, then chances are that you’ll have a very good time.

Take Millar’s in Finaghy. A delightful, cosy and intimate restaurant managed by Sarah Stevenson, a woman who has an instinctive talent for hospitality and the skills to make the whole thing work smoothly. Millar’s is a neighbourhood bistro which will make anybody travelling from further afield feel local. Millar’s is so pleasant, in fact, that it deserves to be logged in the file marked ‘destination restaurants’.

The bright dining room breaks off into corners and coves providing plenty of intimacy for tables of two, as well as room for larger family groups. The mood is bubbly, frothy and full of anticipation. Some restaurants like this instil that sense of fun without much effort.

But behind the fun is chef Anthony McCabe, who is diligent, imaginative and consistent.

His summer menu has just kicked in and it quickly settles any lingering doubts about the kind of food you might expect.

I hope Sarah will forgive me for saying that the happy interior might suggest chicken in breadcrumbs and chips, but that’s emphatically not what this place is about. It’s more prawn bisque with your arancini, roast monkfish with a glass of pinot noir, magret of duck with a beautifully done chunk of squash.

It’s not fine dining but it is very good, unpretentious, fresh and tasty food with well-judged and executed sauces.

McCabe has struck the right note here: it is not an easy task to judge what a clientele might like and be happy to pay for.

So among the ribeyes and fillet steaks from Carnbrooke and triple cooked chips in beef and duck fat you will also find whole John Dory with fig and prawn beurre noisette and a polenta and parmesan fritter, Skeaghnore duck breast with cauliflower, pistachio crumble and crisp sweet potato and blackened lamb rump bolstered by Parisienne potato, charred fennel, pea, candied beetroot and gooseberry jus.

This is pushing the boat out and shows great ambition and intent. A recent visit provided evidence that the ambition is matched by ability. The duck breast was masterful, tender, succulent and deep in flavour. Matched in volume by a wedge of sweet potato, this was a hugely satisfying dish with all the right textures.

The pan fried monkfish with clam sauce and chicory (right), not an obvious match, was a big success, particularly when served with a glass of Jean Loron pinot noir.

There is finesse in McCabe’s cooking and this is very apparent in his prawn and crab ravioli which comes with a prawn foam, mangetout, fennel and artichoke puree. It’s a bit heavy on the fennel, but if you take it out, the dish is well balanced.

Millar’s has been transformed since it started life just before the pandemic. It’s a tribute to the team that they have not only survived but evolved this restaurant of quality into something exciting which is also reasonably priced.

Restaurants are at the heart of communities and this busy, bustling part of Finaghy should count itself blessed to have a neighbourhood bistro of this calibre.

It deserves every support and chef McCabe should be congratulated for being so bold and delivering on promises of greatness.

The bill:

Scallop, prawn and crab ravioli: £12.50
Monkfish: £19
Dark chocolate sphere: £8.50
Glass Jean Loron pinot noir: £8
Total: £48