Almost two years in the making, Willy’s will open its doors at the Margate House Hotel in Cliftonville on 15 November, serving classic British dishes ‘reimagined with wit and flair’.
Located within the townhouse hotel, which opened in summer 2023, but also a standalone restaurant, Willy’s will be led in the kitchen by Mark O’Brien, whose CV includes The Dairy and ZRC Birch under Robin Gill and more recently at Whitstable bistro Samphire, where he was head chef for two years.
His menu will have a focus on seasonal, British produce, with affordability and value for money front of mind. Dishes on the launch menu will include snacks of pork scratchings with apple ketchup; and black pudding scotch egg and starters such as Guinness soda bread with whipped butter; coronation mussels with almond chilli oil and soda bread; and pork and prune terrine.
Mains will include Willy’s sausage and mash; braised beef rib with leek and barley risotto; and celeriac wellington with sauteed savoy cabbage, with desserts such as sticky toffee pudding; apple and pear crumble; and Earl Grey panna cotta.
“At Willy’s, we do comfort food our own way, classic British dishes, reimagined with wit and flair. It’s the kind of spot where good taste doesn’t take itself too seriously,” says Jenkins.
The restaurant’s design come courtesy of Jenkins and is decked out in pinks and reds and can seat 25 in the main diner restaurant space, including five seats at the open kitchen counter, and a further 25 covers outside on the dog-friendly heated terrace.
A separate PDR, adjacent to the main Willy’s restaurant, can host up to 30 people standing or 16 seated guests.