The top line: Regency House draws on Chris McClurg and Alice Stewart’s time spent living and working in Cornwall and abroad. McClurg spent 13 years working alongside Paul Ainsworth in Cornwall, rising to chef patron, and Stewart also built her career at No6, progressing from chef de partie to head pastry chef and sous chef before becoming restaurant director. With Regency House, which is within Belfast’s Regency House townhouse, they have created a contemporary bistro where classic European influences combine with top drawer Irish produce.
On the menu: The menu reflects McClurg’s travels, experiences and culinary influences with starters that include an ‘unpotted’ shrimp – his reinterpretation of the classic potted shrimp, combining brined shrimp, raw red prawns and toasted mace with e sourdough pancakes and pickled cucumber; Conway Farm courgette flower filled with scallop and lobster stuffing, inspired by his time at Paul Ainsworth’s No.6; tomato à la merenda with pistou dressing and St Tola goat’s cheese, a tribute to a dish the couple enjoyed at La Merenda in Nice that remains one of their most treasured culinary memories; and his signature potato cake, a twist on a Victoria sponge reimagined as savoury course made with caramelised Lyonnaise onions sandwiched between two crispy potato rösti and topped with whipped fromage blanc – an ode to Stewart’s years spent as a pastry chef. The rest of the menu is equally enticing, with dishes such as Murley Mountain lamb with red garlic ketchup, mint and lovage; Seaview Farm chicken with morels and sauce suprême; and a beef fat sticky toffee pudding with medjool dates, peated whiskey and clotted cream. The restaurant also serve brunch from Thursday to Sunday, with buttermilk pancakes the star of the show - choose from toppings such as Irish smoked bacon and Canadian maple syrup; and blueberry compote, lemon and whipped vanilla cheesecake - but McClurg’s breakfast of sausage, smoked streaky bacon, Clonakilty black and white pudding, mushrooms, tomato fondue, potato bread, soda farl and a fried egg is also a winner.
The vibe: Regency House accommodates 46 guests throughout the main dining room, small courtyard, and PDR. The restaurant has an open kitchen and makes good use of natural materials, with exposed brickwork and a stone tiled floor, with smart green banquettes and a ceiling window that provides much of the light. It is set within Regency House, one of Belfast’s most striking historic buildings, which was completely renovated in 2022, and which became Northern Ireland’s first and so far only hotel to be awarded a Michelin Key in 2025. The boutique hotel has eight bedrooms and six suites.
And another thing: McClurg and Stewart began consulting on the property in 2025 before taking it on, and say they want to create a restaurant of ‘national significance’.
Regency House, 14 and 15 Upper Crescent, Belfast, BT7 1NT / regencyhouse.co.uk/