Writing a review for the likes of Belfast Food Tour is a delicate affair, as the tour is based around little bits and pieces of knowledge that our lovely guide has went to great lengths to compile together to make a tour that will appeal to both tourist and locals alike. As such I will refrain from giving away her trade secrets and instead give you a flavour (excuse the pun) of what to expect.
I meet Caroline (our tour guide) at St. Georges market, where the tour starts, a bit before the usual 10:30 start time to do an audio interview for our upcoming podcast. She is immediately likable, knowledgeable and full of energy, which will come in handy as this is a marathon, not a sprint. Interview done we get down to the tour! It emerges that our eight person group are all locals, with a small child, a pregnant lady and a fussy eater included. Not the easiest group to cater for, but cater for she does, and as we wind our way around the market I learn many historical tidbits and find out about local produce talking to butchers, tea makers, coffee makers, farmers, bakers…you get the idea with that. Caroline informs us that she loves a challenge and as we’re local it is her mission to get us to try something new and learn something about NI produce we didn’t know. She has her mission complete as we leave the first stall! We nibble our way through the market like a snacking snake and come out the other end clutching bags of produce that we didn’t know were available in NI, let alone being made here.
Next comes a journey across town on a quest for all that is edible and delicious. We stop and learn about how chocolate is made at one of the world’s top chocolatiers, there’s breads and oil to sample, potatoes (of course), coffee and nut butter and the obligatory local beers. All tastes and restrictions are catered for too – the pregnant lady can’t have blue cheese, the fussy eater won’t eat cheese at all (huh?!?!) and the kid can’t have beer (although he might have had some if it were upto him). But it’s not a problem as substitutes are sorted and everyone is suitably stuffed. Along the way we really get to know each other and by the end it feels like we’re old friends. There really is no better bonding experience than over food, the breaking of bread here is quite literal, and it tastes good to boot. We finish off at a local restaurant, picked quite simply, because it’s Caroline’s favorite. Here we have (along with plenty of local produce) our one item that’s not local produce, the one concession that has been made, quite a feat when we’ve sampled some 20+ different foods and drinks and visited over 8 places.
The tour was a bloody marvel and well worth the £35 price tag. We managed to run 2 hours over the 3 hours running time and none of us had even noticed. I get the feeling that this our is constantly evolving and changing food and establishments, which is why I will definitely be back in a few months. A great tour for locals and visitors alike, this truly is a bite-size tour of Northern Ireland!
Tickets and more info can be booked at the Belfast Food Tour website.
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