Cayenne

wanderlustgirl
wanderlustgirl
First Reviewer
5 out of 5
Avg. Member Rating
2
Reviews
4
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Cayenne

  • July 3, 2006
  • Rated 5 of 5 by morph! from Belfast, United Kingdom
Cayenne is dining with a difference. Each meal is a mini adventure with taste, texture and colour in every forkful.

It's hard to describe exactly what kind of cuisine is served—it's a bit of everything, often with local ingredients.

As a vegetarian I find it hard to get a good selection of food when I'm eating out - not a problem here: there's a separate vegetarian menu with at least eight choices on it, and not just vegetarian pasta special. I tried parsnip purée and it was fantastic, my friends had cauliflower dumplings and butternut squash risotto.

Meat-wise the selection was good, but when the food came it didn't look half as appealing as the vegetarian menu.

The atmosphere was great. The decor is rather dark, but pleasant. It was mainly couples dining midweek when we went.

Don't scrimp and avoid desserts—they're far too good to miss! I had cappuccino semifreddo, a warm donut alongside ice cream with cappuccino foam on top. Fantastic!

The staff are really helpful. When I couldn't translate some of the dishes in the menu they spent ages by our table explaining what they were.

The food in Cayenne is expensive, but it was well worth the money we paid. I can't wait to go again! Cayenne's not a place to go if you like food plain and simple. If you're an adventurous eater, you'll love it!

From journal Belfast: Getting Better by the Minute

Editor Pick

Cayenne

  • March 20, 2002
  • Rated 4 of 5 by wanderlustgirl from Seattle, Washington
Cayenne

Walking back to our hotel along Belfast's "Golden Mile" after a day of exploring, we came across Cayenne, much to our extreme fortune. Somehow the food deities were looking out for us, as it turned out that Cayenne was formerly the location of the Michelin-starred, Roscoff's. The same owners, Irish celebrity chefs, Paul and Jeanne Rankin, still run and cook in it's current incarnation. The Rankin's have long been on the BBC cooking show, Gourmet Ireland which highlights the best of new Irish cooking. Gourmet Ireland has also aired in the US on PBS. For a food and wine obsessed epicurean such as myself, this was a bit of nirvana.

I'll try and quiet the swooning...on to the menu. The pictures below show the menu as it was, but I'm fairly certain it rotates, so just go prepared to enjoy whatever is in season. The offerings lean towards a melange of classic French influenced with a Pan-Asian accent.

We started with the goat cheese and ratatouille pizza, which had me doing an involuntary sort of yummy-tummy dance (still seated at least), to the dismay of my friend. It was good, I couldn't help it. Try as I might, I don't recall what my entree was, but I do remember it was one of the night's specials...and it too was really tasty. They have a well-rounded wine list and offer healthy pours in nice stemware. By evening's end, we were both so full that dessert seemed impossible. Not ones to give up so easily, we settled on sharing some sorbet. The other items looked so good though, so plan ahead and save room!

The atmosphere was quite serene, the front windows were frosted shielding diners from the busy street outside, there was also some amazing pieces of modern art intermixed with the rest of the decor. Granted, the meal totalled up to be rather pricey, but for a splurge it's entirely worth seeking out Cayenne.

From journal Belfast: Exploring the City Behind the Stories

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