Prestigious Grub Club serves top accolade to The Merchant’s Great Room Restaurant
Belfast’s multi award-winning Merchant Hotel is celebrating once again, as its Great Room Restaurant is named The Grub Club’s Restaurant of the Year.
Established over 30 years ago, the Grub Club is an exclusive private dining club, which scours the whole of Northern Ireland to find the very best restaurants that the region has to offer. With strict criteria to select its winner based on the excellent calibre, integrity and innovation of its entire food, beverage and service offering, the Grub Club celebrates culinary excellence at its best.
This recent accolade comes hot on the tails of The Merchant being named the first AA hotel for Northern Ireland in late September and following newly released Tourist Board ratings, which make The Merchant officially Belfast’s only five-star hotel.
Commenting on the Award, Marco Morro, food & beverage manager for The Merchant said:
“The Grub Club is renowned for recognising only the very best dining experiences, so it really is an honour for The Great Room to be chosen as their Restaurant of the Year.”
Jonny Leake, head chef at The Great Room Restaurant believes his team’s attention to the smallest detail is the reason they scooped the top prize:
“The Great Room’s menus unite influences from around the world, whilst honouring the best of traditional Irish, British and French classics. We showcase food as it should be; using the best of local produce that reflects the changing seasons, complimented by a carefully constructed seasonal wine list – each and every element of our food and beverage offering is put under close scrutiny to ensure the final results are first-class.
“We are thrilled that The Grub Club has chosen The Great Room Restaurant as its Restaurant of the Year, from what I’m sure was an extensive list of exceptional restaurants across Northern Ireland.”
Diners wishing to get a taste of The Great Room’s award-winning cuisine can do so in style at a forthcoming wine dinner next Thursday, 24th October 2013.
The event, hosted by celebrated New Zealand winemaker, John Forrest of The Forrest winery – one of the first 10 wineries in the Marlborough region – offers a sumptuous seven course meal with five carefully matched wines. The special menu is priced at £59.50 per person. Places can be booked by calling The Merchant Hotel on 028 9023 4888.
The Merchant Hotel is owned by the Beannchor Group, which boasts a portfolio of over 50 pubs, hotels and restaurants across Northern Ireland. Earlier this month, the group opened the doors to its latest venture – The National Grande Café in the Cathedral Quarter of Belfast. A further venue, Patisserie Mimi, is set to open at the beginning of November in the neighbouring building on High Street, Belfast, with a third venue – The Dirty Onion also scheduled to open in the Cathedral Quarter later this year.