James Street South, Belfast

Cost: £500 for 5 people? Without drinks?!?! Laughable

Staff: Rude + pretentious

Food: Minimilist garbage, seems like the chef just added ingredients in his head, rosemary foam? yes its as disgusting as it sounds

Overall Verdict: horrible place!

First time eating there and I must say it was not only a dissapointment but due to the hour+ wait between courses me and my partner nearly walked out of the place. We felt that the service was terrible and that due to us not ordering wine we were being ignored in place for tables who where spending more money.

Even a couple who came in after we had our first course had their first and second before our second arrived. We in turn will not be going back due to this, not to mention the overall pretentious atmosphere and portions of food.

Totally pretentious. Tables approx 1 foot from eachother. Wine prices are horrendous and the web site prices are out of date. Food was just OK- not exceptional nor worth the expense. We tucked into all 3 courses each and left bearly sated. Will be sticking with Cayenne and Nicks Warehouse. Very disappointed.

James Street South is the best place in belfast ive ever eaten! The service is brillant! Ant the food is outstanding! Me and a friend ate there last Friday. Walking into the Restaurant we greeted by a friendly and waiter who sat us in the comfortable waiting area for a moment or two before taking us to our table. He had a good knowlegde of the wine list and was able to recommend a good bottle of wine in the lower end of the wine list.

For our meal I had Seared Foie Gras with Brioche and Marcerated Grape which was was cooked to perfection and my dine companion had Red Mullet, I cant remember what this was served with but they thoroughly enjoyed it. For our mains I had Venion loin with Beetroot , Artichoke and Chestnut. It was cooked med/rare as asked and was melt in mouth and a side of champ which was creamy and smooth. And my freind had Saddle of Rabbit with truffle and ricotta Gnocchi which they said great!To finish we both had Apple tart Tatin which which was delicous.

Cant wait to go back!

I am very disappointed with this restaurant. I booked for Valentine's day last night thinking that it would be a real treat. I found all of my courses very bland and it was definitely NOT good value for money. All of the dishes seemed to lack any flavour and I can honestly say that I could have cooked it better myself. I think that the chef needs his palette testing! I must admit that my husband was more pleased with his meal - he had fillet of beef; I had the shin of rose veal. The waitors and waitresses were very pleasant but the place lacked atmosphere and we waited a long time for our main meal. I don't mind paying good money for a nice meal but I wish I had saved my money in this case.

Waited over an hour on food!!

Service was appalling!!

Terrible atmosphere!

A big let down!!

Will not be back!

James Street South is too expensive and only average taste

I booked a table at James's Street South for myself and my husband to celebrate our wedding anniversary. I ordered the fois gras as a starter, and at almost £10 had approx 10gms of FG which came with garden peas and a square of bread!! The lamb for the main course was rare, not medium as ordered and I had to send it back. Service was poor and we waited almost half an hour between starter and main. A large table was given preference for service and I felt we were just about ignored. Enough is enough,over £12 for a large glass of red wine!! So much hype about this place but in reality such a let down.

Every single mouthful of the food was delicious... The only issue foodwise was that the bread served at the beginning wasn't great and came with some kind of margarine-tasting spread rather than real butter.

The portions are a little bit small and without a couple of side dishes not really enough for me. But because it all tasted so good this mattered less.

The James Street South staff were attentive and friendly and not at all pretentious as I had read in reviews before going- perhaps they were changed? There was a bit of a wait between courses which seemed longer because the portions hadnt been filling enough. If anything I would just suggest that at least one side dish not be charged for....perhaps this is wishful thinking.

overall, excellent...divine food, wonderful presentation, great staff.

What a big disappointment, so much hype about this James Street South restaurant you do not get value for money portions are small not good value for money. There are better restaurants in Belfast giving good value.