As a family we love to eat out, explore new places and try new things and experiences. We are going to share all the fun things to do in NI, the best places to eat and just general interesting and cool things to do in our beautiful little island.
Bunelos Doughnuts (The nicest doughnuts in the world!)
Our first review is about the very delicious Bunelos Doughnuts and these guys have 3 locations, 1 in Newtownards, 1 in Ballynahinch and 1 in Annacloy. We like to visit the Newtownards branch regularly as we’d like to sample all of their range. (THEY ARE SO GOOD) The staff are so lovely, the premises are so clean and they always have the window decorated so lovely!
They have a large selection of doughnuts to choose from, some of the flavors include, hot chocolate, glazed, lemon meringue, salted caramel and many more. They also have a range of coffees and milkshakes. Bunelos have a vegan range as well as themed doughnuts during the holidays. We loved the Halloween theme and the Valentines theme, so super fun and delicious.
We only have good things to say about Bunelos and we would definitely recommend taking a trip to one of their locations, yummy yum!
Pizza Punks – Belfast
When we go to Belfast and fancy a pizza, the place to visit is definitely Pizza Punks! The decor is cool, there are so many amazing toppings to choose from and the sourdough pizza bases just have this delicious taste!
Maxwell likes to keep it plain with just cheese, India likes to spice it up with some pepperoni, Mummy (who is a vegetarian) loves their candied pineapple and jack fruit whereas Daddy likes it all! It is ยฃ11 and you can add as many toppings as you like (Daddy likes to take full advantage of this)! Desihn your own pizza or choose from one of their creations.
Their sourdough is made onsite as well as their fresh pasta. They have a vegan, vegetarian, gluten free and halal option available. They have a range of small plates available too including dough balls, mac n cheese, chicken wings and more! You definitely need to try their dips too, our favourites are the garlic ranch and buffalo, YUM!
We’ve never had a dessert as we’re always too full but they sound delicious and if you’re an adult then there is a cocktail menu too (we will just stick with milk for now). We have been to Pizza Punks 5 or 6 times now and it is definitely worth the visit, you won’t be disappointed! Enjoy!
Magheracross Viewing Point Portrush/Bushmills
If you are travelling to the North Coast area in Northern Ireland then the Mageracross is a must! The views are beyond stunning and the beauty will take your breath away! You can see the ruins of Dunluce Castle in the near distance which is another amazing place to visit (that’s for another day) as well as White Rocks Beach which is one of our favourites to surf and body board. There are 2 platforms extending out to the edge of the cliffs, they really are just so cool! Our Nanny and Grandpa came to visit us while we were at the caravan park over the Easter holidays and this was one of the places we wanted to show them! Totally amazing, you will be blown away and that’s coming from an 8 and 9 year old!
Urban in Portrush
If you don’t know by now, we LOVE food, we love eating out, we love trying new restaurants and we have very big appetites (especially Maxwell who eats as much as a fully grown man!) There is a restaurant in Portrush called Urban and we highly recommend it YUM! We’ll put what we ate on the photo captions. The menu was great, lots of delicious dished to choose from and Mummy was especially happy as there were a lot of vegetarian dishes, she actually had trouble choosing for a change! It’s got a cool modern vibe and Mummy said the decor was very cool! Us kiddies got given a super fun activity pack with crayons which was so nice as so many places have stopped doing this so definitely a thumbs up there! Food was so super delicious, the portion sizes were big and prices very reasonable (according to Daddy) We will definitely be back when we head up North again this summer!
Make your own milkshakes at Millview Farm
If you live in the North Down area of Northern Ireland then we highly recommend a visit to Millview Farm. They have the coolest way to make your own milkshake and the milk is from their very own cows on their farm! You start of by buying your 1 litre glass bottle from the glass bottle vending machine which costs ยฃ2 which you keep and it has their lovely logo on it. Next choose if you just want 1 litre of milk which costs ยฃ1 or 1 litre of milkshake which costs ยฃ1.60. There are lots of delicious flavours to choose from including chocolate, banana, strawberry, salted caramel, Mint Aero, Cream Egg, popcorn, bubblegum, white chocolate and honeycomb so there is a flavour for everyone!
We got chocolate and Cream Egg and they are both sooo delicious! The milk is so creamy and you can really taste the freshness! Next time we go we just need to take our glass bottles with us and it will only cost ยฃ1.60 BARGAIN! There is also a little section that you could visit calves, kids (baby goats, not actual children) and some roosters who kept cock a doodle doing at us, so funny!
They also have a vending machine for hot drinks, crisps and fizzy drinks and also a dessert vending machine which can have traybakes, cookies and cheesecakes in there (we will definitely be trying these out when we have less Easter eggs in the house!)
Iโd say we will be making a weekly trip here as the first 2 bottles lasted only 2 days!
The Poachers Pocket
Another one of our favourite restaurants to eat at is The Poachers Pocket, a lovely little gastropub in Lisbane, that was originally established in the 1800’s (how cool is that). The Poachers Pocket has won lots of Michelin awards and has its own artisan food and wine shop. It has a wood fired pizza oven and the pizzas are just so so yummy as they’ve got a sourdough base. They use the finest locally sourced seasonal produce.
There is also a great vegetarian and vegan menu available which Mummy was very happy about! Mummy says the country style decor is very nice (we’ll take her word for it). They have ‘wee bites’, starters. pasta and salads, mains, from the grill, sides, sauces, wood fired pizza and a delicious range of desserts.
The Quays Portavogie
If you love to eat fish then The Quays is the place for you and what’s so cool is that its caught locally. They have lobster, crab, scampi, prawns, mussels, cod and seabass, Daddy was in his element, he had a lot of trouble deciding what to order. He ended up ordering the scampi and chips.
Mummy got the tagliatelle, mushroom, asparagus and chive cream with garlic toasties (she is a vegetarian). As usual me (Maxwell) got a cheese burger and chips, I rarely get anything else unless there is pizza on offer! India went for the chicken goujons, chips with a side of garlic mayo which she said was the nicest she has ever tasted!
You can see the full menu in the photos. We finished the meal off with yummy ice cream! The staff we really lovely and gave us a page to colour and some pencils.
The views from the restaurant are totally stunning, people were arriving just to take photos of the sea and surroundings. It seemed to be a busy spot, glad we booked! We will definitely be back again but we have so many places to want to try!
