“Creme Catalana is a mix between a crème caramel and just set milk. There’s no gelatin in it”. “This is Suki tea, a Belfast company who import the tea leaves and make their own mix”. “It’s 100% sauvignon, so it’s got that acidity, but it’s balanced with floral and vanilla tones.”
Those are just three responses from the staff at Hadskis™, hard-working young people who look you in the eye and try to answer your question directly with an impressive knowledge about food in general and the minute details of the Hadskis™ menu in particular.
Hadskis™ gives the illusion of being a casual restaurant, but in fact there’s a lot more going on in this narrow room than first meets the eye. The third restaurant concept from Niall McKenna, also of The Bar + Grill and James St. South (he likes his typographical details), it wears its knowledge lightly, with a judicious menu and canny design - and the already-mentioned extremely savvy staff.
The all-day menu also travels the line between being utterly simple - Ribeye on the bone, halibut with peas and spinach - and being beautifully constructed. Just try grilling a rabbit, chicken and pork kebab, served with beetroot and roasted veg, and see how difficult it is to retain all those juices, make it crispy without being dry, succulent without being too rich, and lively despite intensive cooking.
Belfast has had a rich and vibrant modern restaurant culture for going on thirty years now. Niall McKenna runs successful ventures serving great food in happy spaces. Put the two together and you get Hadskis™, a defining modern restaurant.
Sally McKenna
