Delaney’s

Food/​Cost: (4) While touring Belfast, my friend and I came here for lunch on a weekday. I got their advertised special of Sausage and Champ with a side of veggies and tea (3.65 pounds). I was very much stuffed after finishing my meal. The veggies were quite bland, but that was fine because the sausage and champ were both flavored well. Nothing spectacular here, but it was a good solid meal. For the price, I though it was a decent meal.
Ambiance: (3.75) For such a large place, this place was largely empty on a weekday lunch time (granted, it was in the winter, during off-​peak tourist season?). The décor of the inside was pretty cool actually. There was while paneling and whitewashed walls everywhere. The individual tables and booths were divided with this wood panels. There were antlers adorning the walls and a few animal heads that peered down from their high perches. There are also signed black and white pictures that covered the walls.
Location: (5) Situated conveniently in the City Centre of Belfast, this place is easily accessible to tourists and shoppers alike.
Service: (3) You get the food here cafeteria style. That means you go in, then proceed to the food area where you get a tray and tell the staff person which foods you want. They put it on a plate and hand it to you. You pay at the end of the line, and then seat yourself.
Overall: (3.5) I want to rate Delaney’s higher, but it’s missing something — some spice, some character, some pizazz.

I used to be here loads as a kid when the family would stop in for lunch after one of our rare epic shopping trips. I have fond memories of the booths and the shuttered windows so it was intriguing to visit again as an adult with a (hopefully!) more refined palate.
Not a lot seems to have changed décor-​wise and it was interesting to see how much smaller the place looked to me. In fact the place was almost empty so it was a quick run up to the serving counter.
Opting for the chicken and chips I was pretty disappointed with both the food and the portion. The chips were greasy and had been frazzled under the heating lamps for way too long and the chicken had a weird dried out texture to it. It’s sad when I have to say the mixed veg was probably the best thing about the dish.
All in all a big disappointment.
Pros: Nice seating/​interior.
Cons: Food not great at all.

Despite walking past Delaney’s during my journeys through town for more years than I can remember I had never actually eaten in the place… until last Monday! It has to be said, from the outside Delaney’s does not look appealing at all, which is the sole reason why I hadn’t given it a go until recently. Its exterior is dark and unclean, making it quite unappealing and the fact that you can’t really see what’s inside I’m sure puts people off if they look beyond how its presented from the outside.
What coaxed me in however was the freshly written specials board, and more specifically the breakfast for £2 on the specials board! I went in and was happy to able to choose the items I wanted included in my cooked breakfast instead of having a set menu and was still quite surprised when the bill was still only 2 quid! I sat down in the well laid out, spacious diner and was able to look at pictures of pop stars and actors from a bygone era hanging on the wall as I devoured my ok-​ish food. The reason I say it was OK-​ish is because the soda bread was over cooked and the bacon was more like a blob of stringy fat than the rasher I was after. Still, for £2 it wasn’t bad and you never know, if I’m feeling peckish and on a budget I might well be back!

The definition of Hit and Miss is that sometimes you get something that is really good, followed by something that can be considered pretty dreadful. Sadly, Delaney’s is a bit of a miss and… um… miss because twice I have been here and twice it has been basic without being particularly good.
I think the purpose of this place is to give you a meal that means you can bring your mum or your gran and then head home and have some tea and biscuits.
It doesn’t interest me to go back here. It is all a bit boring and the food is cooked and nice, but totally unadventurous.
Shame

Delaney’s has been serving decent ‘meals your mother would make you’ to the people of Belfast for years. The restaurant has been here for ages so it’s good to see that it’s still going. It’s gone down hill from its hay day where it would have been one of the few good restaurants in Belfast. They don’t have an alcohol license any more for one thing and the food, well it’s not great. It’s slightly like a canteen where you point at what you’re after then awkwardly walk to your table. It isn’t cheap either, for what you’re getting you’d expect a lot more. The décor inside is eye catching though. The walls are covered with old movie stars, singers, American famous faces most of which are signed! And they do quite a good trade with their faithful regulars. I have heard some really good reports about this but even that was from a while ago so unfortunately I can’t rate this very highly. There are a lot better priced, better quality restaurants within a stones throw of here so try them instead.

Delaney’s is a great wee diner in the centre of Belfast which offers self service carvery stlye food and a reasonable price. We called in here to escape the rain (shock, horror) and the first thing to hit you is that gorgeous warm cooked food smell, of potatoes, meat and gravy! The second is the décor, which really is a mish mash of everything and really is interesting to look at as your eating! It has a kind of American/​Old Hollywood/​Hunting lodge feel to it! Strange but not unpleasant.
The food itself was exactly what you’d expect and wasn’t dried out or anything as you’d normally find carvery food to be which was a nice surprise! The desserts are really good too! Overall it was a great meal and made for interesting conversation!

Delaney’s is one of those restaurants that’s been there for forever. It was another place we used to go as a family if we were in town on a Thursday and needed something quick and easy to eat.
I was never much of a fan. You know, those places that stick random things on the walls? Delany’s is one of them, and the result is sort of a hunting-​lodge-​meets-​Hollywood-​shrine. Mostly confusing! I didn’t like it because it had deer heads mounted on the walls and I was big into animals as a kid (I was ok with eating them, just not looking at them).
That was then. Now, Delany’s looks like a bit of a relic. The last time I was in, the food was clearly just re-​heated processed stuff and I think that that just doesn’t really cut it when for a little extra money, you could go somewhere like White’s Tavern or the Apartment and get much nicer food in more interesting surroundings.

Delany’s is a lovely little café that sits nestled in between the newly developing areas of Belfast. For about 6 or 7 years when I was younger my mum would take me here as payment for enduring a days shopping with her in town, and I would always order the exact same thing, sausages, beans a chips. I admit that in my younger days I had less of a desire to try new things, but even now as I pass Delaney’s I still have a pining for that meal.
The décor inside is strange. It has pictures and strange little trinkets hanging on the walls, and staring at all this used to keep me occupied for long periods of time as a kid. They have lovely little booths too which are a great bit of privacy you so don’t get in café’s in town. This is a good place to go in town if you need a good meal that’s not over expensive.

Delaneys is some sort of hark back to a time in Belfast where everything was getting blown up so they didn’t need to worry about making something look appealing or keep up with the times because there was just no where else to go.
It operates on almost like a school dinner type system; you pick up a tray and walk from left to right, picking out chips, sausages and all their other bland friends that have been cooked hours before. Its not the worst tasting food on the planet. But it’s not really worth tasting in the first place.
On top of the bad food, it’s actually a little bit on the dear side for the privilege of this unintentional look back at school dinners.

Had lunch here with my friend and her Mum, and only called in because our feet were so sore from shopping, as we’d never eaten here before. But it was only lunch so what could it hurt? It was very busy, and we seemed to wait quite a bit before someone took our order, but after that there weren’t any problems. I had soup and a roll which was piping hot and really tasty — although I suspect it was from a tin because you can just tell that this place is not about quality dining — it’s a diner for God’s sake — so I wasn’t expecting fancy food and so I wasn’t disappointed. I think this place benefits more from it’s location than anything else because although the staff were pleasant and its handy, I don’t think I would go back because it didn’t wow me — but it’s totally fine for lunch if you are in the vicinity.