I am not a food blogger and nor do I know an awful lot about the ins and outs of writing about food. Unless we are watching Masterchef or The Great British Bake Off then I am an expert. That being said I recently ate in a restaurant that actually made me utter the words ‘Oh my God’ very audibly for the next table to hear. Meg Ryan style.
EDŌ Restaurant, (pronounced Aye-Doh, Latin For ‘I Eat’) in Belfast is one of the nicest restaurants I have ever set foot in. Walk through the doors and you are immediately greeted with not only pleasant smiles and a friendly welcome but a smell of food overtakes the sense, transporting you to a drooling state. My eyes darted all around the restaurant from the bar as you enter with bottles piled high, the fantastic seating arrangements and brilliant décor.
Jonny Elliot, Head Chef and Owner brings you the best ingredients and extensive knowledge having worked with some of the best chef in the world like Gordon Ramsey and Gary Rhodes. Jonny knows his flavours and has a Bertha Oven in the kitchen which allows the chefs to cook with apple and pear wood giving their food a smokey flavour. The best thing about this restaurant is that the menu really does appeal to everyone, whether you are a starter and a main dish kind of person or a tapas style sharing theme is more your thing, Edo has got you.
We decided to try a few dishes while there as everything on the menu sounded unbelievable and we couldn’t decide.
Pimientos de Padron, £5
I looked at this on the menu and thought ‘nahh’ but I was guaranteed that they were lovely and so, I had to try them. Oh my days, I honestly don’t know what was done to them but the peppers melted in my mouth and were unbelievably tasty. With a little salt and I am assuming some olive oil these were the perfect dish to have while deciding what other dishes to have.
Jamon Iberico (Bellota), £10
A type of cured ham produced in Spain and Portugal that is just quite simply delicious. You get so many slices, we were full at the end of this dish… obviously that didn’t stop us! Also, we went straight in on this before I could get a photo, it looked too good to wait.
Ham Croquettes, £4
Yes, you read that right. I haven’t stopped thinking about these for the last 3 weeks. I actually got croquettes in another restaurant and they were nothing in comparison. Thinking about them now I am starting to drool. In fact, heading back to this restaurant in a few weeks and I may have to order about 4 of these.
Goats Cheese Fritter, £5
If anyone knows me at all, or at least listens to me when I talk about food, if there is Goat’s Cheese on the menu, it gets eaten. It is always delicious and this time there was absolutely no exception. Normally when I order Goat’s Cheese it come dressed up on a fancy plate with lots of dressings that I don’t even know what they are. I loved that this dish came down just as it is. Edo’s food is so good that it doesn’t need to hide behind the garnish. It stands up with confidence, front and centre saying ‘eat me.’
Ham Hock, Celeriac, Pickles & Brown Butter Breadcrumbs, £16.50
Moving away from the smaller dishes and onto main dishes, what you see before you is the most delicious ham that I have ever had. It actually wasn’t even what I ordered however, I stared at Joel’s plate dribbling, I had to have it.
Normally when I eat large cuts of meat they can be quite tough, dry and sometimes hard to swallow but I swear that ham actually fell off and melted into my mouth. Not only that, but it was a taste sensation. When it arrived to the table my first thought was, ‘how is that only £16.50?’ Such a glorious dish for such an affordable price.
Kebabs, Flat Bread, Tzatziki, £12
I am surprised I chose this as when being ‘bad’ and ordering take away I would never really get a kebab. I did however, spy someone else in the restaurant who had ordered it and I could smell it wafting over, so it was either order it or ask that gentleman for a bite.
Unbelievably tasty and I wouldn’t dare touch a take out kebab after tasting this kebab.
Churros
Believe me, I was busted at this point and I really needed a nap. That didn’t stop me ordering dessert because – why not? You honestly can’t go wrong with churros in my eyes, they were deliciously warm and sugary and an accompanying chocolate dip.
So whether you are having date night, night with the girls or a big celebration EDŌ is the place to be.
View their website here and make a reservation!
Something you must know about me… I love popcorn. I go to the cinema just so I can have popcorn. Is that bad? Anyway, my favourite popcorn to have actually comes from near my fabulous home in Northern Ireland. They have so many flavours and they even have little packets for kids. They have cute little popcorns with sayings on their packaging and to be honest, that’s what sold it to me firstly. Now, I make it my aim to collect all the flavours! My favourite is the Sweet & Salty Popnotch Popcorn. If you are from Northern Ireland, do yourself a favour and pick up a pack! Nom nom nom… (PS. check out their website it is so cute 
Oh my GOD, hello? I will dip anything, anything into houmous. Be it carrot sticks, celery or a bloody chocolate bar. I am being serious. A Mediteranean spread which works great with pitta breads, bread sticks, carbs, etc and my favourite comes from M&S. The Deli Reduced Fat Extra Virgin Olive Oil Houmous is unreal. It’s handy when you are wanting a snack that will actually fill you and not leave you full of guilt instead. Be warned though, the garlic can be a little overpowering so maybe pop a mint after if you are on a work break.
So this CAN be a healthy snack so long as you choose a natural peanut butter. I don’t normally pay much attention to the peanut butter I am picking and whether it’s healthy or not I just pick the one I know tastes good.
Be it Doritos and Salsa, Plain Crisps and Sour Cream Dip or Pringles and Nutella (trust me) chip and dip is seriously under rated as one of the best snacks out there. In fact, why not go the whole 9 yards and just make nachos… oh, maybe that’s a meal and not a snack. No matter whether it’s movie night with the gals, a hangry lunch break or a sneaky pig out sesh chip n dip is always the answer.
Firstly, if you aren’t Irish you can probably just skip this point as there is no other crisp that will suit, so don’t try. The Tayto Factory produces one of the greatest crisps I have ever tasted, and I have tasted my fair share of crisps. Not only is the bag of crisps itself an amazing snack, but put a bag of crisps in between two slices of bread and butter and you have got something that will make your insides warm and fuzzy. In fact… brb making a sandwich.
Okay, so while this isn’t your average snack it’s one of the best. There is nothing that a cup of tea can’t fix and pair it with your favourite biscuit and you are onto a winner. I am a ginger nut, chocolate digestive lover with an occasional cookie rather than your fancy biscuit. I like to keep it old school. The question is do you dunk your biscuit? If the answer is no, I can’t associate with you. There is simply nothing better than a biscuit that has been dunked into the perfectly made cup of tea.
M&S always do a cracking cheese board, especially for this time of year as as I write this, it is less than a week to Christmas. M&S have a wide variety of cheese boards that suit every taste and price. That being said, I prefer to create my own cheese board picking my favourite cheese and crackers. My favourite crackers to have with cheese are oldies but goodies, Jacobs crackers. They may seem boring to some, but I love them and they suit every cheese. William Jacob made a damn good cracker way back in 1850! 
Amy Savage 