Where to have brunch in Belfast?

[notnowlater]

I will be in Belfast in a few weeks after an early flight. Can anyone recommend somewhere nice for brunch? Will need to be finished by 12 to go to an event outside the city hence brunch not lunch.
Not too posh, but somewhere nice to treat my mum who I'm travelling with. Will have a child-free couple of days so looking to make the most of it and go somewhere a bit more special.

Tried to post earlier and my phone wouldn't let me.

Harlem on Bedford Street is lovely. You would need to be prepared to queue on a Sunday and might want to check the menus for other days. But it is fab.

Thanks Liv. Forgot to say I will be there on a Saturday. I will look up the menus at Harlem.

It really depends what kind of place you want. Are you looking for a sit in restaurant? Or a nice but relaxed Cafe type place. Also will you be in the city centre? Or where is your event.

Belfast is quite spread out. There are also lovely places to eat outside town. If you are city centre try "Arthur Street Cafe" in Avoca. Some fab shopping to be done there too.

St George's Market is fabulous. It's like Borough Market in London but more enclosed. There's loads of great food stalls, plus live music, art and craft stalls. There's a restaurant which overlooks it too.

Thanks for the suggestions, I will look at them all. We will only be in Belfast for a few hours and have to leave at 12 to drive to another part of the country, but we want to see a bit of the city while we're there! Useful to know it's quite spread out.

We had a lush breakfast in a place called the national cafe last year, can't recall what street it was on sorry! But sure they did brunch also :)

St George's, avoca and Harlem are all amazing. I've only ever had dinner in it but Robinson and cleaver I think does brunch if you are lucky with the weather could be on their upstairs terrace. It overlooks city hall and has lovely view.

Oh yeah, if you were lucky with the weather, Robinson & Cleaver would be a gorgeous location. Had dinner there once, don't remember the food but do remember the loveliness of the view.

I wouldn't say Belfast is that spread out compared to other cities, all of the places mentioned on this thread would be within about a 15 min walk of each other, so you'll be fine.

I had a very disappointing brunch in Harlem on a Saturday last year. Service was awful too - I'm not a local so don't know if it was just a bad day.

French village on botanic is great. Nice food and atmosphere. Not fancy more hipster chic. They have opened on the lisburn road now too, although I haven't eaten there. The Ivory at the top of house of fraser is also good and has a nice outdoor area with a view.

The National is in High Street.

I would second The National. Great food and I'm not just saying that because I'm related to one of the chefs 😀

Is ten square still open? I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Merchant.

The Merchant is absolutely lovely but probably posher than you're looking for. Avoca is great, as is Patisserie Valerie. I had an excellent brunch in the Europa Hotel a couple of years ago too.

Maggie Mays in Botanic is quite student-y but their food is amazing.

I've has terrible service in Harlem twice, I haven't been back for a third try.

I love food at Avoca. There's a cafe beside high park car park opposite the National that's pretty good too.

That's a shame about Harlem. Now that I think of it, I haven't been there since I moved out of the city centre which is three years ago now. A real shame if it's gone down hill, it was reliably great (if very busy) when I lived around the corner.

General Merchants or district coffee Ormeau Road.