Belfast restaurant scoops two coveted hospitality industry awards at the Fish and Chip Awards 2023
Belfast's Fish City named Restaurant of the Year and won the Environment and Sustainability Award at a gala event in London
By Sam Butler
Published 5th May 2023, 12:00 BST- 3 min read
Updated 5th May 2023, 12:40 BST
Belfast restaurateur John Lavery was thrilled when Fish City, the fish and seafood restaurant he set up in Belfast’s Ann Street with wife Grainne in 2013, recently gained two coveted hospitality industry awards at a gala event in London and further recognition in the GoodFoodIreland Awards at the K Club in Kildare.
Fish City was named Restaurant of the Year and won the Environment and Sustainability Award at the influential Fish and Chip Awards 2023.
In addition, the restaurant was named in a shortlist of the 10 Best Fish and Chip Restaurants in the UK for the second year in a row. The shortlisting by Fry Magazine recognised the best in the industry for maintaining the highest standards in food and service.
GoodFoodIreland recognition came in shortlisting as Restaurant of the Year and for its separate Sustainability Award. Shortlisted venues were selected through mystery inspections and assessments of those businesses approved by GoodFoodIreland and selected by an independent panel of Irish and International leaders including founder and managing director of GoodFoodIreland Margaret Jeffares.
Members of the public also cast their votes online for their favourite places across the island of Ireland in the Food Lovers’ Choice Awards.
John says: “What an honour to be recognised at such prestigious occasions in London and the Republic. I am so incredibly proud of our team and all they have achieved in terms of quality products, respect for the environment and superb services to customers. These important endorsements come at a challenging time for the hospitality industry.”
Fish City, a multi-award winning eatery, has a longstanding commitment to sustaining the precious seafood industry and the wider natural environment.
John, from Dromara who now lives in Ballynahinch, continues: “The awards recognise our success in developing a restaurant specialising in creating original and delicious fish and seafood dishes in tune with environmental concerns.”
What sets Fish City apart is its longstanding focus on sustainable seafood, a commitment indicated by its MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) certification which seeks to protect marine resources from over-fishing. As a result, it is now Belfast’s only sustainable seafood restaurant.
“All our cod and haddock are MSC certified and all other species of fish are also responsibility sourced from sustainable waters,” he explains. “We ensure full food traceability, engaging with local producers wherever possible. Our aim is to offer diners richly flavoured, creative and healthy food, especially fish and seafood. We’ve found that younger consumers, in particular, are becoming increasingly concerned about environmental and dietary issues."
The restaurant’s ethos is underpinned by a commitment to be a socially responsible and people-focused business, which is reflected by its Investor in People accreditation for excellence in staff training.
The awards enhanced further the restaurant’s growing reputation as something different and original following being named the UK’s Healthiest and Most Sustainable fish restaurant by Seafish, the influential public body that supports the £10 billion UK seafood industry, in 2018.
John continues: “While traditional fish and chips remains at the heart of our business, we’re expanding our menu to provide original fish and seafood dishes, including local oysters and mussels, as well as poultry and other meats. It was our intention to offer diners something really unique in Belfast. We wanted a comfortable restaurant where diners could relax and enjoy original and delicious food, for instance, over a bottle of good wine.”
He’s clearly succeeded in this objective. A Master Butcher by training, John diversified the family meat business successfully into a wholesale operation. He had also worked in the family-owned bar in Dromara but didn’t see it as a long-term career. His search for new opportunities in the food business led to him to gain a management qualification. He then spotted potential opportunities developing in the hospitality sector here particularly from the impressive growth in tourism in recent decades.
John and wife Grainne then carried out market research to explore opportunities which led him to focus on creating a totally different experience for lovers of great fish and chips, a unique sit-in dining experience.
“Chippies hadn’t changed that much over the decades and we reckoned we could do something unique that would capture the imagination of local people and especially tourists.”