Robinson's, Belfast

Official site of Robinsons Bars - www.robinsonsbar.co.uk

This is 5 places for the price of one. The back bar is called Fibber Magees and specialises in touristy live music every night of the week. There is a nightclub on the top floor and another in the basement. The first floor Bistro sells fairly poor quality pub grub at restaurant prices. Their idea of a lamb shank pie is to cook the lamb shank then push a piece of frozen puff pastry over the bone, the champ was even made with Smash it was that poor, pathetic. The service was so bad that we didn't leave a tip. This is unheard of in the CAMRA household. The saving grace is the large ornate front bar. Several distinct areas all well decorated with mirrors and Titanic photos etc. Comfortable seating all round the edges and there's also a small snug right at the front. Efficient bar staff mean that you don't have to wait very long to get served even when it's packed. Standard array of Irish kegs on the bar so I had quite a lot of pints of Guinness and a couple of pints of Harp over the 4 nights we were in Belfast as we called in every night. This is one of my favourite bars in Belfast and the rating reflects that. The "bistro" however would score a 2 at most.

Not the sort of place to go if you have an identity crisis but it's interesting to trawl around the different areas and see what they have to discover. The front of the saloon provides the tourist bit with Titanic artefacts on show whilst the rear is where the locals will hang out. The rear bar is a real spit and sawdust place and the décor and atmosphere invokes thoughts of days gone by. The bistro upstairs is very pleasant and laid back and has comfortable leather sofas and armchairs to relax in. Didn't make it to the nightclub.

Very pleasent to drink in with a great reastuarant up stair serving good food and good service