Kellys Cellars, Belfast

Kelly’s Cellars has white painted brick walls, low arches and feels a bit damp, although it is not actually a cellar. The interior is L-shaped with seating across the front which is faced by the bar that supports standard and premium keg. There is more seating up the right to two large booths on the rear wall. There is another seating area to the left of the bar where the gents are also located. There was some background music playing until a couple of fiddlers started up at around 19:00 on a recent midweek evening. The service was very friendly from the two barmaids that were working the room. No under 18s allowed at any time. This is an old Belfast pub that is worthy of a small detour to visit.

Tucked away but worth making the effort as there’s lots of traditional atmosphere here, despite (or because of?) of the dimly-lit and louche interior (which is not, as noted previously, actually underground). There’s a boothed area to the left and a larger area beyond the bar to the right. Pictures all across the walls, jugs, mirrors and breweriana everywhere. Younger crowd in situ so quite lively despite being a Sunday night. Diageo list on keg; I went for a decent Harp and the lady had a particularly excellent Guinness, slightly sweeter than normal and very creamy. It’s worth doing this one for the tourist tick box, it was fun. 7.5

Tucked away in a pedestrianised square just off the central shopping area, this is an attractive, whitewashed building with seating outside in the square as well as inside. Despite it’s name, it’s not actually underground, but it does nonetheless have something of a cellar feel to it. Internally it’s divided in to three rooms, all running across the front of the pub with the bar counter in the central room, and the entrance corridor to the left of this. On the far left is what one might describe loosely as a snug, with some type of concrete screed on the floor and various profiles of historical Irish figures on the walls, as well as numerous direction signs to Irish towns such as Dublin, Wexford, etc. A small wood burning stove was off to one side, but this was not in use on our visit despite being decidedly chilly. The main bar had flagstones on the floor and painted brick walls, black on the lower half and white on the upper half. A brick archway led off to a further room to the right, although we did not investigate this. Unfortunately in common with many local bars, there were no real ales on tap. Even worse, the only cider was Strongbow. Overall, quite an atmospheric little place, but the poor drink selection may put some people off.

Another of Belfast’s oldest pubs, this one arguably looks the oldest, thanks to a cracking multi-room layout and an atmospheric appearance. Entering through the left hand side, you find yourself in a corridor of sorts with rooms to either side. To the left there is a quite cosy looking room with limited seating options, stone flooring and whitewashed walls, popular on this visit with not a single chair unoccupied. Turning right, you enter the main bar with limited banquette seating along the front wall and the servery opposite. This room is set up similarly to the left hand snug, with whitewashed walls, including some appealing looking low arches to the right, and a stone floor. The bar has a typical dark wood counter and a nice old fashioned bar back with an ancient cash register at the end of the counter. Continuing to move to the right, through the aforementioned arches, you enter the right hand room, which extends quite a long way back. This room has chair and pew seating to the front and padded banquettes around the walls at the rear. Dark wood ceiling beams have buckets, jugs, pots, colanders and the like hung from them, whilst elsewhere you can spot various mirrors, bits of breweriana, old clocks and some pleasant display cabinets. The bar here has a low counter and fairly uninteresting bar back, although the latter has been livened up by the presence of a fake human head, which has been rather tastelessly hung there like some leftover Halloween decoration. Lighting throughout the pub is kept at very low levels, adding to the ambiance and sense of history. A few chaps in one corner of the pub were playing tunes on typical traditional Irish instruments and I spotted a heated patio outside, which no-one dared brave in the driving sleet that graced this December evening. I was greeted by a very friendly and efficient barmaid who informed me that they had no ale on, pointing out the range of keg options instead. I tried the Smethwick Pale Ale – one of several Smethwick brews available – which set me back £3.90 and was far too cold but otherwise surprisingly drinkable. This is another fine old pub in the centre of Belfast, and alongside the Crown, McHughes and Duke of York, makes up a quartet of very good touristy pubs that any visitor to the city should enjoy exploring. This one was maybe the weakest of the four, but it’s still a very solid city centre option and worth adding to any itinerary.