Best Belfast Healthy/speciality Eats

So what do you do when you’re out and about shopping in the city centre and you get hungry but want something nutritious or have a particular food allergy/diet yet all you can see around you are burger joints & the typical coffee house?
Well, when this happens there’s a few places I like to head to:

1) The Nutmeg (9 Lombard street-across from Dunnes)
First up is the local health food store, this small but lovely shop has all sorts of products and ingredients for the health food lover and also does speciality food such as vegan sandwiches, vegetable samosas, treats such as chocolate peanut butter balls, muffins, fifteens with most being gluten & dairy free. They also sell a few refrigerated products that you can take with you to eat on the go like coconut/soy yogurts and kefir.
This is also where I get my spelt pasta from, which I love!

2) St Georges Market

If you’re needing something more substantial or have food allergies then there is a lovely “Check out my buns” stall that sells delicious allergy specific treats. My personal favourites are the choco peanut butter slices/balls or ginger & almond slices but it also boasts a variety of cookies, energy balls, courgette cake, berry oat slices and more! Again, the products are gluten, dairy & egg free or 2 out of the 3. Similar stands also sell a mix of savoury & sweet products specialising in being gluten free with food such as sausage rolls, brownies, scones etc.

The choc salted caramel slice I got from C.O.M.B for my birthday!

If you can eat wheat then there’s other options which can also be lovely as I personally struggle to find a good wholemeal scone/wheaten/soda bread anywhere else in town but some of the bread stands here sell them. The wholemeal soda bread goes great with organic butter & a poached egg <3

3) Zenergii (centre of Castle Court)

This smoothie bar of course does the usual orders of smoothies/juices but now also offers things like juice shots which you wouldn’t find easily elsewhere in Belfast, I always thought I’d have to go to London for this kind of thing! You can choose from wheatgrass or turmeric/ginger. The turmeric shot tends to be mixed with some juiced ginger which is actually great as this helps the absorption of the turmeric which is awesome!

4) Sawyers (Fountain centre, College St-back of Boots)

This shop can be a little bit more expensive than the others but does have a great deal of variety & supports local produce. Here they sell lovely local Irish oatcakes, cheeses, fish, a huge range of teas and spices with one of the most impressive products being their frozen meat products such as ostrich burgers etc. A great place to find a gift for any food lovers in your life.

5) Tony and Jen’s (727 Lisburn road)

 I adore this place and the ethos behind it which comes from the health conscious owners, one is a nutritionist, the other a personal trainer and food consultant. They celebrate all things healthy and delicious and each week they have me drooling over their pancake stacks on Facebook.
The menu is quite varied with something for everyone, there’s egg and meat options e.g. turkey sausage, free range chicken etc but also vegan and low carb options too. This is my almond & coconut flour low carb pancakes with sriracha sauce and turkey sausage, I have also previously had sweet potato waffles with smashed avo and sriracha (it’s a mild one btw).
Their selection of bliss balls are also extremely tempting so you’ll more than likely end up going home with some of them in your pocket whether you planned to or not!

6) Taquitos (opposite the Big Fish & also now at the Ulster sports club on High street)
These guys know how to make a mexican tostados!
They make everything from scratch including their tacos and their salsa is amazing! The tacos are gluten free and naturally lower carb plus they do awesome refried bean and guac vegan options which taste divine and salsas to suit everyone whether you like it hot or mild, give them a visit and show them some support as they’re out there Mon-Sat in their van even when it’s darn cold outside, so major kudos to them!

7) Chopped (Fountain street, beside city hall)

This place is great because it is like a salad pick n mix. They also do sandwiches, wraps and soup as well as a ton of salads. You can build your own bowl and have it “chopped” by great big scythe like instruments or choose one from their board which has already been thought out, they also have a very broad range of sauces/dressings to complement your choice.
For the price you pay, you really do get quite a generous sized bowl which you could take home with you if you didn’t finish it all and another plus is that they use recycled material for their bowls and cutlery making them quite eco friendly, big thumbs up there!

8) Jumon-Unit 6, McAuley House, Fountain Street
This is an epic vegetarian/vegan restaurant that does pan asian dishes and curries that are so full of flavour they will blow your mind! You do not need or miss any meat at all. It’s quite small inside so you should book beforehand to make sure you get a seat.

Let me know if anyone finds any other food gems in the city
Siobhan xXx