Avoca
41 Arthur Street, Belfast BT1 4GB
Avoca is downstairs a gift shop; upstairs a cafe, food hall and restaurant. The gift shop is perfect if you are looking for something stylish and expensive; stock laid out seemingly randomly to encourage browsing. Upstairs there is a delicatessen and cafe serving fabulous salads, quiches and pastries - tasty and home made. The communal tables encourage diners to strike up a conversation with their neighbour. The restaurant is a slightly more formal affair and well worth a visit. The confit of duck and the seafood platter are highly recommended with the home made burgers and salads not far behind them. Excellent coffee too so worth even a short stop for a pick-me-up before hitting the shops once more. It's a popular lunchtime haunt for the nearby office folk, ladies who lunch and the lawyers from the nearby courts. If you don't fall into any of those categories and have nowhere to be, order a glass of wine and while away an hour or so people watching.
