RESTAURANT REVIEW: Gibson's Gourmet Café

WITH Belfast’s ever-growing food service industry I am always keen to try new places that seem to be opening their doors on near constant basis. Given my curiosity for the new and novel, there are few local eateries that I regularly return to. However, in the case of the newly opened Gibson’s Gourmet Café and Takeaway my enthusiasm saw me visit twice in one week.
Having first opened its doors as a butchery over 25 years ago, the Stewartstown Road-based Gibson’s has long been West Belfast’s go-to spot for quality meats. In recent years their ongoing success has seen the opening of a delicatessen, which was followed by a subsequent expansion into sit-in café and takeaway earlier this year.
My first visit to the new eatery came last week when a colleague coaxed me and another co-worker into some post-lunch dessert, with guarantees (later proved accurate) of gastronomic satisfaction – but more on that later. A few days afterwards my partner and I found ourselves in Gibson’s for an evening meal, which exceeded my already high expectations.
The dining experience at Gibson’s is welcomingly laid back, so we helped ourselves to a table and were soon presented with a menu. After some time perusing some of tempting deals on offer, I settled for some pizza, choosing some garlic sautéed potatoes and a garlic mayo dip as my sides.
While pizza is a universally adored staple, it can also be a dish that can polarise opinion depending on your preferences. However, it must be said that the pizza at Gibson’s is as authentic and tasty as they come. The dough was thinly stretched and stone baked to perfection. Its well-seasoned tomato base was topped with fresh mozzarella, mushroom and generous slices of thick and spicy pepperoni. The garlic sautéed potatoes made a nice, if untraditional, accompaniment to the pizza, but if that’s not your style there is an array of other sides to choose from with the pizza deals including chicken wings, chips, curly fries and more.
Across the table my partner opted for burger, which was topped with cheese and served in a lightly toasted brioche bun. My companion probably won’t mind my mentioning (I hope) that she was somewhat hungover at the time of eating, and the burger was exactly what the doctor ordered. Having managed to steal a bite, I can safely say it is one for my next visit. Given that Gibson’s is also a butchery, the meat was quite literally a grade above the average burger but, importantly, the high-quality minced beef steak was seared with precision. Inside the colourful outer crust was beautifully moist and soft, making for a perfect bite each time.
On this occasion, we were simply too full for dessert but, to return to my first visit, I can attest to the fact that the salted caramel brownie was an incredibly rich yet moreish sweet treat. A visit to Gibson’s will reveal a virtual cornucopia of desserts including fresh cream filled pastries, a variety of cheesecakes, and muffins. They also have Magnum and Ben & Jerry’s ice creams available that happen to form part of their plethora of well valued meal deals.
With breakfast, lunch and dinner available daily, Gibson’s is sure to be popular go-to for any occasion. Using only the best ingredients, often sourced from their renowned and respected butchery, the chef’s employ tried and tested cooking techniques to bring guaranteed quality results.
Coincidentally, my most recent visit to Gibson’s was on one of this year’s sunniest evenings thus far, which could perhaps be an omen of a bright future ahead for this local culinary hub.

Gibson’s Gourmet cafe,
1 Suffolk Ave,
Belfast BT11 9JS
Tel: 028 9061 5179