Michael Deane is something of a local celebrity chef, and he’s certainly come to dominate the Belfast dining scene. Deane’s, his flagship, formal restaurant on Howard Street, still serves very good Irish-French cuisine, although the adjacent Seafood Bar is equally good, and (even better) less expensive. Here you’ll find plates such as salt cod croquettes, tempura oysters, or crispy monkfish filet served with hot and sour peppers. At lunchtime main dishes are an astonishingly low £6.50 (plus extra for sides). Michael Deane now has four branches across Belfast, each cleverly going for a slightly different crowd, and sometimes sharing premises. There’s the Deli-Bistro (tel. 028/902-8800) and Deli/Vin Café (tel. 028/9024-8830), a tapas bar, on Bedford Street; while in the University Quarter, next to the Ulster Museum, is the informal bistro, Deane’s at Queen’s (tel. 028/9038-2111). The newest addition to the mini-empire is his foray into Italian cooking, Deane and Decano (tel. 028/9066-3108), on Lisburn Road.