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Belfast Live
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Connor Lynch

New East Belfast restaurant hopes to be unique addition to popular high street

A new restaurant in East Belfast is hoping that it will be a unique new addition to Belmont Road.

Monad has recently opened on the popular high street and is promising customers an array of high quality food and drink in a relaxed and casual environment.

Owned by chef Niall Duffy and Tamsin Harper, they told Belfast Live that Belmont Road was an ideal location to open their new venture due to the area being a hub for independent businesses and that there was a need in the area for more late evening destinations.

Read more: The East Belfast high street that has become a 'popular little village'

Monad is the first restaurant that Niall has opened, while his business partner Tamsin is already well established in the Belfast food scene with her also running Jumon in the City Centre and Cu on the Lisburn Road.

Tamsin Harper and Niall Duffy (Justin Kernoghan)

They said: "We felt the time was right to introduce to Belfast the perfect blend of casual front of house with a more refined menu."

Niall has been working as a chef for the past 15 years and said that he has always aimed to work in the very best restaurants possible and has previous experience working at Michelin Star restaurants in Dublin, London and Belfast.

He has worked alongside some of the best chefs in the UK over the years, including Gordon Ramsey, and said that he has always set himself very high standards with his dishes and is excited to welcome customers into a restaurant of his own.

Niall said: "Since I started working in this industry I have always wanted to work at the very best restaurants and set myself high standards with everything that I do.

"In the past my role has normally been to design dishes and come up with different menus, so starting a restaurant of my own has been an eyeopener to all of the other challenges that go on behind the scenes.

Monad restaurant on Belfast's Belmont Road. (Justin Kernoghan)

"The ethos behind Monad is about offering high quality food and drink in a casual environment, and we want all of our customers to have a dining experience that they will remember every time that they come through our doors.

"Alongside our brilliant menu, we will be having a focus on natural wines and delicious cocktails, which have been developed for us by Deana Ferguson and we have also partnered up with Boundary Brewing so that we are able to offer their amazing selection of beers and ales.

"We have put in a lot of work to get Monad up and running and we are certain that it will become a popular destination for people across Belfast."

Monad restaurant on Belfast's Belmont Road. (Justin Kernoghan)

Tamsin said that Belmont Road was the ideal location to open a new restaurant, saying that the area is known for its thriving independent businesses and that they felt there was a real gap in the market for them.

She said: "Since opening on Friday we have had a really good response and hope that this will get even better as the weeks go on.

"The Belmont Road is a perfect location for us to open, being an area known for its independent businesses, as there is a gap in the market here for somewhere offering a high quality dining experience late into the evenings.

Monad restaurant on Belfast's Belmont Road. (Justin Kernoghan)

"Over the coming weeks we will be opening another sister business to Monad on the road and we look forward to embedding ourselves into the community here in East Belfast."

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