Belfast has its own answer to Polpo and co over in London. And ? whisper it ? if anything, the cooking's even betterLong before she spent 20 years in the States, my mother was a demanding restaurant punter. When she moved back home to Northern Ireland a few years ago, I told her she was going to find it hard going. What I meant was that I'd find it hard going locating somewhere decent for us to eat.I was wrong. That's not to say the streets of Ulster are paved with fine restaurants ? overcooked meat, half a dozen ways with the spud (not that there's anything wrong with that), menus that aren't knowingly retro but simply haven't changed since the 1970s, and lazy service are still too easy to find ? but there are many more good restaurants than I ever thought possible. In terms of raw materials, there's no reason there shouldn't be. All the beef at Mark Hix's new Tramshed comes from Antrim and top chefs swear by Finnebrogue's venison. The oysters and mussels from the coastal loughs, and the eel from Lough Neagh, are world class.In Belfast, as elsewhere, it's quality casual dining that's on the rise. It suits the no-nonsense locals, for whom eating out is more about the craic than fashion, napery and chef worship. It's also about offering value for money, the current economic malaise having hit hard after the optimism and boom that followed the ceasefire.All of which brings me to East Belfast, an ostensibly unlikely destination for a decent meal. Opened late last year, Il Pirata occupies what was previously a KFC and is the latest offering from Sam Spain, a sharp local restaurateur who also owns the Barking Dog and the Gourmet Burger Bank. I'll be very surprised if Spain hasn't been to Polpo or one of its siblings, because its no-reservations, no-phone, Italian small-plate shtick is a virtual homage.He's teamed up with Tony O'Neill, whose day job is executive chef at the city's Merchant Hotel, and come up with a menu that's a mix of sliders, bruschettas and pasta. On the evidence of my two visits, the cooking is ? dare I say it ? as good as, if not better than, Polpo and co.The first time I went was a solo recon mission to check if it was up to spec for Mother. From the daily specials, I had deep-fried bocconcini ? too much time in the oil and they'd have been a disaster, but the mozzarella was melted, not molten, inside the breading ? followed by a �15-for-two "Italian sharing roast" (porchetta, roast garlic potatoes and charred fennel). I asked for a half-helping, to which they graciously agreed. The portion of local pork was monstrous, but I still cleared the plate. Dessert was a fine lemon posset topped with a raspberry jelly.I returned several days later, early evening, with Mother. The white-tiled, stripped-back, low-lit interior with plain wooden tables and open kitchen looks at its best at night. It's successfully Polpo-esque, just as Polpo is successfully Brooklyn-esque ? and that's meant as a compliment to everyone concerned.We worked our way through most of the small plates on the menu proper, as well as a carafe of red. The all-Italian wine list starts at �15 a bottle for a very drinkable sangiovese. They get local with two of their own beers, a lager and a black, brewed by the Whitewater brewery, and a medium-dry Maddens Armagh cider. A cocktail list with espresso martinis and amaretto sours at �6 a pop rounds off the drinks.Neither of us could find fault with the polenta chips, spiced pork slider (with a soft Belfast bap), crisp whitebait with red pepper mayo, or mushrooms stuffed with pesto and parmesan. Best of all were chicken spiedini with roast pepper sauce, a juicy bit of bird that had spent just the right amount of time on the grill.It's not ? to borrow a phrase from a reviewer who recently rounded off a review of another Belfast casual diner ? "the second coming". Nor is it especially original ? it's not meant to be. More importantly, Mother was impressed and will return ? and that really is a compliment.? Il Pirata 279 Upper Newtownards Road, Belfast, no telephone. facebook.com/ilPirataBelfast, @ilpiratabelfast. Open all week, noon-10pm (11pm Fri and Sat). Meal for two with drinks and service, around �65.Joe Warwick is the author of Where Chefs Eat, to be published by Phaidon Press in January 2013.Follow Joe on Twitter.RestaurantsFood & drinkBelfastUnited KingdomJoe Warwickguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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