A Belfast pub has pipped five local rivals to be named the best pub in Northern Ireland at the UK National Pub and Bar Awards.
The UK National Pub and Bar Awards held their 2023 ceremony in London last night (28 June), naming Surrey pub, The Running Horses, as the best in the country.
The National Pub and Bar Awards also dole out regional prizes, celebrating pubs in such areas as London, Wales, and North West Scotland.
Included in the regional breakdown is Northern Ireland, and a Belfast pub picked up the prize in this category.
Hearth – an East Belfast spot
The Northern Ireland category at the awards comprised six pubs that had each earlier been named best in their respective counties by the National Pub and Bar Awards.
Competition, then, for the Belfast pub came in the form of County Down’s Maghera Inn, Derry’s Peadar O’Donnell’s, Armagh’s Hole in the Wall, Fermanagh’s Taphouse, and Bogan’s in County Tyrone.
But Hearth, on Belfast’s Newtownards Road, came out on top and was named the best pub in Northern Ireland at the National Pub and Bar Awards.
“A pivotal social hub” – Hearth’s importance to Ballyhackamore
Hearth sits in the Ballyhackamore area of East Belfast, which in recent years has developed a reputation as one of the best areas in the city for food and drinks.
Hearth counts as its neighbours other popular Belfast establishments like Horatio Todd’s Bar and Grill, Cyprus Avenue, and popular Mexican restaurant Acapulco.
Writing on Facebook, Hearth highlighted its importance to the local area as “a social hub in Ballyhackamore, providing regular entertainment for locals including quizzes [and] live music, championing health awareness, [and] raising funds for good causes”.
The statement also lauded the Belfast pub’s manager Aaron Wright and owners Sarah and Phil Patterson. The Pattersons received great praise for bouncing back from a series of setbacks, including two fires on the premises in 2021 and 2022.
Hearth also outlined its ambition for the future, including expansion to include a function room and an exclusive whiskey bar.
National Pub and Bar Awards – celebrating the UK’s best bars
The National Pub and Bar Awards are determined by Pub & Bar – a monthly hospitality publication both in print and online.
Pub & Bar established the National Pub and Bar Awards to reward pubs “for overall retail excellence, best practice, and individual entrepreneurship across the UK’s 94 counties”.
Speaking earlier in the year on the announcement of the winners in each of Northern Ireland’s respective counties, editor Tristan O’Hana said, “We were overwhelmed by the level and quality of entries this year”.
