McHugh’s

After visiting the Titanic museum, we wanted to get out of the rain and into some lunch. This was the place that fate had in store for us.
It is in a very old, but charming building. The food was quite good for a pub. I had the bangers and mash — great presentation and delicious tasting food. I could not be happier with my choice. If you like dessert, I highly recommend the sticky toffee pudding. A slice of cake with ice cream on a bed of toffee sauce — so good!
A few beers and a very nice selection of whisky makes this place an excellent choice.

I reviewed McHugh’s way back in 2010 and I didn’t really rate it but since then I’ve matured, I’ve become a more cultured individual and I’ve started to appreciate history and tradition a whole lot more. Looking back I can’t believe I didn’t appreciate that McHughs was one of Belfast’s oldest licensed premises’ dating back to 1711. It’s location is pretty good too — just off Custom House Squarer and within walking distance to Titanic Belfast, McHugh’s makes the perfect stop off for tourists and locals who are heading back in to the City from the Titanic Quarter.
I had no idea until yesterday that McHugh’s plays live sport at the weekends. They also host a traditional Irish music collective on Sundays. These guys aren’t really performing for the patrons, they are really just jamming but it makes a lovely background music while you sip on your pint.
McHugh’s is decked out in traditional trinkets and there is also a nod to Northern Ireland political past with framed newspapers on the walls. All in all I think ‘m going to pop a few extra stars on McHugh’s — it just shows you that a businesses doesn’t have to change, sometimes you’ve just got to appreciate what’s on offer.

McHugh’s is a great wee pub, but one I only ever stop at whilst on the way to somewhere else. I’ve never actually spent a full evening here — instead I’ve dropped in for a drink whilst on the way to a concert or event at the Odyssey, Custom House Square or city centre. It’s strength is the outside seating area in summertime — when an event is on somewhere crowds congregate here and there’s a fantastic lively buzz. Facing Custom House Square it’s an excellent spot for a summer afternoon spent people watching. I had a meal upstairs once many years ago which I remember as being very tasty — must get back for another meal! There’s often live music on, staff are friendly and an upbeat happy vibe permeates.

The service here is the best I’ve had in the UK. The food is also great, as well as the music

Loved this spot! We stopped in for a pint after having dinner. So much history in this old building. It’s a great area to walk around and take pictures.

This is a great bar and restaurant. The waiter named James was excellent, just like the food. The steak on the volcanic rock was amazing, the bar area staff were also fantastic. An absolute must while visiting Belfast, highly recommended.

Mc Hughs makes a claim at being the oldest bar in town which other reviewers have discussed more accurately than I could, but unfortunately I find that this debate hints at a larger problem: there is nothing more interesting about this place to talk about rather than its origins.
It is fairly unremarkable. It is your textbook old fashioned pubs on the main level with a wee restaurant in an isolated area (that admittedly i have never been to) and the downstairs is the area for live music. This is my main reason for being here as I have watched a few of my friends play here, and I can’t say I enjoy it. The bar is expensive and for the music area the acoustics aren’t great and there are loads of pillars which really restrict the ability to see!
The best things for me about this place are the ability to have a quick drink before you get a bus next door in laganside and the Guinness advertising paintings on the side which are quite funky!

Update: I’m DJing here as part of Belfast Funk n’Soul night on November 5^th so come on down 9 – 11.30!
A grand little pub with a cozy kind of classic pub feel to it.
The original building has been around since 1711 and they promise to combine the old with the new.
I’ve been for a pint downstairs sitting on one of the snug couches before heading into town on a Saturday night.
I’ve heard really good things about the Radio K night downstairs in the Basement and have made a note to self to check it out. Radio K is held every Saturday– they play a mixed bag of indie, soul, electro, new wave, 80’s pop and many more.
The funk and soul night which is currently being hosted here is brill. Me and some friends had the best night here recently. Plenty of dancing and funtimes!
I pass this bar on my bus home and have seen hen partys staggering out of the place in early evening. It seems a good place to go for crowds. When I was there, about a million German tourists came in, I can imagine the bar being popular with tourists also.
A nice bar in a nice spot.

Mc Hugh’s, a world of wonder with it’s dressed down attitude and echo’s of an age gone by. Friday night’s soul and funk clubnight has punters of all ages jiving and swaying to a laid back beat, while Saturday’s Radio K kicks everyone into the weekend with an ecletic mix to suit a varied audience.
During the day the public bar provides a comfortable atmosphere for a few quiet pints. And if you get peckish a nice homely meal will be dished up in a matter of minutes.
The bar is always well stocked but on a busy night be prepared for a few glances at your wrist watch before someone gets to you.
A smoking area is provided in the form of a patio at the front entrance. However, it doesn’t provide much shelter if the elements decide to upset the evening.
For some McHugh’s could prove too far out of the conveinent city centre bars and clubs but with taxi services fully available this shouldn’t cause too much disruption.
All in all, a nice break from the norm.

There’s not much to add here that hasn’t already been said. However, I would like to attempt to clear up a few things for visitors to Belfast regarding where the «oldest bar» in Belfast is — we wouldn’t want a load of visitors returning to their home countries and claiming they’d all been to the oldest bar in Belfast, with some having been to Kelly’s Cellars, some to White’s Tavern, and others to McHugh’s. So here goes…
It depends on your definition. McHugh’s is Belfast’s oldest building, but it’s apparently uncertain as to what year it actually became a pub — it’s been suggested that this was in the mid-​18^th century. As far as I recall, the records don’t go back far enough to verify that it’s the oldest bar in Belfast, but it’s the oldest building. White’s Tavern has the oldest liquor license in Belfast but, as correctly reported by another Unilocaler, the business moved premises, presumably some time after Kelly’s Cellars opened.
— White’s had the first license
— McHugh’s is the oldest building
— It’s probable that Kelly’s is the oldest continuously licensed premises
As I said, that’s all to the best of my knowledge, and it will depend on you definition of the term «oldest bar». For my money, it’s probably Kelly’s, but visitors should have a pint in all three, just to make sure their bases are covered.

McHugh’s in one of the many bars owned by Botanic Inns ltd. I rarely go to this place but that not because I don’t enjoy it. It’s a little out of the way from where I’d usually drink and if I am over here it’s usually for one of the bars in the Cathedral Quarter. It’s an amazingly decorated place, that really sets the night going with it’s homely feel. What’s best about McHugh’s is its basemen which hosts some great local music. It’s compact size makes it a very intimate setting to enjoy a gig.

McHugh’s is a funny old place. Don’t get me wrong, I love it, but it’s hard to properly categorise it, you know?
It’s a restaurant. Not a spectacular one, but the ingredients are always fresh, and generally local, which puts it ahead in my book, and it’s good for small or large groups.
It’s also a pub. A bit old and a bit modern.
Then downstairs it’s a club. Radio K is actually one of the best club nights in Belfast. It doesn’t play just one type of music, but it also doesn’t play anything predictable. The music could be hip-​hop, rock, electro or any genre in between.
The only downside is that it’s in a small space in the basement so it gets inCREDibly warm down there. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve had to make an emergency trip to the toilets to take my tights off!
My advice with McHugh’s is to be there early if you want to go downstairs. It usually fills up by about 11pm. What we tend to do is pay in, get stamped and then sit upstairs until we’re ready to go down. Works a treat!

This place is lost on me. It is «the oldest bar in Belfast» but in hindsight, there’s only a small number of times you can go to «old» bars before they all become the exact same thing. McHugh’s is too similar to the «ye olde traditional pubs» that are littered around Belfast and in that respect it is fine for a drink or two.
I’ve only been there during the day and I have friends who go to McHughs in the evening/​night time and they like the club part of it downstairs. But really it’s just very mediocre.
Shame

McHughs is a nice enough bar, not spectacular but certainly not a bad place to go out for a few drinks on an evening or a quick pint in the afternoon. Aparently around since 1711, but I suspect there isn’t much of the original vibe about the place.
McHughs has a good, young and modern feeling, always busy and sometimes overly packed with people to the point that it is hard to get around. The toilets are upstairs and well out of the way which I always think is a good thing.
The food is basic and will fill a hole in your stomach if needs be, but I would not be expecting haute cusine, but there is nothing the matter with that.
Radio K, the club night downstairs on a Saturday night is always a great night out with a great eclectic range of music, as long as you are not expecting pop tunes and heavy dance music.
A fun bar, basic, but well worth a look as long as you are not expecting the re-​invention of the wheel.

Is McHugh’s good for a bite to eat? Yes. Is it the venue for upmarket food? Not so much and as long as you go armed with that information and matching expectations, you won’t be disappointed.
I have had all manner of evenings in McHughs — a gaggle of over– excited girls having a meal and drinks before a *blush* Take That show, a family Sunday evening tea, and a meal before the cinema with the husband. Each time I have had a perfectly nice meal in pleasant surroundings.
You come in off the street into the main bar area so if you’re just in for drinks, this is as far as you go. For food, head on up to the first floor. The first floor is big, but its layout in balconies and alcoves means that most tables have a cosy feel and everyone from romantic twosomes to large groups can be accommodated.
I have always had something from the stir fry section of the menu and can recommend both the duck and beef stir fries which both deliver a tasty meal with no feeling of being overloaded. The husband has had the salmon fillet a couple of times and the pieces I have nabbed from his plate have been good.
Service is efficient and polite so no complaints there. One of my pet hates in life is rude waiting staff but no complaints here.
Downstairs gets pretty raucous later on on weekend nights. I fear I may have contributed to that on a few occasions.
I believe there is a diso/​nite klub in the basement, but get this — the last time I was in McHughs with a big group of girls, the bouncer said we were too badly behaved to be allowed into it! I beg your pardon? OK, maybe he did have a point. One of the group had no shoes on when she got home…

Labelled for the tourists as the oldest bar in Belfast, McHughs has been selling drink to the drunkards of Belfast since 1711. I’m sure apart from the stone bricks of the walls, it’s changed QUITE a lot since then! But it marries together the sense of history with the new-​fangled quite happily, actually. They have a good thing going, with the lively bar and pedestrianised area out front for the smokers, overlooking the Lagan Weir and Custom House Square, and the large restaurant upstairs, that seats large and small parties alike.
The service in the restaurant is great. Having eaten here quite a few times, I’ve never had cause for complain. There is a hint at local flavour from the menu, with a really good choice, from good veggie opeions like the homemade cheese and garlic soda bread (my veggie friend enthused greatly) and the pan fried tiger prawns which really were lovely. There is a wide choice of mains too, although slightly less optinons for the veggie love this time, although she did enjoy her pasta. The Pan fried chicken that I had was lovely. We had a great table at the window, and our waiter was good fun, a bit cheeky-​chappy flirty — who could blame him with a table full of girls? Good food, great atmosphere in the pub and restaurant. Go for it.

Supposed to be the oldest pub in Belfast, also was a brothel (you can maybe see the bottom in one of the upstairs windows!!) near to Donegall Quay, from where the Lagan boat trips start, up-​river or the Titanic tour of the harbour. Used to have a giant chess-​set, the pieces being local politicians, but the glass got broken and now the pieces are up on the wall. Great food (try the stuffed chicken breast).

One of the oldest pubs in Belfast, reputedly a former brothel and still having the feel of a ‘local’, McHugh’s also has a decent restaurant upstairs. The menu includes a range of local produce, mussels with soda bread, steak and chips and plenty of champ. I’ve found the staff here chatty and friendly and the overall service good. McHugh’s also has live music in the basement on different nights of the week so check out their website. And after all that — I’m actually heading there for a quick bite to eat tonight!