111 Newton Park, Belfast County Antrim BT8 6LX
From the day it first opened for business, on October 12th 1967, the Four Winds Inn has always been up there with the best. When solicitor Gerry McClure bought this piece of ground, all there was on it was a country cottage. After his successful application for a licence, he asked Dan Magennis, then Assistant Manager of the wholesale company Dan Lavery Ltd., if he could recommend a good manager. John Higgins, then Assistant Manager of the old Lavery’s house, The Elbow Room on Dublin Road, was the man he proposed, and what an inspired choice it turned out to be. John took his wife Marie with him, put her in charge of the catering, and within a short period of time, the Four Winds Restaurant was being acclaimed as one of the finest restaurants in the land. For the last 23 years John and Marie have consistently maintained this standard. I have said before in this book that this is not a good food pub guide, but I must, in this case, give praise where praise is due. Over the years, I have regularly dined here with my wife and friends, and never did I have a meal that was not up to the highest standards. Every customer is treated like royalty here. Every meal is personally checked by management before leaving the kitchen, and when the meals are served to your party, you can be assured they will be served piping hot. I asked John if he ever had any complaints about meals. “Not very often. If there were, you can be assured any complaints would be rectified immediately, for my policy is that every meal I serve should be a memorable one.”
The name The Four Winds came from the local estate, though at times it is so blowy up there on the slopes of the Castlereagh Hills that the place named itself.
In 1982 John and Marie were tempted to leave The Four Winds and have a go on their own. From Pat McCormack they bought the new Elbow Room, but within months of opening day a surprise development arose at The Four Winds. Gerry McClure decided to sell, John did a deal, and sold on The Elbow to Don Rice, who in turn passed it on to Bryan West.
You can’t miss The Four Winds at the top of Newton Park, with its exceptionally large car park. It consists of a two-tiered reception area for the restaurant, with a sunken dispensary bar. It is luxurious, yet relaxed with the spirit of warmth and goodwill prevailing. The restaurant itself is stylish in the grand style comparable with any of the plushest in London, but not at London prices. If you want to spoil yourself and your loved one, try a meal here, and you won’t regret it.
By a separate entrance is the olde worlde broad beamed public bar, while upstairs the decor is again in the olde worlde style with its high pitched roof. Each Monday to Friday they serve here one of the best buffet lunches you’ll get anywhere. Here I go again, mentioning food, but the Four Winds has always been synonymous with food.
The success of The Four Winds is unquestionably due to the personal management of the Higgins family, John and Marie, their sons Stephen and Michael, and their in-laws. Their personal attention and their own individual personalities sparkle like a warming fire . . . in their hands the future of The Four Winds is secure.