Status : Titanic Pub and Kitchen/ The Bear and the Doll
14 Little Donegall St
Belfas
I always thought this modern bar was a licensed restaurant within the Frames Snooker Complex, but in fact in June 1988 a full Public House Licence was granted, transferred from the nearby White Cross Inn in North Street. It’s a very fine building (formerly a large warehouse owned by Robert Watson & Co., Furniture and Bedding Manufacturers), wonderfully restored, and looking better now than it ever looked in its long history. To appreciate it fully, you must view it from Royal Avenue. Shaped like a smoothing iron, it’s a very tall building, culminating in a fine dome. Right at the very front, where the building narrows, is the Snack Bar, one of the smartest you’ll ever come across, with the centrepiece a domed circular colonnade of pillars with a fountain right in the middle, the whole piece taking up over 25 per cent of the room . . . very impressive.
Entrance to the bar itself is to your right, facing the Belfast Telegraph. This is a John Robb creation (builder Gerry Murray) so I expected something special, and I wasn’t disappointed. The bar is three-tiered, the top one a combination of small dance floor or stage, with heavy coloured mahogany wood and light teak throughout, royal blue upholstery blending in well with light blue covering with white spots on solid mahogany stools. An unusual brass (chromed silver) separates the various snugs on separate levels, while Austrian drapes and prints of old-time gentlemen are selectively placed around the walls. Tiffany glass lighting is a feature throughout the bar. The serving bar area is bright with solid mahogany to the fore, but I thought the brass small pillars at the back of the bar slightly ruined the picture. To the left as you go in, there is a nice private function room, capable of seating 60. The bar theme is carried on into the adjacent restaurant, with the exception of the eye-catching coloured Infinity Box (done with mirrors) of the Manhattan Skyline. The rest of Frames Complex includes an Amusement Arcade, 6 sunbeds, 44 snooker tables spread over three floors, and these young enthusiastic partners, Francis Brady and Jim Magee, have plans for a Health Club with all the trappings. It’s an impressive place, and I urge you to go and see this fascinating creation for yourself.