4 Queens Arcade, Belfast BT1 5FF
This very busy small arcade is probably the last place you would expect to find a pub, but it’s a lovely bar at that. Downstairs is wonderfully bright and cheery-looking, made possible by the nice decor – Garden Green is the dominant colour. The cute serving small bar has a stained glass top on one side, and is pillared on the other. Green carpet and black ceiling complete the picture . . . it’s ideal for that lunchtime snack. Upstairs, I’m afraid, was a disappointment. The theme here is stated boldly on stained glass: “Guinness Warehouse” (this, by the way, is a Croft’s house).
It’s supposed to look like the interior of a warehouse, with reclaimed brick used throughout. I originally thought, with the green shrubbery at the top of the stairs, that it was going to be a continuation of downstairs, like a terrace bar. Around the walls are American street names like Nashville Street, Hollywood Boulevard, Orleans Drive, etc. I’m afraid I can’t figure it out. The furniture here is plain – garden aluminium chairs and tables are used, and you can imagine the noise they make on a wooden floor, but leaving all my personal comments aside, this is an extremely busy bar – probably the busiest in the city centre, per square foot.