The Best of The Market Breakfast at St George’s Market Bar and Grill in Belfast has been announced as the Northern Ireland winner in the Shake-Up-Your-Wake-Up Breakfast Awards and overall runner up restaurant for the whole of the UK.

The campaign is run by a division of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board and aims to showcase the most important meal of the day to raise awareness of the health and nutritional benefits of breakfast. A host of restaurants, hotels, B&Bs, coffee shops and pubs entered the UK wide awards to gain recognition of being THE BEST.

There were thousands of votes cast online by regulars and the public which placed St George’s Market Bar & Grill as THE BEST IN NORTHERN IRELAND.

The top restaurant, which is owned by The Mount Charles Group, has long been recognised for its high quality food & friendly staff, they regularly source ingredients from the market beneath it and the breakfast is no different.

Its legendary breakfast is cherry picked from the fantastic artisan producers in the market itself. The traditional dry cured bacon, sausages and eggs are from local, free-range farm and St George’s stall holder Pheasants’ Hill Farm using sustainable farming methods.

The soda and potato bread is from Chrissie, a local baker and stallholder at St George’s Market who uses her grandmother’s old-fashioned recipes using real buttermilk, all handmade on her farm in Killinchy. The black and white puddings are courtesy of Conakilty and even the butter is a Great Taste award winner, hand churned in Dromara by the wonderful Abernethy Butter Company.

Head Chef at the restaurant, James Bell said: “We are thrilled to have picked up this award – we’ve long thought our breakfast was one of the best, and now it’s official!

“We take breakfast seriously, with local heritage of the food being a top priority, our duty is to take these fantastic raw ingredients and apply our skill, attention and a little TLC. That’s the way to do justice to the quality of the produce we source.”

James added: “St George’s Market Bar and Grill has gone from strength to strength in recent years, and the market itself lends a great buzz and atmosphere. We serve well over 1000 breakfasts every weekend and have just started serving brunch all day everyday including the award winning breakfast, along with our other brunch classics like fresh waffles, eggs benedict, posh porridge, pastries, handmade scones and wheaten bread.

“I’d like to acknowledge our fantastic suppliers and also our loyal customers; we wouldn’t be celebrating this award win without you, so thank you for your support.”

To find out more about St George’s Market Bar and Grill, its opening hours and menus visit http://stgeorgesbargrill.com/