Dining Experience
At the Hastings Hotels Group, we are passionate about food and believe that eating is one of life’s greatest pleasures. We embrace the use of carefully selected local and seasonal quality foods to enable our chefs to prepare and create the most delicious dishes in our kitchens.
The island of Ireland has a proud heritage of farming and fishing, resulting in an abundance of sensational produce and we at Hastings Hotels are striving to give all our guests a true taste of this in everything we serve. When sourcing our food, we look for produce which stands out from the rest – from where it originates, to the way it is produced and for its flavour. We are proud to share this story with you…
Breakfast
We at Hastings Hotels believe that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. We have gone further to find locally sourced fresh produce, with as many items as possible free from additives and preservatives, to give you a real Irish breakfast experience. Our delicious breakfasts include a range of quality Irish pork products including Moyallon dry cured back bacon, delicious breakfast sausages and Staunton’s black and white pudding, and our eggs are all sourced locally from Crossgar. We are also proud of our muesli and granola, handmade in County Down,using the finest Irish oats and cereals. And our porridge with a touch of Bushmills Whiskey is not to be missed!
Beef
Hastings Hotels use only prime Irish beef across all their menus. We select only the best local traditional beef breeds, including Dexter, Irish Moiled and Organic Shorthorn from local County Down breeders, Crossgar Meats and Hannan Meats. These beef breeds are renowned for their unique and exceptional flavour, matured to perfection to intensify succulence. If you like good beef you will savour every mouthful!
Lamb
When sourcing Lamb, Hastings Hotels are careful to only use the freshest local lambs or hoggets in season from approved local farms. Lambs are grass-fed and matured to enhance tenderness and natural flavour. All lamb served is of the highest quality to ensure the best taste when it reaches your table.
Pork
All our pork is fresh, and from local Irish pigs, reared to the highest welfare standards in quality assured farms. We also source outdoor reared and rare breed pigs when available. These pork products guarantee our guests a more succulent and flavoursome dining experience.
Poultry
We serve the finest grain-fed chicken, turkey and duck. Sourced locally from Crossgar Poultry Farm, County Down, these are birds which have been reared to the highest standards. Animal welfare is extremely important to us, and these birds have been free to roam the green fields of County Down. The result is succulent, tender poultry with reassuringly good taste!
Bread
We use only fresh locally produced breads. The Irwin family have been at the heart of local bakery for three generations, producing the finest range of Irish breads. We can guarantee quality and freshness in every slice of Irwin’s bread. Our Guinness wholemeal bread is a real specialty and captures perfectly the authentic taste of the black stuff!
We also source speciality breads from The Yellow Door Deli and Patisserie.
Dairy Products
Ireland’s temperate climate and rainfall produce lush pastures, ensuring superb quality dairy produce. All Hastings Hotels’ milk, butter and cream is sourced from Farmview Dairies, in the Castlereagh Hills,where the McDowell family have been selling fresh wholesome dairy produce for over 100 years. Our yogurt, found on the breakfast menu, is live Probiotic Yogurt, naturally made at Clandeboye Estate with mil from Lady Dufferin’s award winning-pedigree Jersey and Holstein Herd. Northern Ireland’s premier cheese supplier, Fivemiletown Creamery, supply Hastings Hotels with a range of finest local cheeses including goat’s cheese and Ballybrie, whilst other local cheeses include Gubbeen, Cashel Blue and Hegarty’s famous farmhouse cheddar.
Deli Produce and Patisserie
In Northern Ireland, we are very proud of our long history of baking traditional bread, scones, tarts, cakes and the ubiquitous “wee buns” of which we are all so fond! At Hastings Hotels, we also use small, artisan producers including The Yellow Door Deli and Patisserie who are passionate about keeping these traditions alive by preparing our baked goods and patisserie using only the best Irish eggs, oats, flour, milk, butter and buttermilk, delivered fresh to us every morning.
An unforgettable dessert at the end of a great meal is hard to beat and we’re sure our guests will agree when they taste our range of locally produced ice-creams from Glastry Farm in County Down…..delicious!
Fresh local produce
Hastings Hotels are dedicated to using local suppliers for fresh seasonal fruit and vegetables wherever possible. We have a close working relationship with a number of leading distributors and producers, which ensures that our chefs are consistently delivered the finest produce.
We are proud to use tomatoes grown in Drumbeg, Pak Choi and salad leaves from Ballymena, root vegetables from Comber, salad, vegetables and potatoes from Willowbrook Farm on the banks of Strangford Lough and Wilson’s Potatoes from County Armagh to name but a few.
Local Suppliers
