For truly sensational fresh seafood, head for a refurbished yacht club at Coleraine
Lir and Native Seafood & Scran, The Marina, Coleraine, Northern Ireland BT52 1EY. Meal for two, starters £7.50-£8.50, mains £16-£29, desserts £7.50, wines from £24
The restaurant stands by the river. The river runs down to the sea, where the fish swim deep. The fish are brought to the restaurant that stands by the river which runs down to the sea. Do excuse me, but there’s just something about the simplicity of Lir, hard by the River Bann in Northern Ireland, which brings out the terrible Ernest Hemingway parody act in me. I promise it won’t happen again. The Coleraine business was born out of a fascination with the sea, and a belief by owners Rebekah and Stevie McCarry that not enough of the fabulous seafood caught by the day boats working off the Northern Irish coast ends up being eaten by those who live on the shore.