By Local Women Editor
5 days ago

A slice of home comfort… Paula Gracey delights in the arrival of her favourite Orto pizza restaurant right on her doorstep

New Orto on Belfast’s Antrim Road

NORMALLY when a pizza arrives at our door, it’s in a takeaway box.

So what joy to welcome the long awaited opening of our favourite pizza restaurant, Orto, on Belfast’s Antrim Road!

Orto is already our go-to place for pizza in Belfast city centre so when we heard the latest addition to their empire was going to be right on our doorstep we were delighted! You’ll find it directly opposite the big Madigan’s filling station and supermarket, just after Downview Avenue.

We booked (advisable) for 7.30 on a lovely sunny Saturday evening and walked along to find it already buzzing with diners.

If anyone remembers La Cuisine, which was its former incarnation, it is the same sort of layout but what a transformation!

The entrance is very wheelchair/pram friendly with a sloped ramp and plenty of tables on the lower level and then more on the raised area with a new bar along the back as well as a bar on the ground floor.

There are tables, soft bench seats and comfy booths (which is what we had). It is light and bright with fresh white walls, lots of greenery and signature round white paper lampshades in a variety of sizes adorning the ceiling.

The backlit bar has plenty of drinks to enjoy and there is good wine and cocktail list to peruse.

We found the staff are all very cheery and friendly and we started with a bottle of Portuguese Rose, Casa do Lago which was perfect for a summer evening.

There is a great choice of breads, light bites and starters – their famous crispy lasagne bites looked great!

Being familiar with Orto, we just went straight in, knowing how filling their pizzas tend to be. The menu isn’t as extensive as you’ll find in other pizza chains with Orto consciously going for quality over quantity and choices you won’t see elsewhere.

You can choose from Red or White based pizzas and they are able to tweak them to your liking if necessary (for weirdos like me who don’t like cheese).

There is also a list of really interesting specials which is seasonal.

Himself went for the red based pizza with goats cheese, chorizo and roquito peppers, mum had the Hawaiian which was described as red based with roasted ham hock and pineapple – it looked delicious!

Mine, however, was the pizza de resistance – red pizza with vodka sauce, roast chicken, and mushroom – minus the cheese – and it was so good.

We munched our way through as much as we could but had a few slices left which came home with us in a box for further investigation later.

If only we had room for dessert because they looked amazing – Chocolate Chip Bread & Butter Pudding and Hot Cinnamon Swirl, I am coming for you next time!

With full bellies and happy hearts we wandered home from our new Orto, very pleased to have such a fantastic restaurant within walking distance of our house.

If you’ve ever tried getting a taxi in Belfast after a Saturday night out, you’ll know what a happy ending that is!