Alan’s Causeway Cafe

Great food and great price. The staff is friendly and helpful. They have free wifi and the atmosphere is great…

The Causeway Café is located inside/​beside the Belfast International Youth Hostel, and is available to guests and non-​guests. I stay at this hostel every year with a group of American students, and while the hostel is your run-​of-​the-​mill backpackers joint, the café is outstanding, and serves the best breakfast I’ve had in Belfast.
The café is situated cafeteria-​style, with long tables and benches in the seating area and a large counter of serve-​yourself yogurts, toast, cereal, and orange juice. There is also a huge menu floating over the tills, so you can order a hot breakfast if that tickles your fancy. The café is kept very clean, though there always seems to be a song from «Grease» drifting out of the sound system.
My fellow travelers usually go for the continental breakfast (the serve yourself options above) as it is free to large groups staying in the hostel. From what I’ve heard, this option is «ok.» I have gotten a few of the students to break out of this and try the Belfast Fry, which costs £4.50. Let me tell you… worth it!
The fry consists of two (each) Griddled Soda and Potato Bread, Sausages, Rashers, Fried Tomato, Fried Egg, Baked Beans, and Tea or Coffee. All of the items are cooked to order, so you do have to wait a bit for the end result (around 15 minutes). My favourite part of the fry is the griddled potato bread, which has definitely been cooked with butter (or oil or fat or something delicious) but is still crispy and melts in your mouth, unlike most Ulster Fry’s I’ve had in which the potato bread is just sitting in grease.
I have, on occassion, deviated from my usual fry in search of a lighter breakfast so, still not wanting to give in to the continental, I opted to try the Filled Griddled Soda Bread. It’s lighter that the fry, while still being a hot breakfast — I have tried the bacon soda and the soda filled with butter and jam. Both really yummy.
The major downside to the Causeway Café is that it is only open from 8am-​11am (7 days/​week). Also, the prices for the smaller items (eh hem… continental breakfast) are high for what they are. In this place, you get more bang for your buck by going big.
Recommended for anyone looking for a big breakfast to get them through a day of sightseeing or studying!