On the whole, I am rather impressed by food in Northern Ireland. My expectations, based upon what I was told by other tourists to the UK and Ireland, were that food would be bland and overpriced. It is easy to find food that is both of these things, but good food can be fairly cheap. Being a college student, I especially like the cheap part.
On a day to day basis, I can make three meals in a day for about half of the price of one decent meal at a restaurant. This takes planning and some tolerance of repetition. Creativity is needed to avoid the repetition. This could sound a little scary, but nothing I've made so far comes anywhere near the scariness of what was concocted last year by my old roommate Larry and I. If the day comes when I need to make chickpea chili on rice, it's time to go home.
The Tesco supermarkets here offer just about everything I'll need for groceries. I may have to go without hot peppers for awhile, but I'll get by. Typical things eaten day to day are porridge (oatmeal), sandwiches, scones, soup, potatoes, pasties, pastas, and chicken pies. Sausage is quite good. I was surprised by the quality of the cheapo generic brands. Everything generic I've tried so far has been much better than any American generics. I may get wild and crazy some week and try some name brands to compare.
Prices for groceries are a touch higher than Montana prices, but this varies.
Eating out is necessary every now and then. Fish and chips places are everywhere, but I've only been in one once. That one experience almost convinced me that I would be eating bland, overpriced food for several months. Good food is not hard to find though, and my current favorite is drink/meal special at the Globe.
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