Month: August 2011

The Waterside Seafood Restaurant – The third kind

Seafood restaurants in my view fall into three categories:-

  1. The bad ones of which there are way too many.
  2. The good but conventional ones like Chapmans in Canterbury, which are not quite so plentiful.
  3. The rare ones that have that special something that sets them apart.

I would put Eddie Gilberts in Ramsgate and The Sportsman in Whitstable into the third category for example along with The Waterside Restaurant in Eastbourne which on my third visit in an eight month period just did not disappoint.

The Waterside Restaurant is situated in a boutique hotel of the kind that goes a long way to revitalizing British Seaside resorts, every good resort should have one or better still half a dozen such places.

Our first visit to The Waterside was in the heart of winter and I guess the fact it was thriving then should have been the first clue to how special this place was. Something the AA recognized earlier this year by awarding it a second Rosette.

When we arrived it was nice to be welcomed back by the waitress who remembered us from our earlier visits. We had a good start – ordering a glass of Moet at a fraction of the price we would have paid in London.

The menu changes frequently enough to make it interesting. I started with the King Scallops Sweet Plate – The scallops are served with mustard brulee and cashew nut baklava, this is a dish I have had before and one I am pleased they keep on the menu.  My companion ordered the crab and crayfish salad a new addition to the menu which was delicious.  It took a while to choose my main course as I was torn between several of the dishes. l finally settled on the Sea Bream served very simply with potato and spinach salad – perfect.  My companion had the Fillet of Plaice served with a divine crayfish risotto and scallops. The only disappointment of the evening was that they did not have the stunning Basil Ice cream we had on our last visit on their list of home made ices, but I still enjoyed the Toffee, Apple & Cinnamon and Banana & Mango ice creams that were on offer along with a nice glass of Moscatel.

We retired to the bar for cocktails.  Where they serve a mixture of classic cocktails and boutique cocktails. I had an Aqua,  one of the boutique cocktails containing Lycee and Melon liqueur, Vodka, Gin, Cointreau, Lime Juice and lemonade – very refreshing and a nice way to end a lovely evening.

This may have been my third visit to The Waterside but it certainly will not be my last.  I don’t need the sunshine to draw me to Eastbourne when the town boasts a restaurant of this calibre, and it’s only an hour and a half away from London by train 😉

Marks out of 10

Food 7.1

Service 7

Ambience 7

 

 

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Ex Bermondsey Kitchen soon to be Pizarro’s

José Pizarro’s Tapas bar “José” in Bermondsey Street is oh so popular and rather small to say the least, it’s near impossible to get in. So when I heard that he was opening a larger restaurant in the premises formally occupied by The Bermondsey Kitchen just a few yards further up the street it was music to my ears.

The official opening of the new restaurant which will be called Pizarro is in October, but unusually they started earlier by opening up The Bermondsey Kitchen again with the new Pizarro team, for just a few weeks before it closes in September for its make over, which will involve extending the bar to take up the whole front of the restaurant. The new restaurant will also feature a traditional Spanish menu and provide London’s first Cava bar.

This premature opening was confusing enough to make me unsure if I was visiting/reviewing a “real restaurant”. Although the bill for two of £80 was pretty real and not particularly great value.

The room currently lacks atmosphere and was half full on our visit on a Friday evening. The menu looked quite interesting with tapas like starters and more substantial mains, they all looked like fairly traditional Spanish dishes to me, but I do not know if this food style is a true example of what will be served in October.

We had the prawns and anchovies – both very good tapas style dishes. However when the mains arrived we rather wished we had just ordered all of the starters, as they were less successful. My Rabbit was rather unseasonal to say the least, a hearty rabbit stew in August! My companions Iberian Pork was pretty basic served with mashed potatoes and piquillo peppers, a bit dull really.  For dessert we had the figs which were burnt on the bottom and a rather ordinary orange and almond cake.

On the plus side we had a  very nice bottle of Ribero de Duero and a couple of glasses of PX.  However based on this “taster” I think I will wait a while until the real Pizarro is in place and has settled in to the area. Then if I can not get a booking at nearby Zucca I might try it again.

Marks out of 10

Food 4.9

Service 5

Ambience 4

 

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Dinner at the Turner Contemporary – Margate through the looking glass

As far as catering is concerned, Art Galleries have been upping their game for a while now. The Portrait at The National Gallery and Rex Whistlers at the Tate being long standing examples of successful Gallery Restaurants in London. So a visit to the Turner Contemporary Gallery in Margate gave us the chance to try this new gallery cafe, which offers Afternoon Tea by the Sea and is open for Dinner on Friday and Saturday evenings.

I have to say it was with some trepidation that we headed for Margate, which is my least favourite Kent coastal town, one that still has a long way to go on its regeneration/gentrification process as our walk through the town testified. The shed like art gallery right on the harbour is not the most attractive of architectural structures in our view, its real charm is from the inside looking out, especially when the weather and lighting is as lovely as it was on our visit. The gallery is smaller than we expected with typically two or three exhibits per room, you can do the rounds easily in 15 minutes (OK maybe half an hour). The views from the Foyer when the light is right are nothing short of stunning.

So what about the Restaurant? or should I say Cafe? On Friday and Saturday evenings a white table clothed section is set up at the front of the gallery cafe consisting of about 8 tables. It seems a bit incongruous when you first enter, but as you are seated by the courteous and professional staff and offered your complementary glass of Prosecco, you soon find yourself relaxing in what is effectively half a glass box overlooking the beach. The tables are all fairly close together and the acoustics do mean that you can hear bits of conversations from the other diners, which is normally a negative for me. However it did not detract on our visit as most conversations were about the view and there was a very relaxed atmosphere as diners regularly got up to go to the window to take photographs. The horse’s galloping along the beach and the sunset being two of the more photogenic moments.

The menu which apparently changes ever week was simple but inviting. The service levels, presentation and quality of the dishes go far in the process of elevating the gallery cafe to a fine dining establishment. It’s not there yet, but it does have the potential.

We got off to a good start with a generous portion of home baked very light cake like focaccia bread. I then ordered the Scallops and Heirloom Tomatoes spiced with Cumin, which worked well. The Tomatoes nicely complimenting the Scallops. I followed this with the meat option – saddle of Lamb wrapped Pancetta, served with Pomme Puree, a tasty dish that I enjoyed with a nice large glass of Merlot.

My companion had the Carpaccio of Courgettes with Mozzarella and Basil which was ideal for the weather, light, simple and tasty. He followed this with the Turbot and Girolles Mushrooms in a red wine jus. We then went on to share a plate of British cheeses and the Passion Fruit Cheesecake dessert. There were some rough edges and missed opportunities here. The cheese plate for example was far from impressive and adding some withered grapes was a no no – if it’s not right don’t put it on the plate! The other missed opportunity is one that is not rectifiable. It is the location of the restaurant – no, not the fact it is in Margate, but the fact it is on the corner of the building and as such fails to provide the full panoramic view of the beach and harbour to all the diners.

We were very lucky on our visit with the weather, which added an extra element to the ambience but I do wonder if the fine dining aspect will survive through the winter months. I really hope it gets the support it deserves from the local residents.

 

 

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