Pier 64Penarth Marina
Penarth
Phone: 02920 000064
Website: http://www.pier64.co.uk/index.html
Pier 64 exterior
There are two, slightly different, reasons why I have been especially excited about the opening of Pier 64 in Penarth Marina since I first witnessed the construction beginning on the venue earlier this year.
Firstly, as a resident of Penarth Marina the options for drinking and eating that don’t involve long walks across the barrage or up to Penarth town centre have, so far, been fairly limited. At one end of the Marina you have The Oystercatcher, a Hungry Horse chain pub serving up BBQs on a plate and sickly flavoured shots (not that there aren’t some evenings when this is exactly what you want). At the other you have The Custom House which, whilst offering excellent food, is not somewhere you can frequent too often without taking out a loan to buy a round of drinks. The option, therefore, of something both geographically and, possible, economically ‘in the middle’ was of particular interest.
Secondly, I’ve yet to get over the disappointment of the fact that, mere months after my belated first visit to Le Gallois in Pontcanna and the outstanding set dinner we had there, the restaurant closed, forever preventing a repeat experience. So, the involvement of Le Gallois’ Francis Dupuy in Pier 64 gave me optimism that the menu on offer would be similarly excellent.
So, how did Pier 64 measure up to these weighty expectations? We visited a week and a half after its grand opening and the place still felt very new. Not in terms of any issues with the staff, service or the food but the building itself which still smelled of paint in the stairwell leading to the bathrooms and the fact that, for example, whilst the cocktail menu is available on the website, printed copies were not yet available at the bar. “On the to-do list”, apparently. None of this in any way took away from the experience which I’m happy to say more than lived up to my hopes about the venue.
The dining room isn’t huge but makes great use of space with mirrors and clean fresh lines; the mirrors ensure that all diners have a view of the marina outside, even if they are facing away from the windows. We also lucked in by being upgraded to a booth; worth requesting one of these when you book since they are much more spacious and feel more luxurious then the ordinary dining tables. The staff are polite and efficient but also friendly and willing to engage with the diners making the service here less formal than at Le Gallois. The waiting staff was attentive and keen to ensure that our evening was going to plan.
In terms of the most important thing, then: the food. Not sure if my waistline will forgive me but, despite my best attempts to be healthy and ‘good’ one must, when faced with a menu of such temptation, give in and throw caution to the wind for one evening. The menu here is concise, offering a few salads, eight or so starters, a wide range of steaks and some other options including lamb, chicken, sea bass, and a vegetarian option. As an avid fan of The Restaurant Inspector and Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares I’ve learned to be suspicious of the freshness and providence of ingredients in restaurants with extensive menus so the brevity here was very welcome.
Menu
To start I ordered the pork belly ribs, using middle white pork (£6.95). These were delicious and without a doubt the best ribs I have ever eaten. The pork was moist and tender, a world away from previous ribs I’ve eaten where one has to prise the meat away from the bone. My only slight issue here was that the ribs came smothered in a wholegrain mustard crust which wasn’t mentioned on the menu. The mustard was tasty and offered a tangy counterpoint to the pork but was slightly overpowering. Just a little less mustard would improve the balance of flavor with the pork.
Pork belly ribs
The soup of the day – asparagus with white truffle oil – was outstanding; full of fresh flavour and depth and came with a large portion of bread which was more than adequate for the amount of soup provided (£4.95).
Soup of the day
For the main I went for lamb (always a favourite on a menu); a rump of salt mash lamb served with dauphinois potatoes, samphire and a red wine jus (£17.95). The portion of lamb was generous and cooked to perfection - I ordered it ‘pink’ and it was tender and soft. This was my first experience of samphire and I was impressed, finding that it offered a salty earthiness to the dish and the richness of the jus and the creamy dauphinoise. The Pembrokeshire sea bass with shallot mash, baby leeks and cream (£16.95) was apparently excellent – I didn’t manage to sneak a sample off the plate!
Salt marsh lamb
Pembrokeshire sea bass
Finally, the rib eye steak (which at £17.95 just for the steak is fairly pricey) was also a delight; well cooked and generous. My companion ordered it with blue cheese sauce (£2.00) which worked well with the meat and French fries which lived up to the criteria of being crisp on the outside and fluffy and soft on the inside (£3.00). If you’re in the market for more pricey cuts the restaurant offers 600g chateaubriand for £40, ideal for sharing judging by the amount of fellow diners who were ordering this. They also offer wagyu beef if you fancy paying nearly £100 for a steak.
Steak with cheese sauce & French fries
By dessert time I was too full of tasty treats to have a dessert but got some samples from the other diners at our table. The strawberry cheesecake was a revelation. I love strawberries and I love cheesecake but strawberry cheesecake always leaves me cold – I find it quite mushy and lacking in substance. This, however, was quite different; both sweet and tart with a crumbly base and served with a strawberry sorbet on a tuile and strawberries sprinkled with mint. I’d certainly order it in the future. The summer pudding with clotted cream was less to my tastes but was apparently also very good with a particularly sharp blackcurrant kick.
Strawberry cheesecake
Summer pudding
Overall, the evening was almost faultless and reasonably priced with the bill coming in at £130 for 2 starters, 4 mains, 2 desserts, a bottle of wine and a couple of beers (including service as well). I’d return in the evening to sample some of the other options and will be trying out the breakfasts and the reasonable set lunch offer (2 Courses £12.95 3 Course £15.95) very soon. I’m also yearning for a visit to try out the cocktails once they finally put together the finishing touches and tick everything off the to-do list.
Guests expecting a mini Le Gallois will be disappointed but for those looking for a stylish dining experience with fresh well-prepared food, attentive service and a wonderful view there is much to recommend it.
