We booked dinner here for the first evening of our Isle of Wight mini-break. When we were seated, we came to the realisation that booking is pretty essential - many hopeful walk-ins were politely turned away and the restaurant is quite small.
Service is very good. We started off with cocktails - cucumber lychee martini for my husband, mango chilli tiki for me and a mojito mocktail for my kid. All cocktails were excellent. The mango chilli one seemed to me like mango chutney in cocktail form - it was garnished with nigella seeds and fresh coriander sprigs.
We just had mains. I had the half lobster with miso butter, yuzu slaw and new potatoes. Husband and kid shared the seafood platter, which came with a baked whole sea bream with black bean sauce, Szechuan king prawns, tempura calamari, seared scallops, maki rolls with scallop sashimi, dressed crab on lettuce leaves, tuna ceviche, fries with furikake seasoning and yuzu slaw.
The menu is fairly pricey - the lobster is upwards of £60 for a whole one. My half one with the potatoes and slaw was £35. I’m not a big eater and it was just enough for me. Everything was delicious. We had a seat by the window so could watch the wind whipping the waves up as we ate.
I’m writing this on my phone and can’t figure out how to upload my photos! I can’t copy or drag them as instructed.
Thanks! He is 15 but has been a good eater like this since he was a toddler (I remember him chowing down in Hong Kong at the age of 2, tackling stuff I wasn’t brave enough to try). I always wonder how kids develop their palate and why some will be super adventurous whilst others are cautious.
2 Likes
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)
6
I also wonder. I have four nephews & nieces. One is half Spanish and spent his early years in Spain. He’ll try anything and always has. When they used to visit us for holidays, we’d go to the supermarket and say he could have one thing of his choice. He always made straight for the fish counter and want whitebait (which he’d eat with ketchup - cos he was only five). The other three spent their early years in America and were always very cautious in what they ate - always preferring the unchallenging and familiar. I’m sure growing up in very different cultures must have had an impact on their eating but exactly how much and how much other co-incidental factors might have played is anyone’s guess
Having children who develop a sophisticated palate can get expensive. Certainly has for me. I recall one time when my son was 8 or so and we went to a bistro. The waiter asks him what he would like and he puts down the menu and says he would like the foie gras to start and the cassoulet as the main. I didn’t know whether to be proud or horrified.
