Here you'll find reviews of restaurants and pubs.
Everyone is encouraged to contribute their reviews. To submit yours please click here.
Where possible reviews have been tagged by location. To view a map index of reviews by location please click here.
Address: Pen Cei, Aberaeron, Ceredigion SA46 0BT
Telephone number: 01545 570755
Website: http://www.harbour-master.com
Date of visit: 1 May 2010
Approximate cost per head for 2 courses: £25
Comments on wine list/beer: Very good selection of wine and beer. The wines on offer by the glass or bottle in the “pub side” is quite comprehensive and decent value
Summary:
I have been here several times and it’s always packed because of the location, quality of drinks (wine & beer) and of course the food. The building is sited near the end of the Quay – it’s the blue building in the Visit Wales TV advert. Inside there is a large pub area with stools at the bar and various size tables. The restaurant is sited next to the pub area and is painted with all sorts of blue colour. There is a car park at the back of the hotel for about 10 cars.
Wales is a strange place for gastronomic meals from a Michelin point of view. There is only one place with a star in Monmouthshire (just across the boarder from England) and two places awarded the ”bib” in the 2009 guide – I have yet to purchase the new guide but I understand that other than the elevation of a few English places, it remains the same.
One of my friends thought that Harbourmaster is worthy of a star but I think not. This is not saying that the food is not excellent. In the old days, the table decorations – cloth, linen, cutlery and correctness of service counts heavily towards the elevation from also run to the stars. Increasingly, this applies to the second star and not the first as shown by the emergence of the gastro pubs – The Royal Oak (Paley Street) and The Hand and Flower (Marlow) are great examples.
What seems important now is the “innovation” rather than plate arrangement for the first star. Therefore if you offer good plain food, you are not as highly rated.
The Harbourmaster is a great example of a place where people are paying significant amount of money for decent food and drinks. There are a lot of places in Aberaeron offering meal deals for around £5 a head but they are not as packed as the Harbourmaster.,
Harbourmaster serves very good food but not innovative from a Michelin point of view – this place is recommended in the Michelin Pub and Restaurant guides.
They source meat and fish locally and Welsh Steak is always on the menu – I have to admit that I still prefer Scottish although Welsh Lamb is without doubt a tastier type of meat because of the diet and the hilly conditions.
On the day we went, local lobsters were on offer – plainly grilled with chunky chips. The lobsters were about a pound and the claw meat was extracted and placed in the head to make it easier to eat. It was excellent and was priced at £25. Now a similar lobster would cost £39 at The Crab in Chieveley.
We shared a duck liver pate to start with and a crème bulee to finish off the meal. With coffee and 2 bottles of Muga Rioja (£19 a bottle), the whole bill for 3 came to just under £130. Service charge is at the diner’s discretion.
By the way, they use tea towels as napkins.
E
Address: 196 Stanley Road, Teddington, TW11 8UE
Telephone number: 0208 977 8679
Website: www.imperialchinalondon.co.uk
Date of visit: 15 February 2010
Approximate cost per head: From around £20 per head.
Comments on wine list/beer: Not bad for a Chinese restaurant. Most priced around £20
Summary:
This is the “sister” restaurant of China Palace in Reading. The menu and décor is nearly identical.
We went on the “2nd day of the First month” according top the lunar calendar.
It’s a medium size restaurant – smaller than the one in Reading – with ample space between the tables. There are several big round tables which could seat 12 persons. They have another room at the back for private parties and as a over mspill on a Sunday.
For drinks, we had tiger beer and a bottle of petit chablis (£26.50). I was told that the wine is ok – I was driving.
As its Chinese new year, we ordered two dishes from the chinese new year menu, the rest were from the a la carte.
On the menu was something called golden lobster. I was informed that its sauté lobster with egg. I asked for it to be changed to sauté lobster with ginger and spring onion sauce. The waiter informed me that it was not possible to order items NOT on the menu. Just then, my friend Billy turned up.
Billy is the owner of China Palace, Furama and Salt and Vinegar (fish and chips) in Reading and part owner of Imperial China. Billy soon corrected this minor problem and we had our ginger and spring onion lobster which was excellent. It must have been over a kilo in weight. The probability of Billy being there was 0.1 as he is normally in resident at China Palace.
We also had, steamed sea bass, squid with spicy salt (garlic, chilli), golden fried chicken, Singapore fried noodles, beef ho fun, mange tout in black bean sauce.
The singapore noodles were spot on. Normally, it’s slightly wet because the chef adds curry sauce instead of curry powder – I prefer the dry version. The chicken was a little bit on the salty side. The sea bass was very fresh and the sauce light rather than heavy. The squid was 10/10 – soft, chewy but not rubbery.
For desert, we ordered toffee apple and banana with ice cream. I never understood why it’s called toffee apple/banana. It’s essentially battered deep fried fruit in a crispy caramelised sugar coating – I thought that toffee is supposed to be semi-hard.
At the end of the meal, Billy introduced us to Simon – the executive chef and part owner. Simon informed me that (next time) I should ask for him if I wanted to order off the menu,
So if want to order off the menu ask for Billy (China Palace) and Simon (Imperial China). They will accommodate you.
The whole meal including service came to just under £180 – lobster was £32 and sea bass was £35 – for 4. This is not cheap but it is top class authentic Chinese cooking.
By the way, parking is on the street and there are all sorts of restrictions. So come on a Sunday or after 6.30pm on any other days.
Kung Hai Fat Choy!
Eddie
P.S. When I got back to my friend’s house, their baby sitter had a chinese take away from round the corner – we should have taken back a doggy bag for them!