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Address: St John’s Street, New Quay SA45 9NP
Telephone number: 01545 561 844
Website: www.treath.co.uk
Date of visit: www.traeth.co.uk
Approximate cost per head: Two courses around £20 plus.
Comments on wine list/beer: Excellent wine list – short and good value.
Likes and dislikes: Everything good, however, I prefer my raw meat in smaller bits
Cuisine: Modern British, Steak and seafood restaurant
Previous review: 19 August 2010
Summary:
Another visit to what I considered to be one of the best steakhouse in GB. Well, I have eaten in steakhouses around the world especially in the US – Prime, Mortens, Sparks, Hy’s etc, so I believe that I am allowed to make this judgement.
The menu and wine list have slightly changed, Chef Nige Jones still there.
Lat year they had a 1999 Ch Musar (Lebanon) at under £20 a bottle. http://www.chateaumusar.com.lb/english/home.aspx
This year they have a 2006 Graves at £24.50 – the most expensive red on the list. We had a bottle – excellent wine.
Now onto the food.
Steak tartare and most of the cuts (hanger, sirloin etc) are still on the menu – the most expensive is the veal T bone at just over £21. The rest are all priced at under £20 including chips.
The fish selection was also very good. Turbot was on the menu but they ran out and skate wing with black butter was offered as a substitute. All the meat and fish are now sourced from sustainable stock, traceable source etc.
My friend had the crab spaghetti ( £13.95) which was highly rated.
I went for my usual steak tartare (£12.75) with french fries and a side salad (£3.50). However to my horror Chef Jones has changed the recipe. Instead of minced or chopped meat, you now have julienne. Still taste very nice but it doesn’t work from a digestion point of view as you have to really chew the meat or its stays in you stomach for hours like a very rare steak.
The chips were first class.
Later when Chef Jones was doing his round, I told him that I preferred my steak tartare minced or better still – coarsely chopped.
I also picked up a rumour that this could be Chef Jones’s last season at the Treath. Well, if you are in the area, go and have a steak with a decent bottle of wine.
E
Address: South John Street, New Quay, Wales SA45 9NP
Telephone number: 01545 561844
Website: www.traeth.co.uk
Date of visit: Twice during August 2010
Approximate cost per head: main course around £10 for lunch, Steak menu around £20.
Comments on wine list/beer: Pretty good and small list. The Ch Musar at £19.50 is a tremendous buy.
Summary:
During August, I went twice on different weeks.
The restaurant now opens from 8am till late. The view from the balcony over the harbour is as good as it gets. Go there for a drink as the Penwig (next door) can get very busy.
On both occasions, the food was still good but the service was a bit poor.
Lets start with the lunch: we ordered the linguine with crab (£9.00), burger (£9.00) and lemon sole (£9.50) and a bottle of Gavi (£17). Two of us ordered the linguine but only one bowl turned up. We also ordered the large grazing plate to share as a starter but the small one turned up. Throughout the meal I tried to order a beer and had to remind the waiter twice before the beer turned up.
On the night we went for dinner, we ordered the steak tartare and the duck. The duck was slightly on the tough side but quite tasty. Again, I tried to order a beer but they keep forgetting to bring it. Mind you, when I complained, the waitress from New Zealand was very charming about it.
I don’t know – I didn’t ask – if they offer steak over lunch because the waiter/waitress keep referring to the lunch menu on the blackboard. My recommendations are that they should offer the small rump steak and small tartar steak over lunch and the serving staff should write things down and not rush from job to job without completing the initial order.
E
Address: 2 South John Street, New Quay, Ceredigion, SA45 9NG
Telephone number: 01545 5650680
Website: www.thehungrytrout.co.uk
Date of visit: April 2010
Approximate cost per head for 2 courses: a la carte £30. Evening set meal £19.50 for 3 courses
Comments on wine list/beer: Very poor. Wine from £12 a bottle for house wine
Summary:
The Hungry Trout is a restaurant with rooms sited on the sea front in New Quay. There are a few pubs and cheap eateries (no McDonalds or Starbucks yet) in town and The Hungry Trout is about the only upmarket restaurant since the closure of Ty Thai. They are open from breakfast till dinner.
The place was more than half full on a Thursday evening which meant that they were doing quite well.
Let’s get the negatives out of the way. Firstly, our table cloth had stains on them – they look recent rather than stains that won’t wash out – I don’t think that they change the table cloth after every sitting. Secondly, the bread basket was minimal – two slices of baguette per person. Finally, I tried to order wine off the special list (around £30-£50) but they haven’t got any. In the end I had to settle for a bottle of Chilean red which was awful at £12.45.
Now onto the food. I had kidneys with bruschetta (£6.25). It was served with a very nice creamy mustard sauce. The kidneys were not over cooked and was the highlight of the meal. Next I had the black welsh beef sirloin streak. I asked for chips instead of the boiled potatoes that came with the steak (£18.45) – it was not an issue. My friend ordered the lemon sole. (£19.95). The steak was OK and the chips came salt free and were not greasy. The accompanying vegetables were cooked al daunte. The sole was slightly overcooked. Not bad was the conclusion but not great. Service was very pleasant.
Parking here can be a problem. You need to park on the main road or in the public car park sited on the edge of town.
E