Back to Barbeque Thirteen

I have been trying to complete the previous day's blog post before leaving for the next day's activity. But the last post defeated me, with all the detail of making sure I was calling the right Tor by the right name [Co-pilot's note: What's in a name, dear readers, what's in a name. As Shakespeare didn't say "Would a Tor by any other name still look as grey?"] the time from 5.30am to 8.30am went by so quickly that I had to finish the post before showering etc in time to leave for today's activity. So, I didn't have time to write about last night's wonderful meal at Barbeque 13.

Barbeque 13

Those who read last Saturday's post will know we had a wonderful experience eating at Barbeque 13. We noted at the time we wanted to go back, but perhaps hadn't expected it to be as soon.

On Tuesday, after eating at the Mexican, we began to think about Friday as we had Wednesday and Thursday already sorted. As Friday is a fish day for me we thought to book another visit to Rockfish, but even by Tuesday evening the restaurant was full unless we wanted to eat at 9pm or later, which is too late for us. It was then that I thought of trying Barbeque 13 again, and they had space for us. 

We left the house at 6.40pm and arrived at 7pm for a booking at Barbeque 13. 

We started with a Chapa bread each, having enjoyed the one we shared last time so much. It was as tasty as we both remembered.

I was very tempted to start with the Scallops and Black Pudding that Drew had on Saturday, but with meat including blood, not on the menu, it felt like a small sacrifice, but a sacrifice none the less to change my choice. 

I opted instead for the Fresh Exmouth Crab Benedict with charcoal hollandaise. This was extra-ordinary. While the key ingredients of the Benedict were all there, delicious salty fresh crab, an amazingly well-cooked egg with solid while and runny yolk and a sturdy bun holding it all together, the real surprise was the black/purple colour of the charcoal hollandaise. The flavour of smoky charcoal took me back to one of my earliest childhood memories - eating coal out of the coal scuttle while waiting for dinner. It is a memory reinforced by the telling off I got for doing it. So, the charcoal flavour had a sense of me 'being naughty' as well as enhancing the flavour of the rest of the dish. 

Drew's starter was Grilled watermelon, heirloom tomatoes and feta salad with candied walnuts. The feta was strong and salty, a genuine Greek flavour of cheese. The tomatoes were of various types each with a distinct flavour. The green ones were sharp, the orange ones sweeter and the reds more like the tomatoes we eat at home. The watermelon had been slightly barbequed so it had a charcoal taste without losing its juiciness, it was a lovely, refreshing dish.

For mains I had the Red Gurnard with Provençal sauce. I like a gurnard, with its funny name, and for many off putting shape. But the meaty texture of its flesh and the delicate but definitive flavour is delightful. To have that flavour delightfully present in this fish which had been cooked on the barbeque seems like some kind of cooking miracle, it retained all its own flavour with the delicious charcolly flavour of the barbeque - a delicious delight, I can't speak to highly of the simple, but astounding food her at Barbeque 13.

The Provençal sauce was a great accompaniment with its tomato, onion, garlic and herby sweetness balanced with lemon juice - a refreshing summery tingle to go with the fish.

Butterfly Seabass with salsa verde

Drew had Butterfly Seabass with salsa verde, one of the dishes I'd considered. The fish was butterflied to ensure it cooked all through. The charcoal cooking kept the fish firm and flavoursome with a charcoal enhancement.  The salsa verde went well with the fish, it was sharp and fresh.

Side Dishes

As a restaurant with six side dishes on the menu and having had three on Saturday we opted for the other three tonight. These were: Scallop roe fries were crisp and salty from the roe adding just a hint of flavour to already well-cooked fries; Buttered Samphire which was nice and crunchy again it was perfectly seasoned; the Chargrilled Med Veg was a treat, small slices of squash and corgette barbegued on the edges made for a soft, sweer middle and a crunchy earthy outside. What a wonderful idea.

For dessert Drew opted for Smoked Sticky Toffee Cake with butter-scotch Ice-Cream. The ice-cream was perfect for him, a lovely rich taste and, unlike to many restaurants, it had not been over chilled. The oozing delight of the cake had to be tasted to be experienced. Drew says the toffee sauce was so delightful that he could have drunk it by the pint! 

I again opted for the cheese board and this time it came with four cheeses, the oozy brie I had last time were accompanied by a little less of the cheddar and smoked cheese but accompanied by a sharp blue cheese which was delightful. 

We finished with a double espresso each.

Back to the House

We finished dinner at 8:50pm and were back at the house by 9:10pm. We put the car on to charge and I worked through the photos of Dartmoor, editing and naming them as I went. Something which took me until bed at 10:45pm.

Car Charging

The 83.6 miles to Dartmoor and back took 67% of the car's power. So with 33% remaining charge and 43 estimated miles to go we put the car on to charge at 9.10pm and it was completed on Saturday morning at 8.25am - 11 hours and 15 minutes, 25.88 KWH. 

Our walking by the end of the day was 9.81 miles and 24,700 steps. A very good day's exercise.

Dinner at Restaurant Barbeque 13

Dinner on Saturday Evening was at a real gem of a restaurant, one only recently opened here in Exmouth. But before the details of that a little reflection on Saturday Evening Mass.

Mass at Holy Ghost Church, Exmouth 

The walk from our accommodation to the Catholic Church in Exmouth was only .6 of a mile, a very easy walk, downhill all the way.

The Church is unusual for a Catholic Church, being much older than many of the ones I know in this country, with a traditional style. A start was made on the church in 1912 and it was expanded over time. 

I guess my experience, limited to the South Wales coast, is that Catholic Churches were either built grand and tall in the 1880s (with large number of Irish immigrants arriving), like St. Jospeh's, Swansea, St. Joseph's, Port Talbot and St. Peter's and St. Albans, Cardiff or were built in a much more modern style in the 1950s and 1960s - St. Teilo's, St. Brigid's and Christ the King, all within four miles of my home being examples of this. So small traditional churches aren't part of my experience - making this one seem so striking. 

The Church also has more stained glass than many Catholic Churches. Extending from older simpler pieces, to some very modern ones.

St. Thomas More and St. John Fisher, above, being an example of modern ones - all the photos can be seen on my Flickr account from here onwards.

The Church was quiet and prayerful, the large seating and standing area which you enter when you first come through the doors means most conversations take place there, making the Church a place of recollection and prayer - which suits me fine. Time to place myself before the Lord before Mass starts is so important for me. Something I find harder to manage now we have Morning Prayer recited before Mass in the parish I attend. 

The Mass began with one of the automated organs leading the hymn. As often happens the music was running a breath or two ahead of the congregation - but even if not all the words were sung, the intention and the theme was clear. 

The priest, Fr. Philip Austen is a very quietly spoken man, but even though he was quiet it was possible to hear every word he said. His homily focussed on the theme of Grandparents and Elderly, this Sunday being the second time Pope Francis has set aside a day of prayer for such folk. The priest began by saying he counts himself in this latter category of elderly and suspected that 80% or the congregation could too. You can read the whole piece here - Message of His Holiness Pope Francis. For the Second World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly. Like all Vatican documents in English there are some American spellings and turns of phrase in the message. 

Fr. Philip only took elements from the letter, reminding everyone, that whatever age or health they are they can "still bear fruit" Psalm 92 - a very positive message for us all and one which reminds me that God can and will use me in ways which will surprise me yet - but like C. S. Lewis I am always ready to be 'Surprised by Joy' and joy is what my love of the Lord always gives me. 

Dinner

After Mass I went back to the house and we left at 6.30pm to walk back into the town centre where Barbeque 13 is located. 

We had booked the restaurant early last week, when it became clear how dinner would fit around Mass time. We were glad we had booked because the restaurant was full. 

The space is over two floors, but the upper floor includes the barbeque and the pass, so it was nice to be able to see everything that was going on with our food.

We began with an appetiser of Chapa bread with smoked paprika butter. This bread cooked over coals had a lovely crispy texture enhanced by the bite of paprika through the butter which had melted into the bread. A great start.

For starters I opted for Cockle and Mussel Arancini with mussel butter, saffron aioli. This was so, so tasty. Well sized arancini were filled with cockle and mussel flesh and the saffron alioli lifted the gentle garlic flavour to new heights. I've been heard to suggest that saffron is an expensive way to add colour to food - I take it back, its flavour profile with this dish was perfection. 

Drew had scallops and black pudding in chicken butter sauce with roe on top. The roe was delightfully salty and brought out the flavour of the scallops and were enhanced by the butter sauce. The succulent scallops were carbonised, but very lightly and rested on the freshly cooked black pudding. An excellent starter.  

For main Drew had Cod Steak, tartare sauce and scraps. The Cod was cooked amazingly. It had a light crispiness to the skin and the flesh itself was translucent and succulent. The tartare sauce was not overpowering but combined with the fish perfectly. The scraps provided an addition texture to the dish and completed it to make a whole dish. 

I spent a long time looking at the amazingly attractive menu. I could have had Sea Bass or Sea Bream, both fishes I really like. But in the end I opted for the Thai Monkfish Tail. Oh was I glad I did. I love Monkfish and eat it, either filet or tail, when in Spain often. I like it so much that I quickly learnt the Spanish name La Rape. It is strong well flavoured fish and the magicians who work over the coals of the barbeque here made it even better. Not only did it have its own distinctive flavour, but it had a carbonated, charred flavour I associate with barbequed meat. How the chef(s) managed to get this deep charcoal flavour into the fish without losing anything of its original deliciousness I cannot comprehend. Amazing. The monkfish tail was served by crisp Malaysian cucumber salad with a Malay style spicy sauce and a papad, known in other cultures as a poppadom.

Drew had Truffle and parmesan chips for his side - they were deliciously salty and still warm inside, excellent. 

I opted for a warm potato salad with dill and seaweed which was also tasty but couldn't distract from the fish. 

We shared a side of tenderstem broccoli which had a nuttiness from the almond butter and a spiciness from the chilli that was with it.  

The mains were the stars of the meal, but the sides were excellent too.

For dessert Drew had the Smoked Chocolate Torte with white chocolate soil and Tonka Bean Ice Cream. The chocolate torte had a thin, almost unnoticeable biscuit base, but the chocolate itself was gooey and sparkling, with a bitter after taste evidencing that this wasn't British low cocoa bean chocolate, but a rich continental style - lovely. 

I had a lovely board of local Cheese and Crackers, regular readers of my blogs will know I don't like sweet stuff with my cheese, and though the menu mentioned figs and jam, they were happy to serve me the dish with just the cheese and some biscuits. The cheeses were all served at room temperature (so often they are left to long in the fridge) and included a brie style with a nice bite, a sharp cheddar style cheese, a milder smoked cheese. 

It was all washed down with a pleasant espresso each.

I was very happy indeed at such an unexpectedly wonderful meal. You can see how good it was from the food medals that have hit my shirt during the meal. 😂

Heading back to the accommodation

We left Barbeque 13 at 8.40pm and walked through the Strand and took some photos of the model dinosaurs on display there, marking Exmouth's role as the start of the Jurassic Coast. 

Drew had spotted them earlier, but there were to many people about for him to photograph them then. He especially liked the sign:

It seems to be a message for the ages!!

We got back to The Sand House at 9pm and sat drank tea and caught up with things at the end of a very enjoyable day.