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.

Dinner at Rockfish, Exmouth

When I told my sister I was planning to stay at Exmouth she asked: "Will you be eating at Mitch Tonks?". My response was Who or What?

It turns out Mitch Tonks is a chef, restaurateur and entrepreneur who does a lot of cheffing, restaurateuring and entrepreneuring in this part of the country. Apparently, he is well known to people who watch Saturday Kitchen or Sunday Brunch and other food programmes, but as he hasn't appeared on Great British Menu or MasterChef he hadn't hit my awareness - until now. 

As it happened, I had already booked a few restaurants before our visit to Exmouth and one of them was Rockfish, one of a small number of Rockfish restaurants in this region owned and run by Mitch Tonks. So without knowing it I was to taste his food on this lovely Friday evening.

Going to Rockfish

We left the house at 6.30pm and wandered down the 1.2 miles - it was downhill all the way - to the Exmouth Pier where Rockfish is located, right next to the sea arriving at 6.55pm for our 7pm booking.

As the name applies, this place is all about the fish, and much of it about fish which arrives in Exmouth from the fishing boats that have been out to sea today.

The menu has some regular options, but the major part of it is a list of fish, which the server marks to indicate which ones have come in fresh today. 

Starters

While we were making up our mind we started with some Sourdough and Seaweed Butter, which was salty and delicious.

It seems right to be here on a Friday, a day of abstinance from meat for us Catholics, but it is no penance to eat fish which is looked after and care for as well as that at Rockfish.

For his starters Drew opted for Crispy Fried Whitebait with Aioli, the garlic rich sauce was a perfect accompaniment for the crispy little fishes. Drew was very happy.

I decided a salad would make a good starter and choose the Caesar Salad with anchovies. The croutons on the salad were crisp and delicious, though with a lot less garlic than we use when we cook them at home. The pickled anchovies added a vinegary richness to the Caesar sauce and the lettuce leaves were crisp and fresh. In short a perfect Caesar salad.

Mains

For Main course we had both gone for fish from the daily catch. Drew opting for Silver Mullett and I for Plaice, we accompanied these with Chips (Drew) and New Potatoes with Fresh Mint and Isle of Wight Tomato salad for me.

Plaice is such a delicate fish, that it is all too often wasted in Fish and Chip shops when it is drowned in batter. Batter works well with more robust flavoured fish, but plaice's gentle flavours work well when it is lightly cooked and ready to fall off the bone. 

As I eat it I was reminded of a Malay Chinese friend of mine whom I worked with when I taught on the Newport MBA delivered at Hainan University in Haikou, China. His greatest delight was to finish a fish and then suck the head to get every last but off. I didn't quite go to Dr Tan's extreme but I took every bit of flesh from the bone and scrapped some for the head too. It was absolutely delicious. After the wonderful and complex food of yesterday it was a great delight to have something equally wonderful, but much more simple, in this meal which simply celebrated the fish and vegetables that were being used. 

If you are ever in the South West do look out for a Rockfish restaurant, unpretentious ambiance, but high quality and well cared for ingredients. Who could ask for more? 

I do like to stroll along the Prom, Prom, Prom!

Dinner over by 8.30pm it seemed too good an opportunity to walk along the promenade beside Exmouth beach. The words of the Music Hall song from the 1910s, that my Grandfather would often sing when we were at the seaside came to mind as we strolled along the Prom. There were no "brass bands playing, Tiddely-om-pom-pom!" but I was "beside myself with glee" to be beside the seaside on such a lovely evening. 

We had the pleasure of a spectacular sunset and having worked the mile from Rockfish to the Maer. We took another route up the 1.5 miles to home. 

What a calm and lovely place Exmouth is. Today has been a great way to relax into a holiday. 

Back at 9.30pm we put the Car on to charge through the small window in one of the spare bedrooms [Co-pilot's note: Dear Readers, Ha, Ha!!!] and went to bed at 10.30pm.