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PENARTH
Hamptons
Dinner
It was with real interest that we set
out to Hamptons, Penarth to have
dinner on a Saturday night. As
regular visitors to Hamptons we
had eaten at their excellent Blue
Pelican café during the day, had
shopped for furniture, cushions,
candles and objets d’art in the
sumptuous shop, but had not yet
eaten there during the evening.
Now that Hamptons is open on Friday
and Saturday evenings for food, we
went along - interested to see how their
vibrant and efficient café would
transform itself into an evening eatery.
Greeted with the customary politeness
and friendly service that regulars have
come to expect from Hamptons, we
studied the menu and its variety of
dishes from across the world with the
emphasis firmly placed on sharing,
tasting, internationalising the
tastebuds! The setting is informal - you
can dress up or down depending on
your mood - the atmosphere is relaxed
and encourages good talk and
socialising and ingenious lighting on
the adjacent shop floor light up the
ceiling of the lovely old building, giving
the impression of having dinner under
the stars. With the efficient and
unobtrusive service, the soft jazz music
and the silhouettes of palms you could,
in fact, be sitting in a warm Spanish
square or a Greek Taverna.
The menu is a mix of platters to share
and individual dishes and the menu
takes you on an international culinary
tour around Europe, Asia, South
America and the Middle East. You are
free to order as many or as few dishes
as you like depending on your appetite
and your powers of resistance! For
those who prefer a more traditional
eating style, there is a good choice of
main courses and a wide ranging but
uncomplicated wine list complements
the menu. For a starter, we opted for ‘The Italian Job’ - a platter of Italian
starters to share which was a
beautifully presented mix of Italian
meats, olives, buffalo mozzarella,
tomatoes and basil and warm crusty
bread with olive oil and balsamic
vinegar. The tiny sweet peppers stuffed
with feta cheese were particularly
inspired and tasted sublime.
We chose a mix of dishes to share for
our main course including humous
served with warmed pitta bread and
chicken breast with a satay dipping
sauce, mini salmon fishcakes in a garlic
mayo dip, beef and caper salad and filo
parcels. They say we eat with our eyes
first, and in this case this was certainly
true. Each dish was perfectly presented
with a similar attention to detail and we
were delighted to hear that all the
ingredients are locally sourced.
We enjoyed an excellent and very
reasonably priced bottle of Chardonnay
with our meal and were astonished to
find that we’d finished it without
realising - no-one is bothered or moved
on, but allowed to enjoy their meal at
their leisure.
The evening was a great success and
we have already booked our passage on
Hampton’s Orient Express Evening,
where guests take a culinary tour across
Europe and back with a live band
accompanying your journey.
Hamptons also run other special nights
throughout the year, usually with live
music, many already booked up due to
word of mouth. The difference with
Hamptons is the level of thought and
the care that goes into getting it right -
the owners care about their customers -
and that is all too rare these days. The
restaurant is honest and it provides
exactly what it sets out to achieve,
which is a perfect mix of great food,
excellent service and a relaxed
atmosphere - all at a competitive price.
We’re already looking forward to our
next visit and to spending another
perfect night in Paradise!
Tamsin and Mark Carey-Lang
Hamptons
10 Ludlow Lane, Penarth CF64 1EA
029 2070 5391
www.hamptons-design.co.uk
The Store and Café are open
9am - 5pm Monday to Saturday
The Café is also open from
6.30pm Friday to Saturday
Average prices of starters from
£1.95 and platters at £10.99.
Cakes and desserts are also available. |
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