When researching places to eat in and around Saundersfoot in Wales for our little family holiday back in August I wasn't excepting to happen upon a relaxed fine dining fish restaurant where they were also happy to welcome little humans in the evening. Step up, Coast. Will Holland used to be the head chef here but the helm is now steered by Thomas Hine and he's doing a damn good job.
Overlooking Coppet Hall Beach the setting couldn't be more gorgeous, even on a slightly overcast evening.
The menu was compact and sounded absolutely wonderful. With my parents joining us for dinner ( well, I should say we joined them as they paid...) we got to sample lots of the dishes.
We started with a couple of their 'snacks' a beautiful looking Tiger Prawn chargrilled with garlic butter and a ScallopCeviche with kimchi and coriander oil. The scallop was mine and the flavours were delicious, powerful but not too much to over power the delicate scallop.
The main menu focuses mainly on fish and seafood, but there are a couple of other choices too. We stuck to the fish, making the most of being on the Welsh coastline.
Between the fours of us we tried all the fish starters. All were pretty as a picture and the taste did not let them down. My mum loved her Crab with smoked haddock, gem lettuce, pink grapefruit, radish salad which was so light and zinging with flavours. My Mackerel with anchovy vinagrette, salad cream, wasabi and crispy oyster had lots of strong flavours that married perfectly on the plate, and even got me singing the praises of oysters! Lee went for the Loch Duart Salmon with borscht and horseradish which was far more traditional in terms of flavour combinations but executed very well.
For the main course, all but one of us couldn't look past the Hake with peas, lettuce, spider crab and shellfish sauce. The deep fried pea puree in tempura batter was a highlight, along with the rich shellfish sauce. My dad on the other had went for the more exotic sounding Skate with saffron cous cous, marinated peppers and a caper and raisin vinaigrette. After stealing a mouthful I can confirm this was also excellent!
Desserts were no less delicious, although I forgot to photograph a couple. The Paris Brest pistachio, peanut butter and raspberry went down very well with Lee, and my Pavlova, cheesecake basil and strawberries was a classic flavoured dessert done really well, the strawberries really sang.
Imogen absolutely wolfed down a portion of Spaghetti Bolognese with extra cheese, and it was nice to see that kids could have a smaller portion of the main menu as well as the separate kids menu.
This place is an great find over in West Wales, definitely worth seeking out if you are over that way!
Coppet Hall Beach, Saundersfoot, SA69 9AJ
Disclosure: Paid in Full
