When travelling, the first thing my husband and I always used to look at first and plan, was where we were going to eat. Our dining schedules were carefully planned out, and sometimes when we were going to a bit of a foodie haven we often had bookings at lunch and dinner! ( Cornwall 2013 I’m talking about you…!)
This year, our first holiday away with Imogen we realised we had to look at things a bit differently, gone are the leisurely evening meals at Michelin Starred restaurants! Despite this I eagerly had a search on google and social media about the Dorset food scene and did come up with a few places that I wanted to visit. Rick Steins restaurant at Sandbanks was one of these – mainly for the view! So we booked in for lunch!
There restaurant is so elegant and pretty, the posher bit out the back has a wonderful view over the water and the front area int he bar is a little more relaxed, although both were happy for children at lunchtimes. As with most of Ricks restaurants there was an emphasis on seafood, and this is defiantly what we were there for.
Lee chose oysters again, but this time with a twist – OYSTERS CHARENTAISE – freshly opened oysters with hot, spicy sausages. I Decided on the SEA BASS CEVICHE – cured with orange and lime juice, served with a red onion and fennel salad. I adored my starter, the seabass was so fresh and the flavours were just perfect. Starters like this are also really light, so leave plenty of room for the main event! Lee also enjoyed his oysters, but in retrospect he probably would have just had the oysters and no sausage!
For my main course I chose the INDONESIAN SEAFOOD CURRY – sea bass, cod and prawns served with a green bean and grated coconut salad and rice. I’m going to sound a bit like I’m craving now – but this was one of the best curries I’ve eaten in a long time. Looks wise it was nothing special, but flavours wise it knocked it out of the park for me. The addition of the green beans with coconut and chilli added a much needed crunch to the dish too.
I don’t think was quite as enamoured with his main course of GRILLED SEA BREAM and a classic Italian salsa verde, but he enjoyed in none the less.
Family Friendly? Both areas of the restaurant allow children in the daytime, but only the bar area in the evening which is good to know. The changing facilities are in the bar area and are spacious. Plently of room for prams in the bar area too.
We both agreed that we enjoyed the food more than the meal we had a few years ago at his flagship place in Padstow and I would go back again just for that curry!
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