While the food on our holiday wasn't all I had hoped for, we did have several good meals. Castell Deudraeth, a 20th Century folly overlooking the extraordinary 20th Century folly that is Portmeirion gave us one of them.The weather was really cruddy, so we weren't going to get to do much walking, but Paul had fond memories of a previous trip to Portmeirion, so he was determined that we should see it. At the head of the ascent into the village was this funny not-very-old-looking castle with a sign saying "bistro". So I decided that it was lunchtime.
The menu was good - many tasty-sounding locally sourced dishes - if a bit pricier than I had planned. But since the night before had ended up quite cheap (we'd ended up at quite a nice pub called Y Beuno but it wasn't an expensive night out) it was justified. And as a retrospective justification, our dinner that night wasn't very good, so we deserved it.
Paul started with oysters. He is so pleased that raw oysters are almost the only thing he ever eats that he doesn't have to share with me. These were big fat ones, really creamy, served with the biggest bottle of Tabasco sauce that I have ever seen. There's another picture, that I took for his dad, with the oysters and Paul looking very, very smug.
My starter was described as home-cured duck, which it wasn't. It was very delicious cold roast duck. The beetroot was perfect with it. But if it was cured, it was extremely mild!
Paul's main wasn't very photogenic. But I had a lovely dressed crab. And a perfect glass of sauvignon blanc to go with it.
And it turned out that because we ate at the restaurant, we got into Portmeirion free of charge, so actually if you deduct the £14 entry for 2 adults, lunch wasn't that pricey afterall. I love a good justification.
4 comments:
Check out the website www.rawoysteralert.com. I was shocked to learn that several individuals die each year from the consumption of raw oysters that are contaminated with naturally occurring Vibrio bacteria. Some gulf states have chosen to not take action in order to make raw oysters safe for ALL consumers.
Several years ago, the state of California made a requirement that all imported raw oysters must be pasteurized and since that requirement was put into place there have been NO FURTHER DEATHS in that state.
In order to affect change, consumers need to only accept oysters that are SAFE through post harvest processing or through being cooked. Consumer demand drives the market and the industry would be forced to provide oysters that did not lead to unnecessary deaths.
The website www.rawoysteralert.com has a wealth of information available and also explains how you can help in making the consumption of oysters safe for everyone.
Wowza, what a load of bollocks that jennie just gave you! I wonder how many people die from eating roasted chicken, or from ham sandwiches. Maybe there should be a website devoted to scaring people about it.
I'm glad you had a nice dinner, don't listen to green jennie (who is a robot shill for raw oyster scare websites).
What sort of oysters were they? Down under they would be called a Pacific oyster - they look like the gorgeous Coffin Bay oysters we get. (Coffin Bay was named for shipwrecks in the Great Australian Bight rather than anything to do with the wonderful seafood that is farmed in those pristine waters. No sewage in the water there.)
Someone has taken the trouble to write an oyster scaremongering website? How hilarious!
Mind you, on the menu at Castell Deudreath they had a warning not to eat oysters with vodka because the combination provokes a serious allergic reaction in some people. Which I am also inclined to think is bollocks.
Don't know what sort of oysters they were - just "local". They must have had some serious growing time though, because I have never seen such barnacley shells.
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