Bloody hell, it’s been a LONG time since I wrote a restaurant review. October 2020 to be precise and January 2020 before that. Even though restaurants have been back open for a while, we’ve certainly been cautious and are not eating out anywhere near as often as we did pre-pandemic.
Back in July (I know… that’s how long it’s taken me to write this!), after an incredibly hard month, we spent a week in Ceredigion, Wales with a good portion of my family. Dad, step-mother, siblings, step-siblings and nieces. We totalled 13 + 2 kids +1 dog. It was the first time we’ve all been together for years and we got to spend some really quality time with our nieces and my siblings who we’ve dearly missed thought the last 18 months of lockdowns and living all over the county.
Anyway, I digress. On a couple of occasions, Dave and I snuck off for some alone time. One of those occasions was for a romantic meal – and our chosen destination was the Harbour Master in Aberaeron. Despite the mizzly grey weather, we enjoyed a pre-dinner walk around this pretty coastal village, with its coloured houses and honey ice cream. I can imagine it looks lovely in the sunshine.
The Harbour Master restaurant sits right on the edge of the (you guessed it) harbour and you can’t miss it with its crisp blue and white exterior and imposing structure which is higher than most of the other buildings along the row. We entered to a tasteful (and warm) wood and leather interior with a seamless transition from modern extension to older building. I loved it. Exactly my cup of tea.
To the food
The menu is heavy on local produce, especially fish and seafood, which is one of the reasons we chose the place. From Cardigan Bay crab to Welsh lamb and local cheese, almost every dish listed at least one local ingredient. Everything sounded delicious, we had no trouble finding something we wanted to eat. In fact, we were giddy with excitement and that first mouthful of something cooked by someone other than myself and presented in something other than a takeaway tub, was quite frankly, mind blowing. To start I went pretty classic with the pan fried scallops, pea purée & crispy serrano. Dave had a crispy squid, chorizo, potato, apple purée and gremolata.
The scallops were perfection – charred but still soft on the inside. Paired with that classic salty bacon and silky smooth pea flavour, this was just a delight to eat. As the first restaurant cooked meal to pass my lips in a long time too, it just hit every spot perfectly. The squid dish was powerful in flavour and mighty in size. We both loved the crispy squid against the soft saltiness of the cheese and chorizo but agreed it was on the large side for a starter – although that didn’t stop Dave wolfing down the lot!!
The main affair
Dave, had skate wing ‘au poivre’ with chard and chips. A large piece of skate cooked in what seems like a more than luxurious amount of butter and served with chunky chips and a peppercorn sauce. And that’s where it get’s a bit weird. As we enjoyed our mains, the conversation turned to the fact that you rarely hear about skate on the menu anymore. Turns out there’s a reason for that. It’s actually on the Critically Endangered list and should not be fished. We felt pretty awful as we realised this (a quick under the table google confirming our suspicions). I asked the waitress to confirm the type of skate – it was Common Skate – the very fish that it is prohibited to land in EU waters. So, unless they had it from elsewhere and it’d come in frozen, they really shouldn’t have had it on the menu. Funnily enough, since then I’ve seen it pop up on two food Instagram friends of mine. I DM’d both to let them know. They felt as awkward as we did but like Dave, acknowledged that there’s a reason it’s scarce – it’s delicious!!
The bigger question here is why or how are restaurants serving skate if it’s technically illegal to fish? I don’t know the answer so if you do, let me know in the comments below!
On a more positive note, I had the fish of the day with saffron potatoes, spinach, aïoli and lobster bisque. Two pieces of perfectly pan fried sea bass with a rich fishy broth and oh so silky saffron potatoes. A plate of food which was both delicious and thankfully not, endangered. I will also admit that despite knowing its not proper, I did clean the bowl of sauce remnants with my finger when no-one was looking.
Mediterranean influences?
Whilst the Harbour Master definitely focuses on local ingredients and produce, there was a distinctly Mediterranean essence to the menu. Dave’s starter was rich and garlicky with the smoky chorizo complimenting the squid. It tasted like a summer’s evening somewhere warmer than here and wouldn’t look out of place on a tapas menu. My main too, with saffron potatoes and a punchy aïoli, definitely sung the flavours of the South of France.
Turns out my hunch was right. A a bit of googling and I found that the Head Chef at the Harbour Master is in fact… French! Ludovic Dieumegard is highly regarded for his skills in the kitchen it turns out (and rightly so!) and was even a Masterchef The Professionals.
To finish…
As usual, I had no room for pudding but more unusually, Dave didn’t either. That’s probably because immediately before our meal, he indulged in a honey ice cream from the Hive just around the corner. Perhaps skip pud and head here if you fancy trying it. Hint – it’s very good!
Our bill came to just shy of £100. This was for two courses each, a non alcoholic beer and two glasses of wine. Mains range between £13 and £25 with starters coming in at between £8-£12. With a mention in the Good Food Guide 2020 and a Michelin Plate, we felt this was great quality food. Even with the slip up on the Skate we were happy with what we paid.
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The names skate and ray are often used for the same fish – they are different fish – what you had was most likely thornback ray most likely labelled as skate!