The best bit about the festive season for me, and to be honest about January, is the chance to catch up with the people I love.
Whether it’s a snaffled pint in a busy bar putting the world to rights, or a leisurely dinner, both the festive season, and the quiet of January (and the food sale offers) give me chance to spend time with friends and family.
And this visit to Grand Pacific was just that. A leisurely dinner, which may have resulted in a slew of margaritas because it had been a stressful day.
Margs are very good at fixing bad days.
But first, there was food.
My date went in for what must be one of the prettiest starters I’ve seen in some time. The salt baked beetroot tian with whipped goat’s cheese, and candied walnuts. The cheese was light an airy, the beetroot, gently salty and earthy, the crunch of the walnuts adding texture and nutty bitterness to cut through both. The chicory and pea sprouts adding texture and a bites of freshness,
I couldn’t resist the Bakwan Sayur – vegetable fritters with their crisp texture, dunkable in a roasted sesame sauce. Pretty much everything is better battered and fried and this Indonesian street food proved no exception. Think onion bhajis, but with a mixture of vegetables, and a rich nutty sauce for dunking.
Onto mains, and my date went for the Vietnamese pork fillet, served on top of udon noodles, bok choi, and a pineapple sambal. The pineapple added a tart fruitiness to the sambal, the pork tender and soft.
It didn’t take long for me to feel somewhat jealous, as my own main was a little disappointing. The Buri Bop Korean hot plate, features forbidden rice, hen’s egg yolk, Korean galbi Sauce, and I opted for tiger prawn to accompany it.
The idea is that you get a hot plate on a wooden board delivered to your table, topped with the rice, and egg yolk. You then add the prawns (or meat or tofu etc of choice), and cook them on the hot place with the rice, egg yolk and sauce.
It’s… OK. The sauce is a little dominating, the prawns are slivers of prawn rather than full ones (which I understand ensures they cook well), which means you don’t get many at all. The rice soon ended up dry and hard, and having eaten similar dishes in other venues, left me with a rather full plate of uneated food.
No matter. Dessert was there to rescue me.
We shared desserts as we both wanted everything on the menu. The pecan pie was crisp and buttery and everything you’d want, the vanilla and cinnamon cream cheese offering something a little different to the dish from the usual ice cream, or cream.
And we couldn’t resist the pineapple tarte tatin. Sharp but sweet fruit, butter, caramel, pastry, topped with creamy vanilla ice cream and star anise syrup. The main may have disappointed, but this didn’t, and I might have to recreate it at home, because all it needed was a daiquiri on the side to make it tiki. A blast of sunshine on a cold grey day.
Overall, there were mostly hits, and a bit of a miss. The service was fabulous, and the margaritas that helped us put a bad day to bed, were just what we needed.
Oh and if you’re signed up to their newsletter, you can get 50% off. Not so shabby.
This meal was provided by Grand Pacific for free, as my date won a competition. All drinks were paid for by ourselves.