Seven great places to eat on the Jurassic Coast

A holiday to the Jurassic Coast had never been high up my list of destinations. That was until Mrs G listened to a sleep story about fossil hunting along its 100-mile stretch.

Having decided she wanted to go rummaging for a preserved velociraptor, we packed our bags for England’s only natural World Heritage Site, handily located just over two hours from Cardiff.

From the bleak wilderness of Lyme Regis’s Undercliffs to the yellow sandstone of Golden Cap, the birdlife of Seaton Wetlands, and the never-ending pebbles of Chesil Beach, we had a cracking holiday working our way along the coast.

Whilst we didn’t discover any fossils, we had a lot of success at hunting out some good meals. With all that coastline, it’s understandable that fish was a strength at most of the places we visited.

Here are seven excellent places to eat on the Jurassic Coast:

Lilac, Lyme Regis

There’s a wine focus at this seasonal small plates restaurant. In fact, the interesting selection of natural wines, available in taster portions, were equally as memorable as the food.

A Teku Teku rose from Stonebird in Kent had bags of rhubarb whilst a Portuguese skin contact wine from Fita Preta had plenty of satsuma peel. There was also a Resurrection prosecco cocktail with oxidised wine syrup and bitters, which had a citrusy mulled wine thing going on. 

Crisp tempura broccoli was accompanied by a thick sweet chilli jam; it was an excellent veggie take on crispy chilli beef.

Red chard, fragrant blood orange, Fetish (aka British Feta), fresh mint and toasted almonds combined to make a deliciously light and fragrant salad.

A first-rate piece of hake, flaky of flesh and crisp of skin, was served with a white wine twanged cannellini bean velouté dotted with nuggets of pork and wild garlic oil.

Uber tender pork belly was coated in a glossy meat sauce and accompanied by tart rhubarb ketchup and crisp winter slaw, both of which had excellent depth of flavour. Batons of crackling were on point too. 

Carrot cake was topped with sweet sultanas, candied walnuts, tangy lemon curd and served with a creamy piece of Cotswold brie. It was a belter of a dessert-cheese course hybrid.

The Oyster and Fish House, Lyme Regis

Mark Hix, one of the UK’s most well-known restaurateurs and the former chef director of places like The Ivy and J.Sheekey, opened the Oyster and Fish House in 2020.

Set in a hobbit-like wooden building with stunning views of the Cobb, it’s the kind of assured operation which feels like it’s been open for decades.

Small plates to start included exemplary fritto misto with thick tartare sauce, well-spiced cauliflower pakora, and earthy beetroot puree topped with whipped curd and the sweet-savoury acidity of pickled walnuts.

A sharing platter was one of the best pieces of fish cookery I’ve ever encountered. Sweet lemon soul, meaty John Dory and oily mackerel were all precisely cooked with lightly charred and blistered skin. Silky hollandaise with a delicate zing of citrus and a vibrant green herb sauce were top drawer accompaniments.

Apple pie for dessert was more like a warm baked apple cake with a hidden fruit filling. It was served with a good dollop of whipped Dorset cream.

Walnut and whiskey tart was reminiscent of a pecan pie with its thin layer of pastry and a crunchy nut filling with notes of brown sugar and good lick of booze.

The Whole Hog, Lyme Regis

This little hole in the wall takeaway serves hog roast sandwiches, filled doughnuts and Monmouth coffee – a killer trio if ever there was.

We sat on a bench by the seafront and enjoyed one of their excellent hog roast sandwiches. A soft bap was overflowing with tender pork, caramelised onions, apple sauce, thick gravy and a generous quantity of crackling which crunched with every mouthful.

The Seaside Boarding House, Burton Bradstock

Sitting in the window of the Seaside Boarding House at Burton Bradstock has the feel of being on the deck of a luxury cruise liner.

Combining the traditional and the modern, it's a retreat which oozes class; the term boarding house really doesn’t do it justice. Owned by the team who used to run Bristol's acclaimed Wallfish, I can see why it was a place which was held in such high regard.

With an unfussy fish focused menu, there was a very good value £25 three course set lunch on the day we visited. Whilst I opted for the bargain bait, Mrs G stuck to the a la carte.

Whipped cod’s roe seemingly appears on the menu of every trendy restaurant nowadays and I’m fully onboard with it. Thick and creamy with a delicate smokiness, it was lovely served with peppery radishes.

A gloriously light textured Westcombe cheddar soufflé delivered a big hit of fromage with crunch provided in the form of toasted hazelnuts.

Leek vinaigrette saw sweet, charred and tender alliums topped with plump mussels and a well-judged note of richness balancing delicate acidity.

More buxom mussels were bathed in a flavour pack sauce of scrumpy cider, leeks and aromatic bay.

Fish soup, laden with huge pieces of poisson, delivered on the promised intensity of its earthy rust coloured hue. It was served with thick lemony aioli and fronds of monks beard.

For dessert, two scoops of vanilla ice cream were paired with a first-rate brandy snap and a jug of warm salted caramel sauce with a moreish salinity and toasty sweetness.

A slab of squidgy, throat warming ginger loaf was accompanied by candied walnuts and another thick toffee sauce. The only thing missing was a scoop of ice cream or glug of cream.

Bennett’s, Weymouth

Located on Weymouth’s historic harbourside, Bennett’s has been dishing up fish and chips for over 30 years.

Choose a table, order at the counter, and pull up a pew whilst your fish is fried to order. Everything hit the mark from the bubbly batter and flaky cod to the crisp chips and pot of curry sauce on the side.

Catch at the Old Fishmarket, Weymouth

Situated upstairs from a high-end fishmonger on Weymouth harbourside, Catch is in pretty much the textbook location for a fish restaurant.

They put all that locally sourced fish to very good use as a £40 four course set lunch, which was big on Asian-twanged classical technique, was more impressive than many a Michelin-starred meal.

Warm sourdough was accompanied by a UFO of wild garlic butter topped with a sweet lightly pickled mussel.

Surplus brown crab from the fishmonger had been turned into brown crab powder and used as seasoning in a Korean style dumpling filled with light white fish and sweet white crab mousse. But it was a massive-flavoured crab broth, heady with lemongrass and ginger, which knocked my socks off - it was just a shame to see the leftovers in the teapot discarded when they could have gone in my belly.

A cleverly balanced dish of savoury and meaty miso cured trout was topped with crispy trout skin, peppery watercress puree and warming wasabi mayo.

Delicately cooked skate wing lacked any of the unpleasant gelatinousness I've encountered elsewhere. Parmesan powered hispi cabbage roll, silky broccoli and anchovy puree, and a deep-flavoured skate bone sauce were all super accompaniments.

For dessert, a riff on an apple tart saw ultra fine slices of tender caramelised apple fragranced with lemon thyme and served with a boozy aerated apple brandy custard and a dollop of Devon cream.

Crab House Café, Weymouth

It was a full house inside the restaurant and marquee at the Crab House Café on a weekday lunchtime and it’s easy to see why with their menu of hearty fish cookery, which appeals to the trad crowd and hipsters alike.

Baked oysters, farmed by the restaurant on the waters of the Fleet just a few yards from where we sat, were topped with a chorizo spiked crumb and sweet pea puree.

Hummus twanged with smoky bottarga was served with a toolbox of crudites and croutons.

A mashup of dressed crab and celeriac remoulade was very clever indeed - the fine texture and earthy sweetness of the root vegetable mirroring the crab.

Two hulking pieces of white fish had top drawer accompaniments. A tranche of hake was served with truffled mushrooms, vibrant cashew nut pesto and minted broad beans and new potatoes.

Herb-crumbed pollock was joined by a hearty mixed bean and octopus cassoulet. Kraken-like tender tentacles appeared everywhere.

A simple side of samphire was beautifully fragranced with pepper and charred lemon butter.

I'd been meaning to try a slice of Dorset apple cake all holiday and it was worth the wait - warm, soft-crumbed, generously flecked with fruit and delicately spiced, it was delicious with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

We didn't have a single dud meal during our trip to the Jurassic Coast and in fact it's one of the best food holidays we've ever had in the UK. I'm sure we'll be back soon. 

In Cafe, Cathays, Cardiff Chinese restaurant review

The last time I wrote about In Café’s delicious vegan crispy chilli beef I seemed to annoy a lot of people. I think it was something to do with it not actually being beef. 

Comments included "It's not beef you thick sap" and "if it is plant based THEN THERE IS NO MEAT IN IT."

I wonder if these people get equally annoyed about rubber ducks and paper aeroplanes? Or maybe this a straw man argument?

In reality, there’s no way anyone is going to order a plate of vegan crispy beef and be surprised that it doesn’t contain any meat. And, if it helps people reduce their meat consumption and navigate their way around the world of meat substitutes then in my opinion it can only be a good thing.

Crwys Road’s In Café doesn’t just serve vegan Chinese cooking (although it does have an entire vegan menu with dishes including sweet and sour vegan chicken balls and aromatic vegan crispy duck). In addition, they specialise in popular Hong Kong dishes such as king prawns with salted duck yolk sauce, baked pork chop rice, and seafood tofu vermicelli. For fans of more familiar Chinese restaurant cooking, all the classics appear too.

 
Ice cold glasses of Tsingtao beer (£4.20) were the ideal accompaniment for all the fried food we guzzled.

Retro lettuce wraps with minced pork (£9.50) were a textbook example of the dish. Uber fresh crisp iceberg leaves cocooned a mountain of tender soy seasoned mince studded with crisp peppers, onions, water chestnuts and crunchy vermicelli.

Vegan crispy beef (£11.20) was every bit as good as the other times I’ve eaten it. And I still stand by my assertion that it’s better than any meat versions of the dish I’ve eaten in Cardiff. The hyper crisp fronds of lightly battered soy and wheat avoided any of the unpleasant chewiness that is all too common from the meat version of the dish. Bathed in a sweet, savoury and tangy sauce studded with cleansing pieces of pineapple, it’s an absolute corker of a dish.

We also ordered a portion of non-vegan beef hor fun (£11.50). It was very good. Tender pieces of meat were accompanied by a mahoosive portion of thick rice noodles, spring onions and beansprouts with a lovely smokiness from the wok.

Whopping sweet and juicy prawns (£13.10) lived up to their king-sized title. Coated in a light and crisp batter, they were seasoned with a generous honk of salt, chilli and garlic.

Soft aubergine pieces (£11.80) were accompanied by a meaty minced pork and onion sauce with a delicate thrum of chilli.

One of In Café’s other most popular dishes is another Hong Kong speciality - French toast with peanut butter (£7.30). I can see why, it’s a naughty crowd pleaser. Lightly battered deep-fried French toast was sandwiched with a thin seam of smooth peanut butter and well drenched in syrup. It all sounds a bit rich but it was surprisingly light textured and paired very well with a scoop of thick vanilla ice cream.

I’ve got a lot of time for In Café. Whether you’re looking for Hong Kong specialities, familiar favourites or a vegan Chinese feast, they cover all the bases very well.

The Details:

Address - In Cafe, 76 Crwys Rd, Cardiff CF24 4NP

Web - https://www.incafe.co.uk/

Telephone - 029 2063 6666

Parallel, Cardiff city centre restaurant review

Beef short rib. Slow-cooked carrot. Lamb kebab.

If you’d asked me before our visit to Parallel which of these three dishes I’d enjoy most, I never would have guessed it would be the same choice as Bugs Bunny. 

Located next door to Pasture on Cardiff’s High Street, Parallel is the acclaimed steakhouse’s younger sibling. Whilst it’s a perennial challenge to secure a table at Pasture, it’s a lot easier to bag a reservation at Parallel. In fact, on the Thursday night we visited, I booked our 6pm table on the same day.

Unlike Pasture’s crowd-pleasing menu of steak and sides, Parallel’s regularly changing selection of small plates doesn’t quite have such broad appeal; dishes on offer include scallop ceviche with blood orange and pork and octopus croquette with crispy chilli mayo. However, it most certainly provides an opportunity for the team to flex their creative muscles and in a nice nod towards sustainability, many of Parallel’s dishes make use of the surplus produce from Pasture.

Whilst Pasture is known for its vast industrial dining space, Parallel is more of an intimate affair. In fact, there’s very much a couples vibe as only two of the tables sit four people or more. We sat on comfy stools at the bar and had a front row view of the chefs cooking with charcoal in the compact open kitchen. I’m always a massive fan of countertop dining and wish it was more of a thing in the UK.

On the drinks front, Parallel offers a big range of wine by the glass as well as interesting cocktails like a beetroot negroni and a truffle espresso martini. Keeping it pedestrian, I knocked back a few schooners of Lost & Grounded’s excellent Helles Lager (£5) whilst the baller Mrs G sank glasses of Laurent-Perrier champagne (£12).

Dishes arrived at a good pace, loosely in the order they appeared on the menu with snacks arriving first followed by the “crispy” dishes and then the vegetable and meat dishes. It’s a real bugbear when you visit a small plates restaurant and all of the dishes are plonked in front of you simultaneously with no consideration as to whether they go with each other or not.

The crispy skin (£4) is always one of my favourite parts of a roast chicken dinner so I was never going to pass up on a bowlful. Dusted with salt and malt powder it had a lovely lip tingling hit of seasoning.

I tend to be apathetic when it comes to hummus but Mrs G insisted that we order Parallel’s and it turned out to be one of the best plates of the stuff I’ve ever eaten. Thick black bean hummus (£5) was topped with crispy nuggets of jerk-spiced bacon, crunchy chickpeas and tangy pomegranate molasses. It was a riot of flavour and texture.

Charred flatbreads (£4) seem to be appearing on menus all over the place with notable iterations including Brat’s and Mangal 2’s. Parallel’s can most certainly hold its own alongside London’s big names. Crisp and squidgy, it was drenched with beef dripping, shallots and a tingle of chilli to make the ultimate garlic pizza bread.

Excellent lobster toast (£12) saw a slab of charred brioche topped with sweet and earthy lobster mayo, bathing in a bowl of decadent lobster bisque. Fronds of fresh green herb and a vibrant herb oil provided much needed levity.

Continuing the theme of carbs topped with tasty things was a crisp and squidgy crumpet (£8) piled high with a tangle of crispy sweet hoisin dressed mushrooms, pickled cucumber and a dusting of peanut oil. It was a good riff on the popular bao flavour combination.

Another standout of the night was a tightly packed tender potato spiral (£7), the edges of which had been beautifully crisped up and dotted with the big allium hit of wild garlic puree.

 

Surprisingly, the two meat dishes were the least memorable of our meal – they were tasty but everything else was excellent.

A tender shortrib (£14) didn’t quite deliver on the intense beefiness I associate with this cut. And its gochujang seasoning was rather lost behind a potent char.

A koobideh kebab (£12) was nicely seasoned with fragrant za’atar and served with pink pickled onions, an excellent yoghurt dip and vibrant green sauce. But the minced meat itself lacked the juiciness of my City Road kebab house favourites.

In contrast, a carrot (£7) was the type of vegetarian dish which could convert even committed carnivores. Slow cooked for 12 hours to produce a beautifully meaty texture before being charred on the barbecue, it was dressed with an addictively sweet, smoky and spicy smoked maple dressing. Nutty cashew puree and crispy chickpeas provided further punch and crunch.

Desserts were both excellent end notes to the meal.

A hyper crisp tart (£6) was filled with white chocolate mousse and a trio of strawberry styles (fragrant ripe berries, tangy underripe berries, and compote) and served alongside a scoop of tangy goji berry ice cream. It wasn’t too sweet and sang with strawberry fragrance.

Baked Alaska (£6) was definitely one for people with a sweet tooth. Yuzu sponge and lemon ice cream were coated in light meringue which had been given an extra twang of toasty char from the coals of the barbecue. A good drizzle of that gorgeous smoked maple syrup provided extra complexity and sweetness.

We had a delicious meal at Parallel. Their bold-flavoured small plates are a very strong addition to Cardiff’s restaurant scene and it’s another big success for the team behind Pasture.

The Details:

Address -  Parallel, 11 High St, Cardiff CF10 1AW

Web - https://pasturerestaurant.com/locations/parallel/

Telephone - 07742 885440