REVIEW - Stay, 9/23

[Harters]

Over several holidays in the area, we’ve always reckoned that Stay was the best restaurant in the Port. So, we’d make a reservation online, some while before, for dinner on our first full day of this trip.

As ever, the overall ambiance and level of service was spot-on. We had a nice table outside and on the water’s edge. As for the service, everything happened exactly as it should, with no sense of being rushed or long waits when all you can do is thumb twiddle.

We decided to go with the menu of the day – a bargain at £39.95, for three courses, including bread, wine , water and coffee. To kick off (more footballing references later – this was the day after Man City had thrashed West Ham), there was a snack – a shot glass filled with a pumpkin cream, topped with a coconut cream. It was, indeed, very creamy and quite sweet – they could serve this as a dessert and it would still work.

After that, it became a game of two halves. I was on the winning side. Escalivada – a fry-up of vegetables, served at room temperature – onions, peppers and aubergines. There was a very fusiony miso based sauce and a couple of mushroom wontons for crunch. For the main course, cannelloni were filled with seafood, topped with king prawns and broccoli, served with a lovely seafood sauce. It was light, fresh and just the sort of plate of food you want to eat sat next to the Mediterranean.

My companion in life was disappointed to play the role of West Ham, losing out with both courses which, frankly, were more Division 2 than Premier League. Cod and shrimp brandade tasted fine but the kitchen had failed to heat it through properly. So, the outer part of the “mousse” was warm, but it became cooler as you ate into it and was stone cold in the centre. It’s the sort of lack of care with shellfish that leads to food poisoning, so all but the outer bits were left. For the main course, there was beef in a bourgninon style. A delicious red wine sauce incorporated bacon, mushroom, onion and potato, just as the classic French dish would. But the beef was sautéed, rather than long cooked as the French dish would have been. It meant that while about half the meat was absolutely fine, the other half was so chewy as to be inedible.

By the now the game was all over bar the shouting. One of us over the moon, the other sick as a a parrot (although not literally), but there was still injury time to play.. Or dessert as it’s better known. There’s no choice here. A thin sponge, topped with an indeterminate mousse, ice cream and a really nice sweet/sharp red fruit sauce. We finished with good café solo (or espresso as it seems you have to call it these days).

So, a less than stellar evening for us. The place was heaving with customers, as it probably is every night. It does mean Stay doesn’t have to try any harder with its food. A pity really. We’d hoped to enjoy it more. I see it in a relegation battle to avoid being deleted from our list for the next visit.