Many of you will have heard of 'The Salty Dog' one of, if not Bangor's most famous eatery - known for its excellent food and relaxed atmosphere 'The Salty Dog' has flourished under proprietor Ken Sharp so I am excited to share with you that Ken has purchased 'The Boat House' and even more excited to share that he has the excellent Tim Brunton overboard...I mean on board - I am not even apologising for that - superb stuff for a superb chef, Tim has worked across a number of establishments, honing his skills and he served up a scrumptious taster menu! Let's explore it.
So I was delighted to be invited to the relaunch of The Boat House by Dawn of SeriousPR - The short drive to Bangor was enjoyable so don't let the drive put you off, it took about 35 minutes from Lisburn for me to reach Bangor Marina and be met with one of the most idyllic little eateries I've ever been to - seating a max 36 this intimate venue boasts a unique eating experience mixing historic surroundings with food theatre - as well as a host of local ingredients.
Myself and host of other NI bloggers and other NI media were treated to a feast of 5 dishes and wine pairings - I was driving, boooooo, so only a taste of each wine but I devoured the food - I am going to give you a quick insight into what my night involved.
So we started with some freshly baked Sour Dough - yes it was still warm and this was served with two of our finest - Broighter's Gold Oil and Abernethy Butter ( I could eat this butter like ice cream, I could bathe in it - I won't for obvious reasons but if the law changes I might).
We then has a parmesan custard served in an egg shell with homemade bread sticks topped with poppy seeds - again, think of this experience as food theatre so each dish has been carefully thought out, not just the ingredients and flavours but the presentation to!
Next up - Brassicas - yup - I have no idea what this is either, well I didn't until I used google, brassicas are a form of vegetable originating from the mustard group; think cauliflower and broccoli and you'll get the gist. This dish included cauliflower, broccoli, kohlrabi and black radish with a Fivemiletown goat’s cheese cream, basil emulsion (this was beautiful). Now each dish was also paired with a wine that would compliment it - our Brassicas were paired with a Donaghadee Riesling 2015 from Mosel in Germany. I am not a wine snob but this was lovely; dry and sweet.
Shortly after this we enjoyed a small home smoked Salmon and paired with Manzanilla Deliciosa En Roma, Soca de Primervera 2015,Jerez, Spain - as already stated - I know nothing..yet...about wine so I have lifted this info from the menu (insert monkey covering eyes emoji). The smoked salmon had a strong flavour, the smokiness was balanced with the fresh herb sauce and garlic oil - I'm not a massive Salmon lover but what would a night a Boat House by the Marina be without some fish!
After this we moved onto the Piste de Resistance - ducking hell this was a taste sensation - The dish arrived with again - more theatre - covered with a glass lib our servers removed this allowing a cloud of smoke to escape, a few fancy wrist turns and we had a mini smoke cloud appear in front of our eyes, the smell was amazing; time to tuck in - worth the short drive alone, the duck was melt in your mouth good, each bite brought me joy, and then we had confit leg rolled in potato spaghetti...just let that sink in - duck rolled in potato spaghetti, dear christ... I'm drooling - anyway I polished this off in record time - even the wee posh carrots added an extra texture. Enjoyment levels - 100%
P.S. The Duck was served with a beautiful Red wine - my favourite wine of the night - a 2014 El Bon Homme from Valencia, Spain
Moving onto desert - here we experienced luxury - A Neary Nogs’ bean to plate journey, Madagascan Corillo bean prepared in Co. Down served with iced raspberries and gold leaf, I felt like I was eating something off Great British Menu. The dessert was paired with A 2012 Finca Antigua Moscatel from La Mancha in Spain.
Well, fully fed and entertained it was time for home - thanks once again to SeriousPR for the kind invite and I will hopefully see you all again (as long as they like the blog...) and to Ken and Tim I look forward to visiting The Boat House again - hopefully someone else will drive so I can enjoy a full bottle of El Bon Homme. To anyone, and I hope someone is reading this, even one, I think think you owe it yourself to try here - a truly intimate venue with top food which is served and presented in an extravagant way.
The Boat House
1A Seacliff Rd, Bangor BT20 5HA
028 9146 9253
www.boathousebangor.com
