Lunch with the family Relax by the pool
L
ike the water outside the window of this poolside café/bar, things are only just warming up for The Lido Kitchen’s second summer. Set up in 2012 by Bristol restaurateur James Savage, this iconic 1960s-built café on Portishead seafront is now in the hands of former manager Gemma Coles, who is running the place pretty much as before. Perched on the water’s edge, with stunning views across the Bristol Channel towards Wales, it’s a lovely location and light streams through large windows on two sides of the room, with glimpses of the colourful open-air pool through another window. The uncoated, sandy-coloured wooden tables, table numbers chalked on to shiny pebbles and small metal buckets of cutlery add a Cornish beach café feel to the place and there is a genuine “on holiday” atmosphere, whether the sun is shining or not. In the kitchen is head chef Tremaine Plummer, who has worked in several notable pubs in Bristol, including The Spotted Cow in Bedminster and The Robin Hood’s Retreat on Gloucester Road. Food is served all day, from breakfast through to dinner, and the brunch options (available 9am-3pm) include pancakes with bacon and maple syrup, eggs Benedict and a full English breakfast (including a child-sized version) and a “little kids” poached egg and soldiers.
19 EAT IT ● ● ● ● ●
Children are well catered for here and lunch/dinner options include fishcake with creamed leeks, Cumberland sausage and chips or courgette, pea and mint risotto (all £5). For the grown-ups, choices include burgers (£8.75), beer-battered fish and chips (£8.50) and a veggie goats’ cheese and beetroot salad (£6.50). I went for a starter of rare roast duck salad (£6), a well-presented dish of pink and tender slices of duck mixed into a tangle of sliced fennel, lamb’s lettuce, frisée, crunchy carrot and segments of orange, all brought together with a mustardy dressing. This was followed by an 8oz rib-eye steak (£17.45), from the dinner menu, which was perfectly cooked on the rarer side of medium and served with greaseless chips that were crisp outside and fluffy within. A separate jug of peppercorn sauce was creamy, rich, peppery and may well have had a glug of brandy added to it. From a concise dessert menu that also includes lemon posset and blueberry Eton mess, banoffee pie (£5.50) had been deconstructed into a buttery biscuit base layered with firm slices of banana, a blanket of toffee sauce and topped with quenelles of light and airy whipped cream. It was a harmonious coupling of flavours and textures, but the richness and generosity of the portion soon had me waving the white napkin of surrender and feeling quite relieved that I hadn’t made any rash plans to belly-flop into the pool afterwards.
from Friday, May 2, 2014
THE LIDO KITCHEN Portishead Lido, The Esplanade, Portishead, BS20 7HD. Tel: 01275 814114, www.thelidokitchen.com
VERDICT: Enjoyable food in a unique waterside venue, The Lido Kitchen is sure to make another big splash during its second summer season.
Food ★★★★✩ Service ★★★★✩ Ambience ★★★★✩