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The Isle of Anglesey culinary offerings are on the up of late. Not only have they represented North Wales in Great British menu on BBC but they also have more Michelin Stars than the countries capital, which was awarded to Sosban in Menai. We will come to that in the near future as I had to book 6 months in advance and won’t be dinning there till April.

Not content with having to wait until April for some fine dining we managed to book into Anglesey’s other well documented eating establishment Marram Grass. Not your average restaurant and you would be forgiven thinking you’re more likely to see a greasy spoon on the site from the roadside as the restaurant is within a shed situated on a caravan site in the village of Newborough.

The outside of The Marram Grass Restaurant in Anglesey

I think this adds to the charm of the restaurant and sticks two fingers up to some of the more pretentious venues showing them you can muster up excellent plates of food and people will travel for it no matter how expensive the chandeliers are or how man thousand year old oak trees have been chopped down in order to make the tables.

The restaurant has been transformed inside though and looks nothing like it does on the outside.

Inside The Marram Grass Restaurant in Anglesey

Seeing as we were up in Anglesey between Christmas and New Year without any plans we thought we would swing by for some lunch. We probably would of struggled getting a table ringing up a few days before normally but seeing that the majority of people on the island had two weeks’ worth of food shopping spilling out of the fridge we were lucky.

The Food

My favourite thing to do before and after booking a restaurant is to mull over the menu deliberating so I don’t take hours when I’m there but The Marram Grass serves only the freshest, in season produce and is constantly changing the menu so it was a complete surprise as to what we would have on the day.

Seeing as it was way past the acceptable hour of drinking for Christmas we ordered a bottle of white whilst we pondered over the menu, which were very reasonably priced I have to admit.

I did however think the price on the main courses was a lot steeper than I thought they would be considering it’s a café essentially, it’s location on a caravan park and we were dining for lunch. Mains on the menu ranged from £19 for fish of the day up to a hefty £35 for the Welsh Black beef, black cabbage, Portobello mushroom and textures of onion.

Not your typical pub or restaurant you would usually find on a campsite then but they did have fish and chips on the daily special at a much more reasonable £14. I thought this was handy for people who wanted to sample the place if they were staying on the camp but didn’t want to spend too much.

My body aching for anything other than turkey and a 12 cheese variety cheeseboard I was happy with pretty much everything on there today and luckily the menu wasn’t too expansive so I didn’t take too long to decide.

As we were due to go shooting later in the day (clays the real thing) I thought I’d get in the mood with a bit of game with the daily special of Pheasant and puy lentils for starter. Llio is mad for her soup at the moment so she opted for the crown prince squash, curried raisins with homemade sourdough and Hafod butter.

Treacle bread at The Marram Grass

We were presented with some fresh treacle bread and butter before the starters came. I’d never tried such bread before and was a good mix of sweet and savoury, which tasted equally as good with a good slather of butter.

As usual we fought over who was having what for mains as we usually prefer the same one but like to have a try of more than one dish. Llio opted for the lamb whereas I went for a pork fest, which included pork fillet, pork belly a crackling bon bon, pipped potatoes and a carrot puree.

Pheasant starter at The Marram Grass

The Pheasant was a really hearty dish for a starter with a decent sized portion of meat, well-seasoned puy lentils and chunks of tomatoes. Not too much going on with the plate to let the main ingredients do their thing.

Soup at The Marram Grass

Llio’s soup was a great big bowl of winter lovliness with freshly baked dunkable, buttery sourdough but I’d go for a portion of meat on my plate every time.

Pork main course at The Marram Grass

My main was pretty epic to look at and more than made up for on the palate. A good selection of different cuts of pork and different textures to balance it out as I love a good crunch to my forkful of food. Silky smooth mash and sweet carrot puree pebbled with slithers of spring onion and oodles of rich gravy splayed over the meaty morsels.

Lamb main at The Marram Grass

The lamb served perfectly pink on a bed of green lentil cassoulet and trio of celeriac with salt baked, puree and remoulade. The flavours packed a punch but I think my mains topped it with more little nuggets of goodies to feed on. The pork was £6 cheaper at £22 compared to £28 for the lamb, which I thought was a little steep for lunch.

I hadn’t committed to dessert yet but on mention of the saffron and yuzu panna cotta on the specials board I was sold. I’ve got a little obsession with the powerful Asian citrus fruit lately and keep a bottle to hand in the fridge to give an extra zing to dishes sweet or savoury so if it’s ever on the menu in something it’s usually top of the list by default. Llio was left a little full after all the bread with the dishes so I had to go it alone.

Yuzu panna cotta dessert at The Marram Grass

I loved the different combination of flavours and textures going on with the dessert from the wobbly citrusy burst of yuzu in the panna cotta to the scattering of crumbly chocolate bits and the sticky, chewy pastry esque shards of jolting from the chocolate filled parcels too. Sweet, citrusy chocolatey, soft, chewy, crunchy it had it all. I bloody hate a bowl of the same thing to plough on through I’ll be honest.

The Verdict

I couldn’t fault anything we were served and the service was excellent and very attentive although we were one of only two tables dinning at the time. Very friendly and helpful though none the less.The food was excellent all round, I liked the rustic vibe going on inside and the wine was very reasonably priced.
Price wise I thought it was a little steep for location and it being a café / bistro. Even though the food was lovely, we were dinning for lunch and I can’t say I’ve spent around £100 for lunch that often apart from special occasions.

Bill at The Marram Grass

Dinning in the evening I wouldn’t have any qualms at all but it would have been nice to have a few more reasonably priced lunch menu options. I couldn’t really see many of the clientele of the caravan site being able to afford to feed a family of 5 or 6 on the off chance when they couldn’t be bothered to cook on the gas stove for lunch, as it would be close to £250-£300. Well I can’t speak for everyone, but I know my family or mum at least wouldn’t be forking out that much for one meal for us.

Would I go back again? I wouldn’t go back for lunch for the price we paid, well not just a random lunch out. I would go back for an evening meal for a birthday or special occasion when up north or even to sample the tasting menu though.

I noticed on social media that the Liverpudlian brothers, Liam and Ellis Barrie who run the Marram Grass have announced they are building luxury appartments on the site just yesterday too so there are a few new things coming and the site will be changing dramatically in the near future and I hope them all the best on the new venture.

It’s always the case when you visit somewhere new, when you haven’t got the foggiest idea where to go for food or a drink. It’s not so bad in a city as you can go for a mini adventure on foot as the streets tend to be straight and easily navigable but on an island attached to the mainland by two bridges and with little pockets of settlement and housing dotted around the island it sometimes becomes a little harder.

You can try the trip adviser method but sometimes you just end up with the Janes butty hut serving lunchtime sandwiches instead of a decent restaurant for tea. Luckily for me I was in the company of Ynys Mon born and bred Llio Angharad, so we had to dine where the locals dine at her favourite and by the sounds of it everyone elses favourite place to eat on Anglesey, the Lobster Pot. Seems it was a family tradition working at the Lobster as that was her first ever job so brought back some fond memories.

The Lobster Pot in Anglesey seems to be the islands worst kept secret with mostly only locals knowing about the quint little restaurant located in Church Bay about 25 miles or 30 minutes from Menai Bridge.

The Food

Starter : Anglesey Mussels – £7.50

Main : Lobster Surf and Turf 1/2 lobster thermidor and 8oz Fillet Steak – £29.95

Dessert: Sticky Toffe Pudding and Ice Cream – £5.25

The Lobster Pot had been feeding the local Anglesey residents lobster, crab and oysters since 1946 and when dinning at a fish restaurant with so much experience and their speciality in the name of the business there wasn’t much that was going to stop me having lobster.

 

the-lobster-pot-anglesey-muscles

 

I had opted to give mussels a miss for lunch at Dylan’s in Menai Bridge a few hours before knowing I was coming to The Lobster Pot so thought I’d go the full sea food hog for tea. I opted for the Anglesey Mussels steamed with garlic, onions, cream & white wine with a chunk of bread drowned in real butter to mop up the hearty broth. I’ll be honest I could probably have smashed a whole boule of sourdough to soak up every last drop of the sea kissed juices eagerly staring at me from the bottom of the pot but i didn’t want to crash and burn too early.

I managed to sample a little nugget of scallops from Llio’s starter of Scallops Mornay, which were basked in Welsh Cheese sauce, reminding me of my favourite starter ever the St Jacques Coquilles sauce minus the crispy pipped potato. My buttered bread chunk gliding over the plate like a stealth bomber stealing a dollop of sauce to sample the flavours of the other starter on the table.

Main course I was looking to the most. I’ve had lobster quite a few times but it’s just been grilled with a bit of garlic butter and a few herbs liberally sprinkled like confetti on top but i’ve always fancied the lobster thermidor after watching a programme on BBC of them painstakingly preparing them for dinners on the Belmond British Pullman. Unless I was going to fork out for a 5kg beast I knew a £25 lobster wasn’t going to fill me up so I opted to sample some of the finest Anglesey fillet steak cooked medium rare to compliment the fish course.

I couldn’t decide where to stab my fork first the succulent, blood licked fillet or the white flakes of lobster submerged in the creamy, blistered cheese sauce but it had to be the lobster i’d been dying to try for so long. The sauce was something else it truly was and didn’t want it to end scraping every last morsel from the lobster shell and the steak was so tender, with a perfectly seared crust yet melted in the mouth and knife glided through it like butter. The steak wasn’t complete without a good dusting of Anglesey’s finest export with the white tub of Halen Mon taking centre stage on the table.

lobster at the lobster pot Anglesey

 

I was torn on the desserts hoping for a cheese board to share but with none on the menu I set up on a trust favourite the sticky toffee pudding and ice cream. A perfect ending to the 5* previous two courses, the portions were just right with a warm, moist sponge, buttery toffee drizzled on top with ample scoops of good vanilla ice cream. No Walls shit here that’s for sure.

sticky toffee pudding at Lobster Pot Anglesey

If you are on Anglesey and looking for some of the finest sea food the island has to offer then make sure you pencil in The Lobster Pot because it truly was the best lobster dish and one of the best cuts of fillet i’ve tasted. Everyone we spoke to about our booking for tea were in no denial we would enjoy the meal, which goes to show the quality is something they pride themselves on in the old cottage restaurant.

Contact Details

Church Bay, Anglesey, LL654EU.
01407 730 241

http://www.thelobsterpotrestaurant.co.uk