Sponsored by
Pure Wine Bar & Bistro, Clanfield
My last two outings – Sea Level Restaurant at the Marriott Hotel, Portsmouth, and the new Inn on the Beach, Hayling Island – resulted in less than sparkling reviews. So what of another new restaurant to open in the area, the Pure Wine Bar and Bistro in Clanfield?
Not perhaps known until recently for its good restaurants, Clanfield now has two (Mela and Pure) to boast about. Pure's owner, Fasu Miah, caused a bit of a rumpus before being allowed a licence in this mainly residential area.
Although he initially promised more English food on the menu before opening this upmarket restaurant, old habits die hard for Mr Miah, owner of Cowplain's Pasha restaurant.
The Sunday roast, however, is about as English as it gets, the rest of the menu mostly a fusion of British and Indian. Who would have thought of marrying confit duck pate with poppadums or carpaccio of beef with masala spices?
The menu, a smart one to go with an ultra-slick restaurant with huge TV screen, fashionable beige and grey seating and walls alongside etched windows and bar, is rather splendidly pitched.
Start with maybe scallops with a coulis; wild mushroom and okra salad; chicken and liver terrine or garlic and tumeric infused tiger prawns with potatoes wrapped in puff pastry.
Move on to lamb fillet with a coriander and cumin crust; king prawns with couscous or sea bass with beurre noisette. There are steaks at suppertime and paninis and other lighter dishes at lunchtime alongside: fish pie, pork and leek sausages, goat's cheese pithivier (not pither).
A surprise appetiser, toast with two spiced, perfectly judged queen scallops with spinach, demonstrated real cooking going on here.
This was followed by homemade bread with spinach and sardine chutney. Okay, I know it sounds pretty dire but, again, skilful spice blending made this dish moreish.
Chicken with a lentil and tamarind sauce was nothing short of ace, the lentils pureed with spices, the tamarind juices giving the excellently cooked chicken breast the kind of lift you might expect at Vatika, Wickham Vineyard's Indian fusion restaurant.
Okay, it's not as refined at Pure but, by gum, it was good. Excellent carrots and runner beans with a touch of spice came with this fine dish.
Three desserts in one – sherbet lemon pannacotta, chocolate fondant and chocolate mousse on a cake base – again showed the kitchen in almost sparkling form, the cake base a tad elderly and dry.
Prices range from 3.95 for the spinach and sardine dish, 7.95 for the chicken (8.95 in the evening) and 5.95 for the dessert, my bill a remarkably low 20.50 including a terrific glass of Spanish white (2.65).
Chef David Beedle has learnt a heck of a lot since his days at Sienna's in Rowlands Castle. Kaz, the manager-chef who preps the spices, is another side of the winning culinary coin.
Pure Wine Bar & Bistro, 40B Drift Road, Clanfield, Waterlooville, PO8 OJL (023) 9257 0777
Open: Fri-Sun for lunch (12pm–3.30 pm) and evenings daily 5pm–1 pm.
Food: ****
Service: ****
Atmosphere: ****
Disabled access: Yes
How to get there: Follow the A3 Portsmouth Road then the A3 London Road, coming off on the slip road, also confusingly the London Road. Drift Road is on the left, Pure Wine Bar on the right at the end of the cluster of shops.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Portsmouth
Wednesday 23 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 15 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 15 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: North east
