High Cliff Grill, BournemouthHigh Cliff Grill Restaurant
Bournemouth Highcliff Marriott Hotel, St. Michaels Road, West Cliff, Bournemouth, Dorset BH2 5DU.
Phone: 01202 200 800
It was early September that Vinny Angusti, sales and marketing coordinator for the Bournemouth Marriott Hotel, contacted us through the fong.co.uk website and made the offer of a complimentary meal for two at the High Cliff Grill restaurant . Good to see our website getting is getting some attention.
How could we refuse? Hotel Fong itself had been busy over the summer season with many friends and family coming down to sunny Bournemouth so it wasn't until mid October that we got a change to go. It seems to have been revamped and has a big marketing push behind.
And now for something completely different
Whether it's because I am getting old or just wanting to try something different, this summer we have started to have some drinks down at the Cumberland Hotel and had a meal at the Menzies East Cliff so I think the local hotels recognise that the non-resident's market is something worth tapping into.
The Arrival
We were running late, as usual, so I phoned ahead to say we would be delayed a bit. Being a Saturday night, there was no parking on the roads nearby so we decided to drive in. We were met by the concierge who said that a space had been reserved for us.
I had been getting teased from friends about this meal and whether the review would be biased seeing as it was free. Well, I wondered if they coned off a parking space at the front because of this and felt slightly embarrassed reversing the car into it.
We were introduced to the general manager and then made our way into the restaurant. We have been to the Marriott in its previous incarnation as the Swallow Highcliff for a company Xmas party and a friend's wedding but that was a long time ago. On entering, it felt very contemporary, very well lit and easy on the eye. Some hotels can make you feel that you need to creep around in hushed tones but this was light and airy, with plenty of inviting space and seating around.
We went past the Signature Room, which is a private dining area that can be booked by guests, and into the main restaurant. The restaurant itself has undergone a £0.5 million revamp and the area just outside the window has also been lifted with new decking and glass windshields. The dining and afternoon teas can venture out once the sun comes back.
The waitress explained the menu and highlighted some recommendations and went into great depth on the fish soup. In reality she said the same thing to another table so I guess the concierge was also doing his best for everyone so hence I got the space. They really do focus on service here so I didn't feel too bad about the parking space.
The Meal Starts
As an amuse-bouche we were presented with a scallop and salmon ceviche. It was a whole scallop sitting on a slice of salmon, with coriander, a sliver of orange and a citrus dressing. If I just had a plateful of that then it would have been enough to satisfy me all night. I loved it.
I opted for the squid and black pudding. It was more of a case of black pudding wrapped in squid. A squid tube had been filled with black pudding mix, covered in something like a Japanese panko crumbed batter and deep fried. I quite liked it and finished it all but personally would have preferred the two ingredients to have been separate so I could have tasted the squid.
Angela had the fish soup which was very rich and deep in flavour that she thoroughly enjoyed.
For my main I went for one of their signature dishes of Roast Spiced Monkfish. It came as a huge section of monkfish lightly dusted with spices and roasted to perfection. Being so thick, the fish could have easily been undercooked in the middle but it held a good texture and white colour in the middle. It was sat on top of a bed of bok choi, some plump mussels in their shells and surrounded in a light broth.
Unfortunately I had already used the soup spoon that had been set down purposely for this dish, on Angela's soup. The waitress did say she would bring one over so I could taste the broth, but forgot. The only minor slip up of the whole night's excellent service.
Angela had the seabass. She commented that it was a little bit oily but that might have been the way they dressed it. She did like but couldn't finish it as she was full towards the end. Of course, I helped out and the bass was a really nice piece of moist fish.
I thought the black tagliatelle, with the chilli and little bits of crabmeat was fantastic. I would have loved to have that with the monkfish or even as a little starter on its own.
Even though Angela said she was full, that didn't stop her from ordering the rice pudding. I thought the carb-overload would get her and it did. I had the treacle tart and that was a really nice close to the evening's meals. The little pot of caramel sauce was a tasty touch.
The wine we had was the Houghton Chardonnay-Verdelho. It went down perfectly well.
Other comments...
We thought the service was excellent. The staff made time to have a little chat with us here and there without the constant questioning of if everything is OK. It was good to see the restaurant full and I was told that the restaurant has gone from catering for about 100 non-residents in a year to over 1000.
I think there is a market there, for people that want a nice meal at a restaurant but don't want the hustle and bustle of being down town and can simply choose to relax in the rest of the hotel afterwards without walking the streets seeking out a quiet bar. True, prices may be at the upper end (for us anyway) but it is worth trying for a treat.
We were sat by the opened windows and the sound of MC Hammer's "You cant touch this" did ring fairly loudly when the nightclub underneath sprang into life but it didn't detract from the evening.
I can see great potential in the decked area once the warmer weather returns, eating and drinking into the night outdoors. That's how it should be in Bournemouth, really.
We had a great evening and we will definitely be giving their Sunday lunch a go. Just need to get a couple more people to come along to get that complimentary bottle of champagne.
Once again, thank you Vinny for the offer and to the staff for an enjoyable evening.
