Tir A Môr
Disclaimer: This visit was an invite. Even when I have the fortune of getting invited for a meal, I will remain completely honest in my review of the experience.
Tir a Môr (Welsh for land and sea) is a restaurant located within the 5* voco St. David’s hotel, owned by the InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG).
Their menu is one inspired by local, seasonal Welsh produce, incorporating dishes sourced from both the land & sea of our beautiful country.
As an upmarket hotel, unsurprisingly they’re open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day of the week. This includes menus for afternoon tea and a roast dinner for Sunday lunch.
Fellow food writer Jonathan Swain of The Plate Licked Clean, Find My Dine & Ask Barney notified me that on his previous visit here the restaurant was run by Justin Llewellyn, now at the Michelin Guide mentioned restaurant The Sorting Room, situated within The Parkgate Hotel in the city centre.
David Woodford took up the role of Executive Chef at voco St David’s in late 2021.
Having done plenty of research before dining here, I noticed a common theme throughout reviews: good food, service lacking - especially with wait times. I’d like to take this opportunity to mention the two members of staff who looked after us: Tom & Yesica. Both were excellent and there was not a single problem with the service or waiting time all evening.
There is a relaxed, yet classy vibe inside the venue. Large windows that allow access to the beauty of the water sweeping across the bay, and floods of light to cascade upon one half of the restaurant, thanks in part to the sliding shutters. The other half of the restaurant is closer to the bar with dimly lit, mood setting booths, higher set tables & bar stools.
Sturdy wicker chairs, which may sound tacky, but tie in with the bay theme are situated in the well-lit section.
Of course this is British summer time, so despite a lovely seat in the window, it was belting it down outside.
I could only imagine how picturesque it would be on a summers evening out on that terrace.
I won’t beat around the bush, the prices are expensive. But let’s not forget, this is a 5* hotel overlooking Cardiff bay.
If you do fancy an evening drink on the terrace, a pint of Grolsh will set you back an eye watering £6.60. Their drinks menu can be accessed here.
We order a snack of garlic, rosemary & Halen Môn (Anglesey sea salt) butter flatbread (£8) to kick off the proceedings.
It’s balanced well with garlic, salt, and butter, flecks of toasted brown spots visible on the top & bottom. It’s not greasy, it’s not too soft, it’s not too crispy, and it’s sliced into conveniently shaped strips for two to share.
Our appetites were now whet, and starters followed. The first, a confit chicken & leek terrine with chicken fat mayonnaise & sourdough toast (£10).
The slightly under-seasoned terrine played second fiddle to the excellent blobs of chicken fat mayonnaise, not leaving me disappointed as this was the reason I selected the dish. A dill cracker on top added a crispy texture, and slices of petite toasted white & rye sourdough bread alongside provided a base for the terrine & mayo to be layered upon.
Our other starter was a fig & balsamic onion tartlet, Pant-Ys-Gawn (from my hometown!) goats cheese & rocket (£10).
We were expecting this to be served in a tart casing, though the goats cheese & it’s accompaniments arrived on a layer of puff pastry. There was an excellent balance of flavours with salty, creamy goats cheese, sweet balsamic onions, and subtle notes of fig running through.
So far, so good.
I ordered my main from the grill: a Welsh lamb rump (£29) cooked medium rare, which judging by the juices flowing around the plate could have done with a little more resting time.
The lamb itself was tender and cooked how I’d requested, the greens of broccoli & spinach beneath sound bland though were anything but. A tangy mustard sauce was a great complement for the succulent wedges of pink lamb to be dabbed into.
Our other main was a pan-roasted pork belly (£25).
I must admit that the picture of the plate wasn’t the most aesthetic, but the dish was rather good. Two hunks of pork belly slices with fat that melted in the mouth, smothered in a sweet & tart orange & cider apple sauce. Underneath this was the anise taste of braised fennel and some juicy slices of orange.
I expected a little more finesse with the plating of our mains, especially considering the prices charged.
A side of triple cooked chips (£5) truly were excellent, golden & crunchy with a soft potato filling.
Yesica asks if we would like anything else, and those who keenly follow my writing know I would not pass up the opportunity for something sweet at the end of a meal. My sweet tooth is from the same mould as Greg Wallace.
Of course, I was all over a dark chocolate tart enriched with Merlyn liqueur, and a vanilla mascarpone ice-cream (£10) like a cheap suit.
This was a rich slab of boozy tart, with an interesting mascarpone ice-cream. It tasted both sweet & savoury.
If I’m Greg Wallace, then Millie is John Torode. She doesn’t handle heavy, sweet, rich desserts like I can. She chose a lighter, creamy, sharp lemon & orange posset (£9).
The posset was piled with crumbled shortbread, and prettily decorated with an assortment of meringues.
This was a terrific outing in an attractive setting, with marvellous staff, and food with few faults.
I like to think that I’m an optimistic guy, but must admit I arrived at Tir A Môr with my glass half empty.
I left with it topped up.