September’s featured restaurant was Samphire, 7-11 Don St, Jersey JE2 4TQ
The Review:
Award: One Michelin star
Visit: 11 September 2019, dinner for two.
Price: **
Website: https://www.samphire.je/
Arriving early so we could enjoy a cocktail or two, we were warmly greeted and shown to a table in the bar. The cocktails were excellent.
While we were enjoying our drinks, we perused the menus. There was a very well-priced Market Menu, as well as an a la carte menu with a wide variety of starters including oysters, a “tails of the sea” fruits de mer, scallops or smoked salmon, and a great selection of main courses from high-end beef and lobster dishes to fish and chips. This is a menu that I would like to revisit.
We chose tempura oysters and a fabulous beef tartare to start, with lobster and monkfish as main dishes. All the dishes were exceptional. The beef tartare starter and monkfish main course were magnificent. The lobster was unusually cooked in a red pepper butter and served with a potato salad. I had thought thermidor was the ultimate lobster dish, but I was wrong! This red pepper with the lobster is an outstanding combination.
We were seated near the serving hatch so we could watch the chefs at work and examine some of the other dishes being prepared. I will be returning for the Beef Rossini which looked fabulous!
The service was friendly, attentive and relaxed. After the meal I had the chance to meet Executive Head Chef Lee Smith who gave me a tour of his kitchen and we chatted about his time on Great British menu and his upcoming plans.
This is a restaurant that I highly recommend. Both the food and the service are excellent, and the prices are very reasonable. When I return to Jersey this will be a restaurant that will be on top of my list.