Gee, what a surprise from Gemma this month!!
So Gemma gave the Grubgang no incling of where we were off to this month. And what a gem she had found, tucked away in the Royal Clarence Marina in Gosport is G's Wine Bar and restaurant. It is a lovely location in terms of views across to Portsmouth, just not that easy to find and park!!
The restaurant is built in the old bakery, the building is large and spacious, meaning that even on busier evenings, it would be hard to see it being cramped. It is fantastic seeing some of the old ovens lit up, adding some nostalgia to the evening!
The restaurant describes itself as "Mediterranean" both on the website and on its sign outside. They do advertise events from "around the world", but from what we could see on the menu, there was not many dishes we could see which come under that category. They have separate menus for weekends, but the midweek menu consisted of dishes such as Ham, egg and chips, fish and chips and steaks.
But do not let that put you off. The food itself is of a very high quality. Cooked fresh and to order, the dishes are presented beautifully. There was a menu which came under the Grubgang ideal of "3 courses and a drink for £20" with their winter warmers menu, offering 3 courses for £10!! We loved this idea, but were able to still be within the budget using the main menus. Dean opted for the skewered tiger prawns, which disappeared quite quickly! Gemma had the prawn cocktail, which in her opinion was the best she had ever tasted! Mike had the deep fried squid (which he felt was a little undercooked) and Clair had the creamy mushroom brushetta, which was so creamy and tasty, she could have had more!!
This is all after testing the sausages they had on the bar for people to try. Local sausages as they use local ingredients. Fantastic for all involved there! (Gemma loved the venison sausage, Clair was salivating at the Hoi sin duck.....yummmmmmmm!!)
So, onto the mains. Clair had the taste for the sausages, so ordered the Sausages and mash. (They had run out of the chicken kiev she wanted to try!) They were lovely and it was presented well, but in hindsight she feels some vegetables would have just added to the dish. Dean had a curry, with what appeared to be a homemade poppadom! Mike had the biggest fish and chips you had ever seen (It was mullet, but he called it whale hahaha!) Gemma tried the traditional paella which was filling and tasty, however had pork sausage within it rather than perhaps the traditional chorizo (not that Gemma minded in the slightest!)
The dessert menu was small, meaning there wasn't quite the dish Gemma was looking for, but they were fantastic in fulfilling her request to have some ice cream! Clair had the Winter fruit crumble which was warm and delicious! Mike had the orange mousse and Dean tried the cheese board for one, which was really generous and beautifully served on a chalk board!
We were impressed with the service, the layout and the cleanliness of the facilities at G's. The food was very tasty, but we feel that G's has not quite found it's identity yet. It says it is serving Meditteranean food, but only has a paella on the menu to show for it. It is great it is using local produce, but it just needs to decide what sort of restaurant it is. Our only other issue is the car parking situation. Although a small section of the huge car park outside is put aside for the restaurant, there are not clear signs as to where this section is, and there are not too many spaces available. It is a shame as G's has such great potential and is well worth a visit.
Marks out of 10.................................................. 8 (Gemma Wickens)
Onto the mains
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