A glorious summer evening, eating fine food and glugging fine wine and gin and tonics by the marina. Surely a recipe for dining heaven? This month's latest eating out experience was provided by Banana Wharf in Ocean Village Southampton. For those of you who have not visited the South of England's most famous port, have missed the beautiful scenery that the lucrative Ocean Village has to boost, not to mention numerous boats, luxury yachts and to-die-for penthouse apartments (I can dream)
For a special treat, me and the man decided to head out for a meal; him paying, I am the luckiest girl alive :) Just to play on the safe side, we booked a table for the two of us on Bank Holiday Monday and planned an early eat out at 6.30pm to take our time and appreciate the lovely sunset and take in the scenery.
On arrival we were greeted fairly quickly. It seemed pretty promising and we were escorted to a TFT (table for two) We walked past numerous tables all enticing, but where ushered to a table shoved against a window next to a middle of the dining area till point; instead of sitting opposite to each other and gazing lovingly into each others eyes, I sat facing forward and my boyfriend to my immediate right hand side of a square table. Loss in brownie points front of house.
I had lived under the assumption that due to the prices of Banana Wharf that it was a high end fine eating establishment but in reality it lends its cuisine to just good pub food. We plummed to order a starter and selected the Banana Wharf combo (£15.95)
Selection of chicken wings, crispy calamari, whitebait,breaded mushrooms & tandoori chicken skewers, Served with a selection of dips
I was a tad disappointed at not being told what the two dips actually were by waiting staff (probably just my picky tendancies however it is rather nice when waiting staff know their stuff), but the order arrived at almost record speeds of about ten minutes, commendable as we were both starving. The whitebait was crisp as were the mushrooms which without the usually associated garlic mushroom flavouring were compensated by a tasty garlic mayo and raita. The chicken skewers delivered generously on portion size but seemed to hint more to an Asian five spice flavouring rather than true tandoori. As a non-lover of any seafood accompanied by suckers, I stuck to eating the calamari rings which were complimented by the dips with my boyfriend assuring me that the baby squid were very nice. After a few pickings and plate clearings we easily polished off the sharing platter easily, and overall yeah pretty enjoyable, but how can you get deep fried veggies and seafood with mayo based dips wrong?
We ordered our mains in simultaneous time to our starters but were still overwhelmed to have our mains delivered only eight minutes or so after our starter. My man opted for a Green Thai curry described as a spicy curry sauce made with green chillis, coriander, coconut milk & Asian style vegetables and served with coconut rice. He chose to have added chicken breast, which came at a cost, bumping the price to £11.50 from £8.95. He had been anticipating its arrival since ordering but felt like he was left wanting more and failed to finish his dish. I however being the true glutton that I am, settled for Surf & Turf. Adding to the fillet steak were 4 King prawns in garlic butter (at a premium!! of £8.95 extra)
8oz chargrilled fillet steak £20.95, Served with chunky chips, grilled beef,
tomato & mushrooms
How can the above not be delicious. I must take a moment now to publicly declare my undying love and devotion to my boyfriend for being so kind hearted and loving into treating me to such a massive (in all terms of the word) dinner!! Luckily we had a Delicious Dining voucher (if you live in Hampshire it's well worth giving them a look here for discounts at local eateries) giving us an ample amount off our bill but even so boyfriend brownie points fully deserved!
Sad thing was I was still full from my starter and the little time I was given to digest the first course that I didn't nay, physically couldn't finish all this food. CRYING SHAME. Due to the sheer cost and fullness we opted to skip dessert and head home. All in all our whole eating experience with Banana Wharf was so unbelievably quick we were out of the restaurant bill paid less than an hour of being there; almost giving a whole new definition to fast food.
Overall an enjoyable yet highly expensive treat, but the rushed nature of our visit meant that we weren't given the time to admire the beautiful marina setting whilst thoroughly enjoying our meal at the relaxed pace you expect when eating a fine meal. Although polite and efficient, I felt something was missing from the dining experience which could have been provided by the staff if their service had just eeked out a little further than just a polite hello and taking an order. A mild level of interest in what we have ordered or a small amount of interaction with the customer would bring the service to a top level.
7/10
Banana Wharf Ocean Village
Ocean Village,
Southampton
Opening Hours
Monday to Sunday: 0830 - Close
