Every the gastronomic explorer, I keep my eyes and ears out for new, cool foodie things as much as I can. Pobi Kitchen, however, flew out of nowhere until I was invited to try them at The Rose Of Denmark in Hotwells earlier this month. I was promised a tasting menu of locally sourced ingredients, plated beautifully and a flight of wine to compliment each dish, who would refuse that?
The Rose Of Denmark has had some love poured into it recently from its new landlord Mike Coe with the downstairs seating area receiving a well-needed lick of paint and love to create a light and inviting dining space that felt neither gloomy or cramped despite it being in a basement.
We started with an amuse bouche of cheddar beignets topped with pickled shallot and hidden confit tomato filling. These gooey little morsels were the perfect pairing with a flute of bubbles and I have to admit I may have snaffled more than a few.
With Pobi Kitchen putting such focus on locally sourced and seasonal fare, we were treated next to beetroot tartar. Sweet cubes of golden beetroot were presented with a crunchy savoury granola that hit all the right salty, nutty notes and went wonderfully with the punchy orange cream and chive oil. I have to admit this plate got a good going over with my finger afterwards to pick up every last morsel, my mother would have been horrified.
Fish is an ingredient that I haven’t really spent much time with. Preparing it feels fiddly and I know ordering it means, on the most part, I will have regretted having something else with a bit more flavour. Saying this, I was looking forward to trying the next gurnard dish, a fish I certainly haven’t tried before and could try without feeling a hit of FOMO looking at my dining buddies plates. I am happy to say the fish was wonderful, crispy skin and soft, yielding flesh made for a delicious eye-opener and with the accompanying salt and vinegar shoestring potatoes and the most incredible fermented chilli sauce, I could have eaten it thrice over.
My most looked forward to course was this, the pig three ways. A plate with black pudding croquette, pork belly and loin were presented with plenty of crackling to keep the crunchers happy (and more came round for those who couldn’t get enough) and an unctuous jus to go with it. With sweet pork came sweetcorn puree and tart, soused cabbage, the perfectly balanced plate was my favourite of the night. It has become one of a few dishes I’ve had that I find myself daydreaming about regularly and I must ask them for the recipe.
To finish, and because all great things come in threes, we had a trio of puddings, a chocolate eclair, honeycomb and a bitter chocolate mousse. I have to admit most of us struggled with finishing this last course but as I cannot leave honeycomb I ate a lot of it.
The pop-up was a rounding success with another planned for June and tickets available now. There is a chicken kiev on that menu so it’s very likely to be a sell-out! If you can’t make it, you will find them at The Bank Tavern in June serving noodles and bao, it’s first come first served so get there early!
Find Pobi Kitchen and details of future events and how to buy tickets on their Instagram or FacebookÂ
Please note I was invited to enjoy this meal for free but it did not change my opinion, it was all delicious. Fact.
Bedsit Bonne Vivante 