Newport Food Festival

Saturday was the 5th annual Newport Food Festival, and by far the best the city has held, in my humble opinion. It's been a long time since I've seen it so busy, and hopefully a taste of things to come with the new developments opening in the coming months.

As per usual, Mr P and I headed in at lunchtime, sans breakfast and on the prowl for some great food. We were not disappointed! Last years festival was overrun by chutney stalls and not enough fresh cooking, whereas there was an abundance of choice this time around.

Trying to do the rounds first, the smell of the hotdogs coming from the Parc Pantry were just too good to resist, so we joined the queue. Deciding to share a 'Festival Dog' would turn out to be one of the best decisions of the day.

Usually I'm not a big hot dog fan, I cannot stand the pointless dry processed rolls that fall apart and the plastic 5% meat sausages that inevitably come with it. This was a complete game changer!

A 10" 'proper' sausage (with a crispy skin to boot) nestled in a pillowy soft seeded roll. Topped with Pastamore roasted pepper sauce, chunks of Caws Cenarth sundried tomato and chilli cheddar, with a generous helping of crunchy onions. This hot dog hit all the right spots, combining tastes and differing textures! I loved the fact that all the toppings are well publicised that they are local suppliers, especially as both of the above were also exhibiting at the festival.

All washed down with a 'Gingerella', which yes, I bought just for the name.

Satiated for a little while, we carried on for a wander up and down the stalls, picking up some really lovely treats along the way.

Macarons and flapjacks from Clams Cupcakes...

A couple of bottles from my favourite local brewery, Tiny Rebel...

And some vegetarian delights from The Parsnipship. Yeah, that's right, vegetarian. The Glamorgan Crumble was snaffled up so quickly by my devoted carnivore husband that I had to hide mine from him. I'll be looking out for these guys in the future, that's for sure.

We took a break from the shopping and ventured into the indoor market just in time to watch Simon Crockford from the Celtic Manor show just why he's head chef across the hotel's six restaurants. With a total coolness that wouldn't be out of place on Ready Steady Cook, he knocked up a pork sharing platter, including an incredible ham hock pie, loin, chop and accompaniments in about half an hour. Without breaking a sweat. Great to watch, and I'm looking forward to trying out the recipes for myself with the recipe cards that were handed out.

By this time, we were definitely ready to eat again, and I was more than happy to see that my favourite souvlaki crew, Meat & Greek were grilling up a storm.

I know I've gone on about these guys all summer, but the souvlaki pittas really are the bomb. Especially when you go all out, extra halloumi is a necessity. Tzatziki and houmous too... I promise you there's some pork under there!

We had a great few hours out, and picked up some wonderful drinks and nibbles of which I'm looking forward to finishing off! Well done Newport Food Fest, I'm looking forward to the next one!

Cheers!

 

Hub, St Ives

Looking out over the harbour in St Ives is the uber cool restaurant and bar 'Hub'. Stripped back with the usual urban decor, Hub emanates a chilled out atmosphere, enhanced by the ground floor windows that completely open up, giving a full landscape view of the sea.

With the promise of good New York style big American food, and a poster advertising Tiny Rebel Brewery beers outside, we were sold, and fought our way inside.

Hit with the threat of an hour wait once we walked in, we grabbed a table and hung onto it for dear life. Being a Bank Holiday, St Ives was looking crazy busy, and we had already struggled to make reservations in other restaurants. Figuring a couple of cocktails would ease the delay anyway, we studied the immense menu.

The Hub specialises in gourmet burgers, hot dogs, and just generally a bucket load of smoky meat. Being the huge glutton that I am, I wanted everything on the menu. Luckily for me, The Hub does a fantastic slider tray. A mini version of the pulled pork bun, cheeseburger and hot dog, you get a little bit of everything including added fries, pickles and a whiff of a salad. 

The wait for food wasn’t as long as we expected (or we were numbed by the excellent mojitos on offer) and out came this cracking lot.

Vegetarians avert your eyes now.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the epic slider tray. Let's take a closer look shall we?

I am not ashamed to say I needed a little help finishing these bad boys off, the tray was so huge! The 'Boston Bun' (the pulled pork roll) was by far my favourite. Packed full of juicy pulled pork, and plenty of sauce to dribble down your chin. I know amongst all of the outstanding meat on show that this might sound odd, but the buns are incredible, and really make the burgers and rolls shine. The Hub uses a local artisan baker, and they are fiercely proud of their fresh local produce. Quite rightly too, when it tastes this good!

The round up of the other mains...

 The 12 hour slow smoked Cornish beef brisket topped with meltingly gooey Swiss cheese.

The 'Double Double', a fantastic tower of pulled pork and sauerkraut hiding under a smoked pork hotdog, and balanced precariously on a bed of hand-cut fries. 

We also ordered a bowl of pulled pork nachos for the table, as we all wanted a bite, but no-one was ready for the commitment. We needn't have worried, they were huge. Chunky tortillas topped with pulled pork and grilled cheese, with healthy helpings of guacamole, sour cream and salsa.

It's fair to say, we were completely stuffed. All of our meals were of such a high standard, especially considering how busy the restaurant was. The prices were excellent value for the size and quality of the meals, and also the seafront location.

I'm looking forward to a repeat visit, especially to work my way through more of the cocktail menu!