Bristol vs the world

You’d think that on the 27th December, stuffing yourself with more food would be the last on anybody’s priority list. But I challenge the fullest of people to remain unhungry after setting foot inside the Ultracomida Delicatessan in Narbeth, Wales.

This lovely Pembrokeshire market town isn’t wanting for cute and quaint shops and restaurants, and from the outside Ultracomida doesn’t immediately jump out. Until you look through the window and start drooling over the selection of meats and cheeses and sweets and other Spanish goodies on display.

And then, at the back of the shop, is the Ultracomida restaurant. And while might look relatively simple (in a nice way), the food is anything but plain.

Between five of us, we polished off the berenjas con miel (cumin roasted aubergines with honey), meatballs, chipirones (breaded, fried squid served with alioli), tortilla, the cheese and meat platters, patatas bravas, and of course some olives and breads. Although all were delicious, my personal favourites were probably the aubergines and chipirones – even my squid-averse sister enjoyed the latter (though let’s be honest, who can dislike anything served with alioli).

And despite the amount of food we’d consumed in the last few days, we couldn’t resist finishing off with the hot chocolate – so thick you had to eat it with a spoon (quite frankly, I don’t understand why this isn’t the norm). Sadly there were no churros available to dunk (representative photo of what they would have looked like in the photo above, to demonstrate chocolate thickness), but it was still delicious. I also may have tried some (a lot) of my Dad’s turrón selection – mainly the one that was described as being a bit like peanut butter. Being a big peanut butter fan, I am slightly biased, but oh my goodness it was amazing.

Sadly the lack of availability was a bit of a theme; visiting towards the end of their opening hours for the day (and possibly due to the time of year), a lot of the dishes had sold out and I think our meat and cheese platters were possibly just made up of what they could pull together. We enjoyed the food we had, but if you want to make sure you get your pick of the dishes then I recommend getting there early.

That minor quibble aside, Ultracomida is well worth a visit next time you’re in the Tenby area. Friendly service, relaxed and unpretentious surroundings and really good food – perfect!

And despite how full you are by the end, I challenge you to not be tempted to take a souvenir of your meal home from you when leaving through the deli.

The Details
Ultracomida
7 High Street, Narbeth, SA67 7AR
http://www.ultracomida.co.uk/page/restaurants/narberth
Open Monday-Saturday, 10-5pm (last orders 4:30pm). Deli open until 6.
Closed Sundays

Photos all courtesy of Gourmet Gorro