As a Holyhead lad I was a frequent visitor to the Seacroft in my youth. It is a handy watering hole near the stunning beach at Treaddur Bay and it seemed a good place to turn a visit home into a mini-break. In former times there was a separate bar and restaurant - now it is almost all dedicated to The Anglesey Grill.
When my favorite meal appears on the menu as ' "Fish & Chips” - fresh Timothy Taylor beer battered haddock £12-50 with chunky chips, crushed peas and sauce tartare', I start to worry. Why the quotation marks for the fish and chips and the mix up with the words tartare sauce? And maybe why £12.50 as well.
The meal didn't start well. Before the traditional eating part could begin I first of all had to remove the watercress from the plate and put it to one side. Then I had to carefully remove all the flakes of salt that had been generously dropped on top of the fish.
The fish was tasty but sadly far too watery. The water in the fish made the bottom of the batter pretty wet pretty quickly and therefore a little unappetising. The batter, made with Timothy Taylor beer, was OK but lacked any strong flavour. I was tempted not to use the lemon as it was so damp.
I had actually gone for fries on this occasion, just for a change, and they were really enjoyable with a great texture and taste.
The peas had a lovely minty hint to them which didn't dominate them. The tartare, although a bit too finely processed, has a good balance of flavours.
Salt and vinegar - which were straightforward to sprinkle and pour were provided on the table.
Unfortunately the plate was cold when it arrived and as I'm a slow eater the food was luke-warm by half-way through the meal which didn't help at all.
The ambiance of the place was very pleasant with just the hum of conversation on a busy Saturday night.
The menu also appears in Welsh - the translation of fish and chips is "Pysgodyn & Sglodion" but I suspect the fish would still be too watery.
