On The Water.. Fine food with a view
The Venue
Overlooking the Isle of Wight is a small beach front town where you can find a great restaurant serving some great seafood. With plenty of natural daylight inside, the atmosphere is relaxing and feels very spacious with upcycled cupboards and comfortable furnishings. With views across The Solent and the Isle of Wight this is an ideal spot for something to eat.
The Food
If you like fish then you are in the right place. Familiar types of fish are available but with On The Water’s own little twist. For a starter I just couldn’t resist to try the KFM (Kentucky Fried Mackerel). Beautifully moist mackerel with crispy seasoned coating was served with an extremely moreish beetroot ketchup and a kohlrabi slaw. Something I would definitely have again.
My wife Inke had the Grilled Octopus, coated in a miso and wasabi mayonnaise and crispy onion on a bed of Asian slaw. A great dish that personally I think could have taken a bit more of a charring on the octopus, but still a dish that ate extremely well.
My eyes lit up.. they had one of my favourite fish (or is it fishes, well who cares) on the menu. The wonderful wild stone bass. Actually known as a wreckfish, they must have had a meeting on the seabed one day and brought in a PR company to find a more attractive name. It’s an aggressive predator feeding not only on other fish, but crabs, lobsters, squid and cuttlefish too.
At On the Water one of the accompaniments the stone bass was served with was pickled fennel. I’m not normally a fan of fennel, but by pickling, it mellowed the aniseedy taste making it much more appealing. A brown crab mayonnaise also backed up the flavour of the stone bass.
Mussels are also a favourite. These were served in an Asian style broth including lemongrass and ginger that you could easily drink from a mug on a cold winter afternoon. The mussels were plump and juicy, another very good plate of food.
Room for more?
Not having an overly sweet tooth, I can usually take or leave dessert, unless there is a sticky toffee pudding or brownie on the menu. Et voila, a chocolate and hazelnut brownie, served warm with a honeycomb ice cream. Decadent brownie and one of the better flavoured honeycomb ice creams I’ve eaten in a while.
Inke chose a salted caramel ice cream, served in a brandy snap basket with popcorn and a chocolate soil. Popcorn and ice cream together.. who’d have thought. What a brilliant idea!
A great selection of wine and cocktails were also served. Staff were genuinely very friendly and quite rare for some restaurants they actually smiled. If you like walking (or cycling) The Solent Way then this is the perfect venue to feast vigorously before or after a long walk while overlooking some amazing views of The Solent and the Isle of Wight.
We dined as guests of On the Water, but all editorial content is my own.
On the Water, Marine Parade West, Lee-on-Solent, Gosport, Hampshire, PO13 9LW
Tel: 02393 59 33 99
