Ty Clare, run by chef Clare Williams, runs monthly pop ups at Peppers gallery and restaurant in West Street, Fishguard.
So far diners have enjoyed a taste of Morocco at from Fez to Fishguard; Indian at Go Tell Your Naan and Greek at It’s all Gone Greek.
Candlelight and cosy vibes. (Image: Finley Fells)
We are invited to from Fishguard to Fuji, an evening of authentic Japanese food.
For this pop up Clare has invited good friend Chef Rumiko from London to help in the kitchen and the pair produce an authentic and simply delicious Japanese feast.
We arrive at Peppers to find it festooned with Japanese bunting with origami cranes on all the tables.
The tables were adorned with origami cranes. (Image: Finley Fells)
There is a busy, buzzy atmosphere, the candlelight is flickering, if anything it’s a little too dark, and the Christmas tree is lit up and baubled.
Before we even get into anything off the menu a series of complimentary nibbles appears from the kitchen.
Mugs of steaming miso. (Image: Finley Fells)
We are treated to mugs of steaming seaweed-laden miso, beautifully presented vegetable sushi and a pot of moreish salted edamame beans.
moreish edamame. (Image: Finley Fells)
For starters we order gyoza and ramen.
Perfectly presented sushi. (Image: Western Telegraph)
The gyoza are piping hot and deliciously crispy, two come filled with succulent king prawns and one with flavoursome vegetables. There is a tangy sauce for dipping and on the side comes a salad of wilted pea shoots and a memorable dressing of yuzu and peanut that I would love to recreate at home.
Gyoza and ramen for starters. (Image: Western Telegraph)
My dining companion choses the ramen, a blend of Japan and Pembrokeshire as they come in a warm Shoyu broth with sauteed Pembrokeshire cockles.
She loves the salty umami broth with a little kick of chilli and spring onions and says that eating the cockles reminds her of swimming in the sea in Wales.
“I rate it. I would do it again,” is her conclusion.
Next come the mains. I order the salmon and a fragrant plate containing three moist chunks of salmon in a sweet teriyaki sauce arrives at the table.
The salmon is cooked perfectly and is beautifully tender, its flavour complimented by the sauce. It comes with sesame coated sticky rice and broccoli with a Japanese twist.
The freshness of the broccoli and the sticky rice offset the rich teriyaki sauce perfectly.
My dining companion orders the glazed aubergine donburi.
Although not a traditional donburi in terms of presentation, it comes as two huge slabs of aubergine in a soy and honey sauce, accompanied by mizuna and pickles.
Adding the finishing touches to the aubergine donburi. (Image: Finley Fells)
She says that it is perfectly cooked with a good balance of flavours and polishes off the lot.
We decide we can squeeze in pudding. I go for the mochi, a trio of mini ice cream scoops coated in glutinous rice. They arrive oozing ice cream and covered in edible petals. There’s a pleasing selection of different flavours from fruity to caramel and it finished off the meal delightfully.
A trio of mochi made the perfect pud. (Image: Finley Fells)
My dining companion goes for the matcha and white chocolate roulade, a fluffy sponge which she said was not ‘overly matcha’ with a light white chocolate ganache, again dusted with petals.
Matcha roulade. (Image: Finley Fells)
At £25 for two courses and £30 for three Ty Clare from Fishguard to Fuji offered an authentic taste of Japan at a very reasonable price in a lovely ambiance.
For the next Ty Clare pop up, see tyclarefishguard on Instagram or TY CLARE on Facebook. I’ll see you there.
Ty Clare pop up is run by Clare Williams. (Image: Finley Fells)
AloJapan.com