Fishcakes & Ale is the latest offering from the people behind Mumbles' Cake and Ale. But this latest addition to the seafront is more than just fish and chips, but great pies, sausages and handmade Thai fishcakes.
Its opening day was a sell-out and there were queues outside so I decided to see what all the fuss was about - and it did not disappoint. The shop is nestled on Newton Road it's a great location, just a few footsteps away from one of the city's popular walking stretches of Mumbles promenade. You can read more about plans to light up the seafront here.
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The interior has a modern take on a traditional style fish and chip shop with a wide open waiting area and a fresh and vibrant vibe. It's mainly a takeaway but there are some seating areas. In the future, there are plans for a click and collect service.
On this visit I opted for the regular cod fillet (£7) with a small portion of chips (£2.50) and a starter of calamari with fresh lemon aioli (£6), for a total of £15.50. I'd say that's slightly more expensive your traditional chippie but the brand's focus is on premium quality. The food was ready to go in virtually seconds.
What separates this place from others though is the wide range of goods. You'd expect to see different size fish portions, a small and larger cod fillet option was available at £4.50 and £7 with cod goujons at £7. You can also get haddock for £8.50. However, different options are tempura king prawns (£6.50), crispy cockles (£5), whitebait (£5), battered Halloumi (£6) and breaded scampi (£6.50) were all on offer. You can also pick your batter, there's a choice of classic beer batter or gluten-free. There's also local Gower Pork sausages or pies with fillings like chicken, leek & cider pie (£4.10) to the 'Gower Cwtch Pie' made up of tender beef slowly cooked with leeks and Welsh horseradish. There were also handmade fishcakes of Thai cod and prawn served with a sweet chilli dip or lemon and haddock served with lobster mayo.
And if all that isn't enough, they serve alcohol, ice cream and soft drinks or if the neighbouring Joe's or Verdi's aren't your thing, then there's summer trade, with tubs of GG's Ice-cream priced at £1.95 for small pots to entire litre tubs (£6.95) being offered.
To takeaway, you can get draft beer and cider for £2.60 for half pint and £4.95 for a full pint, alongside a wide range of bottled and canned wines, beers and ciders, all between £4 to £4.95 in different measurements and units.
So how was the food? The calamari was a lightly battered and smelled great. It comes in premium packaging which is clearly labelled. Before you even opened the cardboard box of fish and chips, you could tell it was fresh, the smell of the cod and chips powering through.
The battered cod fillet was a reasonable size and it is great to have the option to opt into a lighter bite at £4.50. The chips are made from potatoes sourced from Welsh farms, the chips were fluffy and a nice addition to have alongside the fish. For me, these were too soggy and need a bit of work but I was really impressed with the fish choices and the variety of the other options gave it a something different from other similar venues.
Fish Cakes and Ale at 14 Newton Road, is currently open between noon and 2pm and 5pm until 9pm, Tuesday to Thursdays and Friday and Saturday being 11:30am until 9pm.
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