The Midland Tapas and Wine Bar | 2021 Menu Review

 

The Midland Tapas and Wine Bar situated in Beaumaris, Anglesey, is the perfect lunch, dinner or cocktail spot. Personally, we have only ever attended for dinner, but we have been wowed by the food every single time. We first visited in October 2020, review can be found here, and we loved it. We loved our visit so much that the following year on our annual trip to Anglesey we decided to head back for a late dinner. Our reservation was for 7:00pm, which I deemed as late because I was heavily pregnant and starving by this point. 

As I was pregnant it meant that a lot of our favourites were off the menu or I had to ask for adaptions to be made, such as overcooking chorizo etc. The Midland's staff were incredible and adapted the menu to suit my needs as everything is made to order. 

First up on our tour of the 2021 menu was the Cod Croquette (£5.00). Delicious cod mixed with potatoes, coated in breadcrumbs, topped with aioli and served with a salad was simply perfection. A fresh mix of flavours and very tasty after a long day exploring Beaumaris. 

Now I am guessing a few people will have their own thoughts on this, but personally I see no issue with a sip of alcohol whilst pregnant and baby already being cooked (I was about 34 weeks pregnant at this point). I LOVE espresso martinis and red wine, but could not enjoy either of those things. Instead, I ordered an espresso martini and a coke, had two sips of the espresso martini, died a little inside, and then handed the remainder over to Steve who was enjoying a carafe of red wine (rough going for me).

Dish number two this year was a delicious chicken and chorizo paella (£8.90). The same dish we had last year and again the flavours were perfection. I love a good paella and in some places it just does not have enough flavour and all you can taste is the rice, but The Midland's version topped with the lemon was *chef's kiss* perfection. 

Dish number three was the albondigas a la jardinera (pork meatballs in a rich tomato sauce with vegetables & basil - £7.50). This dish was incredible with the Beaumaris breads (below) and I definitely recommend having a side dish such as breads or potatoes to scoop up the sauce, because it was amazing. The meatballs were cooked to perfection and melted in the mouth. The vegetables were just peas and I felt the dish did not need these as it just seemed a very random thing to put in there. On the whole it was a good dish and reasonably priced. 

Dish number four was the Chilli & Garlic King Prawns (£7.40). I do not know if this is because I was pregnant, but this dish just was not as tasty as the year before. Steve really enjoyed it, but I just could not get the flavours or the sauce to work and I felt it was too watery for my own tastes, whereas last years definitely came in more of a garnish that was added to the flavour of the fish, whereas this just watered it down. Unfortunately, I was not a fan this year and I do not think it would be a dish I would order again. 

 

Dish number five was The Midland Burgers (£8.60). The best dish of the night for me. Three 50g Welsh beef burgers with peppercorn sauce (just works perfectly together) and served on a brioche bun. Before being in a relationship with Steve I was not a fan of the brioche bun, I do not really have a sweet tooth, but after a few years of Steve convincing me they're good and a pregnancy where I had a huge sweet tooth, I am now a big fan and a bit of a brioche snob. The buns were soft with just enough sweetness to not overpower the peppercorn and beef. All cooked to perfection and a great dish for sharing.

Dish number six was the tasty patatas bravas (£5.90). Twice cooked new potatoes with a spicy welsh bravas sauce and topped with aioli. Very tasty and great dipped in the tomato sauce from the meatballs! I don't think you can go wrong with patatas bravas and tend to order it every time we go. I do think we should branch out during our next visit and give one of the other potato dishes a try! Reasonably priced for the portion size too.

Dish number seven was the Beaumaris breads (£5.50). A selection of breads made locally served with an olive oil and balsamic dip. Bread is bread, but it was all scrumptious, nothing was stale and the oil and balsamic worked very well together. We used the bread to mop up the leftover sauce from the meatballs and we highly recommend this as a little tip. Definitely the best idea we had during our visit. The breads are also good for mopping up other sauces too or sharing whilst you are waiting for your dishes to arrive. 

We had slightly more food on this visit and chose less adventurous dishes, because I was pregnant. The staff were brilliant during our visit and the restaurant and bar were really busy, which we loved to see after COVID. Despite how busy The Midland Tapas and Wine Bar was, we did not feel overcrowded or cramped in and it was a great atmosphere. The previous year we sat in the back near the kitchens, which we loved as we saw our food being freshly prepared so if you fancy a spectacle whilst dining, definitely try and pre-book the back. 

Another 10/10 visit to The Midland Tapas and Wine Bar and we're very excited to go and visit their The Midland Street Cafe when we head to Conwy on Saturday as part of our Castle Casanovas challenge and to visit the esteemed Conwy Castle, which I am very excited about as I have not been to Conwy since I was about 14! 

We hope you enjoyed our overview of the 2021 menu and we will link to our 2022 menu review as soon as it is live. If you want to keep update with our adventures don't forget to follow our Instagram page (@thelittlelifeoft) as always our content lands their first! 

Until Next Time

T 

............................