My wife and I try to get a little time for just the two of us outside the house once a week. Today we headed to Plymouth Hoe and tried Maritimo Wine and Tapas Bar.
What a lovely little gem.
To get in you go behind The Coffee Shack and down a small set of steps, through a door and down some more steps, and through a door into the restaurant.
The decor is simple, rustic, and clean - though I wonder if a little refresh may be in the near future.
We were warmly and swiftly greeted and, despite just being the two of us, offered the seat by the window you can see in the picture. The menus were presented, the daily paella details given, and we were asked if we were familiar with tapas. Assured that we were, though this was our first time in Maritimo, it was suggested that portion sizes were quite generous, and two or three each would likely be sufficient. Our drinks order was taken and then we were left to peruse the menu, which I've pictured below.
While we didn't select a vegan option, it was nice to see a good selection.
I chose the El Chanquete Entero and decided to await the pressure of our order being taken to decide on a second dish. Liz, however, fancied one of everything and with some struggle narrowed down the selection. We had two cheese dishes - Brie Donado Empanado, and Queso de Cabra - one meat dish, Guiso de Pollo y Lentejas, and Patatas Fritas. My pictures of the menu are a bit poor, but you can see them on the website.
As you see from the picture, Lizza was delighted when our selection arrived. As promised the portion sizes were generous and we ended up not finishing the Patatas Fritas, despit them being lovely.
My whitebait (Lizza isn't a huge fan of fish) was nice and crispy, though the aioli was overly gentle on the garlic for me.
The goats cheese with homemade chutney was delicious, the flavor combination working really well and preventing the slab of cheese from being over-powering.
By the time this picture was taken Lizza had already polished off one of the fried brie wedges and declared it delicious. They were nice and the cranberry jam is a traditional pairing. For me the cranberry was overly sweetened, but I do prefer sharper flavors.
The hand cut and fried potato have already been declared delicious, and they paired well with the aioli.
The star of the meal was the chicken with lentils. The chicken was tender and easy to break apart with just a fork, while the lentils were cooked into a lovely softness and mixed with gentle spice and herbs.
A special note should be made of the salad which came with the cheese dishes. There was a nice mix of leaves, and the cucumber, peppers, and onion sprinkled on it were cut really finely so that no mouthful was overly dominated by sharp onion, or pepper. The dressing was mild and flavorful.
Feeling well fed we eschewed dessert, but I did have a double espresso to get some caffeine into the system before we went shopping.
And we took a few minutes to enjoy the view out over Plymouth Sound.
The five dishes, one large coke, one small sparkling water (a local Devon variety), and double espresso plus just over 10% tip came to £45.
We both felt that was a fair reflection of what we had eaten and the experience we had. A return trip is definitely on the books. I think heading over on a summer evening in a taxi may be the best option, that way we can try some wine with the meal - even though I have some long standing prejudices about Spanish wine.
The staff, we met two, were warm and friendly. I liked that they left us to enjoy our meal without being back and forth to check on us.
The location, being down two sets of stairs, makes it unfriendly for folks with mobility issues. Lizza just managed it with her crutches.
The only down side for me was the music. While at a nice discreet level, the choice irked me. The selection of pop songs transformed into Spanish guitar melodies hit the exact point of irritating. That being said Lizza found the music amusing. I cant but help wonder if there is some traditional Spanish music which could be used.
text and pictures by stuartcturnbull pictures taken with Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra