Beth Williams
We were very much looking forward to trying Geshmak in it's new Caerphilly location. Booking was simple, just messaged on Facebook, and booked a table for 2 at 6pm on a Saturday evening.
We arrived and were greeted by a lovely friendly face, taken to our table and given menus to have a look at. There was a good variety of options, including vegan, veggie, meat and fish options. Though I will add that the menu was very fish heavy, it could have benefitted from another meat dish.
I had made a note on the booking that I was gluten free and was told confidently that most dishes can be catered to a GF diet. This was a wonderful thing to hear.
A few minutes later the server returned to take our drinks order. We asked for a drinks menu but were told it was on the wall near the door. However, being in the back corner we couldn't see the menu from where we were sat, so just ordered a G&T and a beer so as not to have to stand over other diners to see the drinks menu. It would be worth having menus to give out, or have them above the bar for all to see.
After a few more minutes we then ordered our food. I ordered the chicken dish, which has a creamy mushroom sauce with chips and vegetables. My partner ordered the confit duck, which also came with chips and vegetables.
About 10-15 minutes after ordering, we spotted the Specials boards on the wall behind us. Neither of which were brought to our attention prior to ordering, which was a huge shame as we both would have preferred options from the Specials board. I will put this down to the staff being fairly new, but in future, it would be a good idea to make people aware of the specials, especially as the table we were on did not have a view of the boards unless you craned your neck around or stood up to see them.
Our mains arrived and looked good. Although we both commented on the fact that both dishes would have benefitted from a different type of potato. The chips were french fries, and were quite dry. A mash, dauphinoise, fondant or even gratin potato would have gone far better with both dishes. Also, we both had the same greens, which appeared to be cabbage, so I think they must serve the same greens with most dishes.
One downside to both dishes were the sauces. My plate was swimming in the creamy mushroom and leek sauce (see photo), which was incredibly watery. So much so, that it was almost impossible to eat without it dripping off every fork-full and splashing back on the plate. If the sauce was even a little thicker it would have been great and would likely have allowed me to taste the flavour of the sauce a bit better. My partner said the same about the jus with his duck. It just ran straight off the duck when he poured it on. It is almost like they were not reduced at all or did not have any thickening agents added.
The dessert was really a delight though, the basque cheesecake was delightful and the compote with it was wonderfully tart alongside the creamy cheesecake. I could have eaten another serving without hesitation.
Overall, we were a bit disappointed with the food. The mains were about £20 each, which for a chicken breast, with veg, what could have been frozen chips and a very watery sauce, seemed like quite a lot. Overall we spent £76 and tipped 10% on that.
One other thing that that tainted the experience a bit was the smell of burning oil/fat which was quite frequently wafting out of the open kitchen door. This meant that when we left, we could smell it on our clothes and hair, and at times when we were there, it was so strong it made my eyes burn.
We had high hopes and we really do hope that after a couple months the bistro will find it's feet in the new location and do really well. We hope it was just an off night or teething problems, and hopefully we can try Geshmak again in the future and really enjoy what they have to offer.
