His Nibs and I were working together as part of his day job and, after a solid days’ graft, decided to head out into Portishead for a bite of dinner. As is usual for me, when the weather’s warm, it messes with my appetite and I never know quite what I fancy to eat. In order to solve this conundrum, The Man found a little Tapas place called Venga, a real gem of a venue on the high street that serves up chilled vibes, great drinks and tasty tapas dishes.
Thanks to some inside knowledge from his work family, we got a parking spot a couple of minutes’ walk away (via which we saw an Indian and gastropub; handy to know for next time) and mosied over to the very kerb-appeal positive, Venga. To the front is a seated terrace area for al fresco sipping and nibbling, a Secret Garden is nestled to the rear, and inside has a rather snazzy bar and more tables for dining.
We got a really friendly welcome and were seated at a spacious table close to the bar and terrace; from here, I could see the full-height, folding windows/doors that were [blessedly] allowing some cooler evening air into our area. The first item on our evening’s agenda was to get some drinks ordered: a Negroni cocktail for me (£10), and a pint of Mahou lager for His Nibs (£6.50). To cut down on the time I’d take to decide on food I wanted, we took the easy route and had the Tapas Tasting Board (£30 pp at weekends, £25pp midweek); we added a portion of Pimientos de Padron (Padron Peppers, £7) as we both love these morsels.
After a short while, the Bread, Cured Meat and Dips board came out, and we hungrily tucked in. As well as an incredibly fruity Olive Oil, there was a tangy Salsa Bravas and a marvellously thick, velvety Hummus for us to dip the slices of baguette-type bread into. There was a selection of cured meats to dive into as well, and we both loved the one studded with Black Peppercorns. Whilst The Man helped himself to the tiny Silver Onions, I called dibs on the miniature Cornichons and selection of Olives.
Bowls containing Fried Aubergine slices in Cane Molasses, and Chorizo chunks cooked with Fino Sherry made their way over to us; both were delicious, though wildly different – not least because one was meat, one was veggie. I have to be careful how much Chorizo I eat because it tends to repeat on me and give me a bit of ‘acid’ The Man, however, can plough through it like piggies in pannage season! Luckily, these dishes balanced out as I had three of the four Aubergine ‘patties’.
Chicken was the focus of our next two dishes: BBQ Chicken Skewers, and Chicken and Iberico Ham Croquettes. I loved the contrast of the soft Chicken and Ham filling and the super-crunchy outer of the Croquettes, and the skewers were juicy, tender and tasty. Having polished this tasty pair off, we turned our attention to the next dish that had just arrived: Calamari. It wouldn’t be a proper Tapas feast without the appearance of Calamari, would it?
At Venga, Chef produces some of the tenderest, soft Squid rings we’ve had the pleasure of eating. A lot of folks shy away from this tasty seafood minx as they’ve had a bad experience of rubbery, tough, over-cooked Calamari. The reality, though, is that, when done well, this dish is one of the tastiest staples of Spanish Tapas that you can savour – and on this evening, it was a total treat. Simple, garlicky Aioli and a wedge of fresh Lemon was all the accompaniment these Calamari rings needed to have our palates dancing in joy.
Mediterranean dining centres on the tastes and textures, keeping things simple but flavoursome, and the Padron Peppers were a perfect example of this. Laid neatly in a row on their serving platter, the charred skins had been lightly glossed with Olive Oil and scattered with Sea Salt, and all that remained was for us to pop them into our mouths, whole, and discard the short stalks. Mingling with the smoky notes of char were the sweet, gently fruity, flesh of the Padrons; on this occasion we just got the milder ones, rather than the occasional, rogue ‘hot one’ that we’ve had before.
Venga does things its own way, and this was clear in its final offering to us: Profiteroles filled with Ice Cream and Chocolate. Usually, we don’t have sweet Tapas, and would probably have expected something like Churros, so we were a bit surprised to see the Profiteroles! Our surprise didn’t stop us from wolfing our way through the small stack of balls though.
This had been a lovely meal in relaxed surroundings that could easily have been in Spain itself, décor-wise. Portishead, you’ve got a cracking little venue here; I’m more than a smidge jealous that it isn’t here in the ‘Shire!! Hot Wings happily given, and hopefully we’ll see you some other time.
Venga is open Mon-Thurs 5pm -11pm, Friday and Saturday 12.30pm - Midnight, and Sunday 9.30am -4pm. To reserve a table either call 01275 814391 or visit www.vengaportishead.co.uk and hit the ‘reserve a table’ button (give it a couple of seconds to load!).
