Describing itself accurately as an ‘urban style bar and bistro’ Oblò has forged a new path in Eyemouth hospitality and has carved its niche as a highly popular meeting and eating place on the harbour side. The long-established sister business of Giacopazzi’s, award-winning fish and chip restaurant, takeaway and ice cream parlour, sits just below the bistro and the two are run with great success by partners Kerry Waddell and Peter Giacopazzi.
The recent addition of an upstairs exterior glass extension gives Oblò a superb contemporary architectural feature, offering customers the chance to sit outside enjoying the view over the impressive facade of the Maritime Centre, previously the fish market, on the quay.
The name (meaning ‘porthole’ in Italian) has always intrigued me but on a recent visit the place truly exuded a feeling of being a little corner of Italy. Many well-known evocative Italian brands feature highly in the chic bar such as Illy coffee, San Pellegrino water and Peroni beer. The menus too give more than a nod towards sunny southern Europe with a strong emphasis through the day on interesting pizzas and pasta. Food is served all day, from breakfasts, coffees and indulgent cakes to lunches or snack meals, with imaginative dinners (think Scottish beef, Eyemouth crab, parmesan mash) served in the restaurant area on Wednesday to Sunday.
At lunch I decided to combine our two cultures by beginning with a platter of continental meats, olives, hummus and focaccia. Perfect for sharing, this offered an ideal antipasto course, followed by the signature dish, Goujons of Eyemouth Haddock with Hand Cut Sumo Chips and Tartar Sauce. So often, a treat of fish by the sea turns out to be a severe disappointment but not at Oblò. The haddock was spanking fresh in moist and thick flaky chunks, eight enormous chips served with panache in a mini steel frying basket, the whole light and crispy. A fresh side salad was the perfect complement while across the table, seafood pasta featured sweet mussels, prawns and smoked salmon in a creamy bisque.
For dessert I ventured back towards Italy and chose the unusual sounding ‘cannolo’ ice-cream from a list featuring such exclusive and original flavours as Irn-Bru among the rum and raisin and fruit varieties. Cannoli are decadent Sicilian pastries, filled with ricotta and crystallised fruit. I can truly say that you must try this magnificent ice-cream before you die – I only wish I had ordered two scoops instead of one! Creamy and crunchy all at once, each mouthful revealed snippets of candied fruit, tiny dark chocolate chips and chunks of rich shortbread. Heaven on a spoon. Perfectly brewed coffee ended a delicious meal made only the more memorable by charming and friendly service.
Oblò certainly offers a tempting window onto a wonderful mixture of the best of Italian and Scottish food cultures and one that I shall want to return to often.
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