Rooms With a View, and Some
Restaurant James Sommerin has won plaudits aplenty thanks to the wonderful, original fusion of modern British and French cuisine and imaginative mix of textures and flavours, such as smoked eel and herb soup. Ranked highest of any restaurant in Wales in the Good Food Guide and widely tipped to achieve a Michelin Star it’s become a mecca for foodies near and far. But the food’s not the only thing that’s great about Restaurant James Sommerin.
Location, location, location. You’d be hard pushed to find a better situated a restaurant, within a stone’s throw of the capital. Located on Penarth’s esplanade, adjacent to the recently restored pier, it has a stunning, uninterrupted vista over the Bristol Channel and lends itself brilliantly to offering rooms for customers.
A ‘restaurant with rooms’ is hardly a new concept, as it allows guests to kick back and relax during their meal knowing their bed is near to hand, but this is one case where the location cried out for it. Hardly surprising then that opening rooms directly above the restaurant has been part of the plan for Restaurant James Sommerin all along. As James says:
“I started planning this back in 2012 so it’s been a long time coming. The rooms just give that added something. You can come and pay £120 per person for the room and a five-course meal. It gives the diner a different experience because they can relax, enjoy the wine and then just go and crash out upstairs.”
And when they wake up in the morning, there’s the view which can be fully enjoyed in five of the available nine rooms. But those staying in rooms without it won’t feel too hard done by either since all of them are light and airy, have been designed to a very high spec and have a modern, chic and homely feel. All told, the perfect way to round off a night of fine dining.
Restaurant James Sommerin, The Esplanade, Penarth CF64.
T. 029 2070 6559
