[Disclosure: We were invited to try some small plates at The Orgia. We paid for our drinks]
Orange wine gets everywhere these days, and Cornwall. But whether you’re drinking it in a bougee bar in London or a quiet wine bar in Falmouth, the biggest problem – for beginners like me – is that it doesn’t always come with much of an explanation.
We’re supposed to all love it so we can be as cool as the people who wax lyrical over skin contact and funky flavours, but if you don’t know what to expect when you try it, you are likely to find that orange wine is a one hit wonder that you never revisit, scuttling back to the comforting familiarity of more mainstream favourites.
Why is why you need somewhere like The Orgia, where the staff don’t just serve you orange wine, but genuinely want you to enjoy it when they do. Which means while you’re tucking into their selection of small plates, sipping on a warm-up cocktail, you’ll find the mystic array of wines in front of you explained by someone who very much would love it if you didn’t only try orange wine once.
But, if you genuinely don’t like it, will happily let you off and recommend something else to sip as you soak up the low lighting and quiet corners of this Bacchanalian hideaway tucked between the shops on Falmouth High Street.
By day you could be forgiven for walking straight past The Orgia, its tiny frontage belying the inside that extends further and further back as well as downstairs, with low lighting and dark decor giving a sort of speakeasy vibe.
It calls itself a Bar and Kitchen, so this isn’t just a watering hole, and it’s also very open about aiming to be Cornwall’s first wine bar with a dedicated skin contact wine list, as well as a focus on biodynamic and natural wines. But fear not, I can confirm from experience that if you desperately don’t want to go down this route, there’s still plenty of reason to visit.
The first of those is their cocktails. While I love a spicy Marg, The Orgia’s Dirty Margarita knocks plenty of the more generic versions out of the park, with a decent kick to the chilli salt on the rim and a pop of pickle juice bringing all the savoury vibes, while Jamie’s Cornish Negroni also gets the nod of approval. So much so that he’s tempted to have another until we remember what happened last time he went down the Negroni route and learn from the traumatic memories of the aftermath.
The menu that accompanies this joyous riot of a drinks list is similarly full of choice, dancing between snacks and small plates consisting of trusty favourites and a few options that are a bit different. Pickled anchovies, one of our faves, are a must-have, and we go for a portion of focaccia with balsamic and oil. Because carbs are life, and an excellent friend on a Friday night fuelled by nice wine.
As tempting as ham croquettes or their mushroom equivalent sound, we swerve them in favour of red Thai curry mussels with more focaccia. The broth is fragrant and tasty, the mussels fresh. As is the crab in crab and cheese samosas that are a hybrid of samosa and toastie, oozing with gooey cheese and perfect dunked in the smoky chipotle ketchup underneath.
We can’t resist big fat chilli and garlic prawns, and while buratta with green olive chimichurri is calling my name, Jamie will not be swayed away from a baked camembert (which you’ll find available at The Orgia on Tuesdays for just a fiver, so put that in your diary). While baking a camembert shouldn’t be hard, I regularly marvel at how many places either don’t cook it enough, or nuke it into oblivion leaving a weird oily separated mess. Not here, praise be.
Cocktails done, we’re on to the wine, and are guided through the options so we end up with one we’re told is slightly more accessible for beginners like us. It’s hard not to find the enthusiasm of our server infectious. She’s a self-confessed orange wine fan, and is on a mission to get other people to like it, whilst accepting that some just simply wont, but at least they’ll have tried it and been given the best chance to fall in love with it like she did. Who better to ask for recommendations and to ensure you have a great first experience?
By the time we leave our seat in the cosy back corner (reluctantly, I might add, but occasionally we know when to stop), the place has filled up and plenty of people are tucking into everything from the tapas to wine, cocktails and whatever else is on offer.
There’s a laid-back attitude to The Orgia that lends itself to making you feel relaxed – a combination of decadent decor and low lighting, casual but well executed food, great drinks, but maybe most importantly the attitude of the staff.
Couple that with what feels like a different deal every day, from small plates to orange wine offers and more, in an honest acknowledgement that times are hard and we’re all looking to enjoy great food and drink while battling tight budgets, and you can’t really go wrong.
