and The Good Food Guide’s South East
“Regional Readers Restaurant of the Year”
2013. Head chef Jimmy Gray has also
been awarded Sussex Young Chef of the
Year in 2013.
Having dined there a few times I jumped at
the chance to do a lunchtime review along
with my regular ‘helper’ Jo. We were lucky
with the day we picked as the weather
was unseasonably warm which meant
that we could dine out on the terrace
that overlooks the restaurants beautiful
garden’s.
On arrival we were warmly greeted
and shown to our table. The staff here
always have the perfect balance of
professionalism and friendliness which
is often lacking in many restaurants.
The terrace was busy, despite it being a
midweek lunchtime and a restaurant you
have to travel to.
I had the good sense to have taken a cab
from Haywards Heath station so that I
could partake in glass of wine or two with
lunch and at the waiter’s recommendation
we started with a delicious 2015 R Rosato,
Aplha Zeta rosé from Verona in Italy, which
was reasonably priced at £20 for the bottle.
Once we had ordered from the seasonal a
la carte menu we were served a delicious
pre-starter which had smoked chicken,
smoked beetroot, horseradish cream
topped with toasted hazelnuts. Yum.
To start I ordered the brawn terrine which
was served with a green tomato chutney,
exceptional crackling and one of my
favourite herbs, tarragon. Jo opted for the
lobster bisque which was pure theatre
when she added the smooth creamy soup
to the bowl of fennel topped with red
pepper and lobster.
For the main event I couldn’t resist another
pork dish, belly of Plumpton pork with
more of that amazing crackling. My dish
came with cauliflower and elderflower
and something I had never tried before –
chicken of the woods. This mushroom has
a lemony, meaty taste. Some think it tastes
like its chicken namesake; but I have heard
others describe the flavour as being more
like crab or lobster. Either way, we were
both blown away by this tasty ingredient.
Jo is a fish lover and had chosen the Brill
served with scallops from Devon, kohlrabi
(from the cabbage family) and black kale.
Her main was great but mine was better.
Despite having had our fill we pushed on to
try a couple of the delicious desserts (the
things I have to do for our readers) and if
this wasn’t enough we were served some
mouth-watering petite fours with
our coffee.
We were exceptionally lucky with the
weather and the benefit of enough time
to enjoy an unhurried, leisurely lunch
in stunning surroundings. I can’t praise
Jeremy and his team enough for the
service and the finesse of the carefully
crafted dishes. I am fortunate that I get
to try out some of the best restaurants in
Sussex and I would put Jeremy’s up there
with the best of them.
B
y Jason Edge
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