Sussex – Page 2 – No Expert …but I know what I like

The Waterside – no not the famous one!

Dinner at The Waterside, the one in Eastbourne on the seafront that is, rather than the way more famous one in Bray on the riverside.

This Waterside is actually a very attractive boutique hotel close to the Pier. There is no formal reception area as the focus on entering is the stylish bar and restaurant. We had booked our table for 7:00 mainly so we could get back to London at a reasonable time, and were shown to our table in the conservatory area – probably ideal in the summer but rather cold in atmosphere and temperature in the winter, despite the heating. So with a bit of persuasion we got them to move us into the main restaurant area, which although fully booked could handle the change if we were able to vacate our table by 8:30.

I do like it when restaurants make an effort with the bread. The Waterside presented us with two different olive oils, some butter and a single piece of bread. Does not sound that great does it, but when that single slice is a delicious piece of mustard bread, I have no complaints at all. Give me quality over quantity anytime.

I ordered the scallop dish for starters, and my companion went for the scotch egg with coronation style chicken and pickled onions, which on arrival looked very nice. However it was totally eclipsed by my scallop dish – Apsleys take note here – not 5 wafer thin slivers of scallop but 5 large juicy beautifully cooked scallops, accompanied by a mustard crème brulée and cashew nut baklava – yes there was quantity here, but it delivered on the quality too along with some imagination. For main course we ordered Plaice and Game Pudding. There was nothing conventional about the Plaice, being served as it was with Dukkah and cauliflower – I really enjoyed this dish. The delicate use of spices worked well, you could really taste the fish and the cauliflower. The potato cake it was served on was also good, really fluffy and light. My companion enjoyed her Game Pudding too, but did feel it was missing something and a little short of gravy. For dessert I had the carrot cake with caramelized banana and nuts and my companion had the more spectacular looking trio of crème brulée ABC (Amaretto – very nice, Bailey’s – subtle, Cognac – too subtle).

The Waterside has one AA Rosette, but in my view actually met the criteria for 2 Rosettes to the letter.

“Innovation, greater technical skill and more consistency and judgement in combining and balancing ingredients are all needed at this level.”

The timing on food delivery and service was quick, so there was no problem vacating the table for the next sitting. It was a shame we had to leave, as it would have been nice to relax in the bar and try out some of their reasonably priced cocktails (well reasonable by London prices at about £6 each). Eastbourne also looked lovely at night, beautifully lit and very grand.

Marks out of 10 for The Waterside

Food 6.8

Service 5.1

Ambience 5.5

UPDATE : April 2011 – Made a return visit to The Waterside to try more of the menu. There were a couple of dishes from the previous visit still on the menu, but enough had changed to make the return worthwhile. I had a lovely Mackerel dish to start, beautifully flavoured with lime juice. Then a Skate and gnocchi dish for main course (not the best cooked Skate, it was a bit stringy, but the gnocchi was very good), my companion had the Plaice, which was perfectly cooked.

We just had to try the Basil Ice Cream for dessert – a triumph. The Waterside is such a good find. I am sure I will be back to try a few more of the chefs innovations.

UPDATE : May 2011 – Just heard that The Waterside has won a 2nd AA Rosette. I did see that one coming. Well done to Lori Parsons and the restaurant team.

Morgans

Another Restaurant in Eastbourne worth mentioning is Morgans, we did a walk in here for their set lunch (for the price of a cocktail in The Waterside). The food was well cooked and seriously good value – check out the picture of the pâté starter which came with hot fresh bread drizzled with olive oil, that alone was worth the money.

So it was a very productive day, with two good restaurant finds.

Marks out of 10 for Morgans

Food 5.5

Service 4.5

Ambience 4

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Thai Marina – The Waterfront, Sovereign harbour

Another visit to the South coast to make the most of our Summer – Eastbourne this time. Rather impressed actually. Eastbourne sea front is like a better kept Brighton. A short drive or a two miles walk along the coast path, heading south and you will reach Sovereign Harbour.

Sovereign Harbour is a huge rather attractive marina, which unfortunately seems to be somewhat lacking in bars and restaurants. The rather small Waterfront complex is where the restaurants and bars are located, the restaurant that looked the most interesting to us was called Thai Marina (only found out its name when we got the bill as the awning hides it and there was nothing on the menu but a logo as far as I could see).

This was a good find, I enjoyed their selection of Dim Sum and the dessert options though limited were good. I had a delicious coconut custard dish and my companion had an attractively presented coconut ice cream. Serving truffles with the Green Tea was also a nice touch.

Very relaxing, especially if like us, you get the weather and can sit out on the large terrace.

Marks out of 10 for Thai Marina during the day

Food 5.5

Service 5

Ambience 5

UPDATE : April 2011 – Made a return visit to Thai Marina, this time in the evening. I found the service to be particularly good. Too much lemon grass spoilt one of my companion’s dishes, but on the whole the food quality was well above average. For my main course I ordered a Green Curry, which was not exactly as expected, much hotter with some red peppers and British Aubergines rather than Thai ones. However it worked, the sauce was delicious. It went well with the lovely fluffy coconut rice. The drinks/wine list was a surprise, it included a really good selection of spirits and several less common wines. We had a bottle of Picpoul De Pinet which complimented my curry beautifully.

UPDATE : May and August 2011 – Another two visits and another two very good meals. The Prawns and the Fish Cakes were perfect, I loved the Snow Crab with Wasabi dip and the Octopus I had was so tender that I managed to cut it easily with my spoon. I also loved the vegetable carvings, they added that extra level of fun to the meal.

Marks out of 10 for Thai Marina in the Evening

Food 6.5

Service 6

Ambience 5

Simply Italian – another option

The Waterfr ont com plex also houses a Simply Italian restaurant, this is part of a small chain of Italian Restaurants. It’s also worth a visit. The Calzone I had was definitely better than anything Pizza Express can deliver and the pasta wasn’t bad either.

Marks out 10 for Simply Italian

Food 5

Service 5

Ambience 5

47 Mussel Row – Littlehampton

I am not keen on doing restaurant walk ins, have had too many disappointments. However sometimes you have no choice and occasionally you are lucky enough to find a gem. We were driving along the Sussex coastline, looking for somewhere suitable, we made a detour to check out Bognor Regis! – nothing looked interesting enough to even get out of the car, so we drove on to Littlehampton. This was much better, with its large Victorian Houses overlooking the park and the sea, and its newer developments overlooking the River Arun and the golf course. There we found a nice looking bistro called 47 Mussel Row.

We ordered Mussels in batter with a garlic dip, good apart from a couple of mussels that were a bit gritty. This was followed by a lovely piece of Skate, which was perfectly cooked.

So as walk ins go, this was most definately one of my better experiences.

Marks out of 10

Food 5.4

Service 5

Ambience 4 (it was a quiet day)

Another good place to visit if your are in the area is Arundel, it is a lovely town and I would recommend taking a 30 minute stroll along the River to have drinks or lunch at the Black Rabbit Inn.

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