I’ve always been blessed with great friends like my friend Christine who owns a flat in St Leonards on Sea and offered it to us for a weekend break. St Leonards isn’t the most glamorous seaside town and suffers from all the social problems that other places that rely on seasonal trade suffer from. However it’s also a bit of a hidden gem with a thriving art and music scene, quirky little independent shops, and a wide selection of cafes and restaurants with St Clements being the jewel in the crown. It’s owned by ex Caprice Chef Nick Hales and specialises in local produce, primarily the fresh fish bought ashore in Hastings 5 minutes up the road – doesn’t get much more local than that!!
We booked for the Saturday night when they have 2 sittings 6.45pm and 9pm and we went for the latter. I advised them on booking that I was Coeliac and was told just to tell them on the night which didn’t exactly fill me with confidence but any concerns evaporated when we arrived. We were seated and handed the A la Carte menu and the set menu (3 courses £26.50), and asked if we would like water and when we asked for tap they offered to bring a jug of it. I advised the waitress that I was gluten free and she asked somebody more senior to come over and run through the menu with me to advise what was suitable. I have to say the majority of the menu was absolutely fine, a testament to the excellent cooking of fresh local produce no doubt. We also looked through a very comprehensive wine list and as we both intended to have fish chose 2010 Primo Malvasia from Ortona in Italy which stated it was a good choice with fish and they didn’t lie. The wine was dry but with a hint of rounded fruit which sttod up well the the variety of fish we ate. I chose Thai Fish Cakes with Thai salad and chilli jam for a starter whilst the web guru went for Hastings Fishcakes with herb and caper crème fraiche. The Thai fishcakes were excellent with no one spice overpowering and the salad was crunchy and fresh tasting. The web guru devoured his fish cakes in an instant and declared them nearly as good as my fish pie – he always did like to hedge his bets!
For the main course I had Cod Loin on a bubble and squeak cake with a crab cream sauce, whilst the web guru chose Bouillabaise. The cod lin was perfectly cooked and flaked into chunks, the bubble and squeak was crispy on the outside and moist on the inside with a good addition of green vegetables and the crab sauce bought the 2 together in a velvety mouthful. The web guru went through and counted the different species of fish in the bouillabaisse to ensure there was the requisite 7, which there was, and loved the fact that each species of fish was cooked to perfection in the soup. For dessert I had pannacotta with rhubarb and orange. The marriage of the vanilla in the panacotta and the cooked fruit was delicious and the citrus of the orange kep it all very refreshing. The web guru was toying with the idea of cheese when he saw a Welsh Rarebit with red onion chutney on the dessert menu and upon receiving it continued to ask me repeatedly why other restaurants didn’t offer this savoury desert option. Having completely filled every space in our stomach we asked for the bill and were impressed to find it came in at a few pennies over £75 which for the standard of food and drink we thought was fabulous. If you are down that way I would recommend lunch or dinner there without hesitation
No comments:
Post a Comment