Wednesday 22 April 2009

Weekend in West Sussex - Sunday

On the Sunday we started with a lovely breakfast in the hotel. Nice meaty sausages, crispy hash browns, and some lovely ripe sweet grilled tomatoes. Not too much as we knew we were going for a day out in Brighton, somewhere I had only passed through on my travels with work and hubby had never been to.

Upon arrival in Brighton we first navigated the weirdest underground parking system we had ever encountered, and then stripped off our jackets for a walk along the beach. Wonderful weather meant that the world and his wife were out for the day in Brighton but it just made everything seem more summery rather than crowded if you know what I mean.




We decided that we could happily share fish and chips, so after stalking a few people to see what they were eating, we found what looked like a good contender. Cod and chips once and a can of coke. Carried over to the beach, where we settled down with our little wooden forks. Heaven. Creamy soft fish, crispy batter and hot chips just the way I like them. (horrid picture, sorry about that. I seem to have the fluffiest hair in the world!)


After a couple of hours of wandering the beach and the pier we decided we better head home. However I had spotted a lovely looking place for an ice cream, The World Famous Pump Room right on the beach just about in line with the Grand Hotel. Their ice cream is made on a local farm and they have lots of lovely flavours. OH went for Amaretto and I opted for Lemon Meringue. I know I shouldn't as dairy really does not agree with me, but my goodness it was good. One scoop served in a crisp sugar cone lasted me a good 20 minutes back to the car and out of Brighton.


Sunday night we had dinner in the hotel planned. Hubby had scoped out the menu earlier in the day and said there were some decent looking options. So we settled down (quite uncomfortably close to the next table in my opinion) and placed our orders. Mackerel pate for me, and I actually cant remember what hubby had, followed by roast Topside of beef for hubby and stuffed sea bass with leek, ginger and fennel for me.

First we were served our wine. Id gone for nice Sancerre and the poor waiter took about 10 minutes to get the cork out, snapping it in the process. He poured some and asked if I wanted to taste it. Well I would have done if there weren't tonnes of bits of cork floating in my glass. After speaking to the manager we managed to get them to get us a new bottle. This was followed by them serving me normal pate instead of mackerel. Tasty starters but not overly impressive.

All was about to change. OHs beef with horseradish mash was divine apparently. I wouldn't know, I don't really eat beef so declined a sample. My sea bass however was out of this world. Two fillets of seabass sandwiched together by a slow cooked, soft sweet caramelised mix of leeks and fennel with the not overpowering addition of fresh ginger. Served with saffron potatoes and some buttery cabbage and broccoli, I could have happily eaten this dish again and again.
Sorry about the fact that there is a large proportion of me in the picture. Being very close to the next table I didn't feel overly comfortable taking pictures of the food, so hubby pretended to take one of me, but moved it down to the get the fish instead!

We don't normally do desserts but had to finish off with one as they were paying! OH opted for Baileys creme brulee which he really enjoyed and I had date and ginger pudding. Perfect texture and size, accompanied by creme fraiche to offset the richness. Again shouldn't have eaten the dairy but what the hey!

Overall an enjoyable weekend away. Food wasn't as perfect as I would have liked on the Saturday, but serves me right for not booking somewhere before 4pm on the day.

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