The Half Moon - Warninglid, West Sussex

We are lost. The night is black as pitch, we seem to be moving down a country lane that winds through a forest. I say 'moving' but 'careering' perhaps would be a better choice of word. The tight packed indistinct blur of tree's just visible through the twilight veil of mist enclosing us. We are really shifting, we hit a bump in the road and I feel myself momentarily lifted from my precarious perch, lighter than air, before slumping back again heavily at a crazy angle. I frantically tighten my grip, and swallow down the acid taste of bile rising in my throat, fighting the wave of nausea that's threatening to overcome me.

I look around in the darkness, just able to pick out the features of my fellow passengers in the feeble glow offered by the sat-nav up front. They don't acknowledge me. They're all grim faced, eyes fixed forward, fighting their own solitary battles against the sickness, enduring this ride from hell. We drunkenly swerve around a tight bend, I can feel the G-force pressing me hard against the side of this, my tomb. I seriously might throw up, it passes... but only just.

Suddenly out of the darkness ahead I see the glimmer of lights, habitation and hope. Momentarily dazzled by this glimpse of apparent salvation and almost punch drunk from nausea I'm thrown forward as we come to a crashing halt, braking hard and skidding on the gravel. I'm thrown back again hard with a final jolt. The internal light comes on, illuminating the carnage in the back and adding to my disorientation. The taxi driver turns unruffled, smiling and says in broken English "Twenty five pounds please" we pay thankfully... desperately, practically tumbling out of the cab into the cold autumn night. We say nothing at first, survivors shock perhaps. Our tormentor abandons us in a spectacular display of revving engine and wheel-spinning, tearing off into the gloom at breakneck pace, two crimson dots rapidly sinking into the inky cloak offered by the forest at night, which seemingly surrounds us completely.

It's Halloween night, and we stand at a crossroads in the small village of Warninglid, the brightly lit and attractive Half Moon pub stands before us, practically a beacon in the gloom. I can hear muffled laughter, the clinking of glasses, an occasional guffaw. At this moment, It's the best sound I've ever heard and all four of us stumble crazily towards it, like survivors from a shipwreck.

The heavy oak door closing behind us, we step from the night chill into the cosy glow of a really rather nice, good-looking, very old but obviously renovated pub. A fire glows in the grate, It's buzzing and very busy with diners, belying it's seemingly remote location. We catch glimpses of another attractive bar area as we are greeted and shown to our table in a newer and loftier dimensioned dining room beyond the bar. I step carefully around a very interesting feature in the floor, an extremely old well, glazed over with glass and lit. I can see water at the bottom. It's obviously fine to walk across it, but I have an irrational, almost primal fear that the glass will crack and I'll plunge down and drown.
There are four of us dining tonight. The long suffering Girlfriend or "GF" as she is known. We are accompanied by friends Ron and his wife Lyndsey.

The menu is interesting offering a mix of good hearty British gastro-pub classics such as Beef suet pudding, calves liver and beer battered cod punctuated with the odd 'off-piste' dish such as lamb tagine. We pick at some rather nice olives and study the menu. So far, so good.

Myself and Ron order starters, our respective partners holding off for now. These arrive quickly. My 'celeriac and white onion soup with bread' is a rather large portion, it's good and hearty but fairly unspectacular.

Ron has chosen a much better dish, 'king prawn scallops, pea cream and black pudding' it looks fantastic, the massive scallops surrounded by a lurid green sauce. I try some, and it's very good, the scallops meaty and perfectly cooked and working well with the rich black pudding and the more subtle flavour of the pea cream.

On to the mains, and my first choice of 'Steamed beef suet pudding' has unfortunately been popular this evening and sold out. I order 'Confit belly pork, mustard sauce, dauphinoise potato, green beans' instead. The GF and friends order variously 'Lamb tagine, lime cous-cous and mint creme fraiche', Beer battered cod and chips with tartar sauce' and 'Calves liver, smoked bacon, bubble & squeak, savoy cabbage and Madeira jus'.

We don't wait too long for this to arrive, and it all looks fantastic. My piece of Pork Belly is absolutely massive, with perfectly crisp puffed up skin it hasn't been messed about, simply cooked with the mustard sauce and offered dauphinoise potatoes and green beans it's exactly what you want from a decent gastro-pub really... Classic, uncomplicated and filling. I'm happy.

In fact, all of the portions are whopping. The beer battered cod on Lyndsey's plate is huge, with a mound of very nicely cooked chips, again as with my Pork Belly dish, competent assured cooking, nothing fancy -but solid.

On the other hand, a quick sneaky fork full of Ron's Calves liver dish confirmed that it tastes as good as it looks, liver cooked just so, complimented well by the other ingredients and the rich Madeira jus. It's probably the best dish ordered.

The weakest is the GF's Lamb Tagine, it's very nice but tastes a bit too 'safe' lacking any real punchiness or stand out qualities.

Sitting back and composing ourselves after the seriously huge portions consumed, we have to wave away the waitress proffering dessert menus, asking that she try again in ten minutes or so.

At last, recovered... but only just; on the waitresses recommendation I order a 'Citrus trio - lemon cheesecake, mojito sorbet, orange sponge pudding'. Ron and Lyndsey decide to share a classic sticky toffee pudding with ice cream. The GF goes for the more savoury delights of cheese and biscuits.

My dessert arrives, and I'm impressed. It's basically three, almost full size desserts. My dining companions are aghast and seriously doubt my capacity to eat it all. Happy to prove them, I adopt a workmanlike attitude and dig in. The Mojito sorbet is v.nice and refreshing sitting in its brandy snap basket, out of the three desserts on the plate its probably the best. The cheesecake is also good, well made, but doesn't stand out. The orange sponge pudding is the weakest, needing much more of an orange hit to impress.

Lyndsey and Ron are happy with their sticky toffee pudding, I try a bit and it's very good. Excellent in fact, I love this classic dessert and have eaten them all over the place. This one is a very good example, rich and sweet.

The GF's cheese and biscuits contains a fairly generous selection of British cheeses, and the owner did pop over to describe what they were in detail, but by this point being half cut on the incredibly reasonable wine, for the life of me can't remember what they were, apart from one which was the very moreish Blacksticks Blue.

At this point, before coffee's, myself and Ron decided that a glass each of LBV Port would round off the meal nicely. I mention this, as when the bill finally arrived I couldn't believe how good value the whole meal was. Drinks when we arrived, two bottles of Wine, Port, desserts, coffee's....£77 per couple....including tip!! Seriously good value the food was very good, extremely competently cooked with glimpses of brilliance. As I mentioned before, it's exactly what I'd look for in a decent gastro-pub. If your ever in the Gatwick area. I recommend the Half Moon strongly. Visit.

A strange end to the evening unfolded. The village of Warninglid, being a little remote from the nearest habitation offered by Crawley and Gatwick, and being a Saturday night meant we had to wait 30 minutes for a taxi to arrive from civilisation. Whilst waiting, we wandered outside. It was well into the witching hour, and as the last guests left, the pubs door locked behind us and the lights that had welcomed us so warmly earlier flickered off, extinguished. All was now still, dark and quiet, the sound of the wind rushing through the surrounding tree's the few houses in the village dark. Kind of creepy, especially as it was Halloween. Headlights suddenly approached in the distance down the forested road and our taxi emerged. Offering silent thanks that it wasn't the total lunatic from earlier, and getting the impression that at the very least this driver was in the possession of a driving license, we drove off into the night and home.


The Half Moon

The Street.
Warninglid
West Sussex
RH17 5TR
Telephone: 01444 461227

http://www.thehalfmoonwarninglid.co.uk

Essex Eating in Brighton - The Ginger Fox.

I'd booked a table at The Ginger Fox for a late dinner on the way home from our couple of days in Brighton. It's a Gastro Pub, owned by the Gingerman group, who also run the rather excellent Ginger Pig in Hove, which I raved about here.

The Ginger Fox is located about 15 mins drive outside of Brighton, a mile off the motorway, and a short way down some country lanes.
Pulling into the car park in the early evening sun, the pub presented a rather picturesque scene - with the thatched roof, incorporating a fox chasing a game bird, and the building overlooking some lovely countryside. The tables outside looked perfect for a lazy afternoon drink.

Entering the pub, we proceeded to the bar and enquired after our table, slight hitch - my reservation had disappeared, but luckily for me - there was a table for two available so no harm done.

After nibbling on some rather nice bread, I ordered Braised Pig Cheek Ravioli, with Gooseberries and Braising juices to start. The ravioli was nicely cooked, the pigs cheek contents strong and meaty tasting, but not entirely sure it worked with the gooseberries, the sourness of the fruit not being balanced with any sweetness, but all the same it was pretty good.
The GF declined to order a starter, as is often her crazy custom.

Onto the mains, I ordered off the chalked board of specials, Pumpkin seed crusted loin of Venison with Gamekeepers Pie, and Courgette puree. This was an altogether more successful dish, The Venison nicely seared, served moist and pink, the gamekeepers pie containing more tasty offerings of venison in a rich gravy, not entirely sure about the courgette puree - it looked nice, but didn't add a lot to the dish - although, I'm not the biggest courgette fan. But overall, very nice indeed.
The GF ordered Roast Butternut Squash with Blue Cheese and Watercress Lasagna. There's no photo of this because a) she stuck her fork in before I could get a photo, and b) Lasagna isn't the most photogenic dish anyway. In any case, her considered opinion is that it was just OK, not bad - but not good either. I tried a bit and wasn't sold on it either.

Onto desserts, and these were a lot more like it. I ordered Cherry Oat Cake with clotted cream, and it was a winner, warm, moist and sweet with juicy cherries layered throughout. Great stuff.

The GF chose hot Chocolate Fondant with Blackberry sorbet, and once again, it was really nice. I've eaten a fair few fondants and made them myself fairly regularly, (Recipe Here) and this was a good example, being baked lightly on the outside, but molten chocolate within. Paired with the rather good Blackberry sorbet, it was a nice way to finish the meal.

So, the verdict. Pretty Good. I would visit again if I was visiting Brighton or the Downs as its perfectly placed to pop in on the way back, being just off the motorway to London. It's also a lovely example of a gastro pub, the food is interesting, some dishes working better than others.

The thing is, I wanted to like it more, I had such a great meal at it's sister restaurant, the Ginger Pig in Hove back in February and was really looking forward to eating there. Perhaps I built it up too much in expectation, perhaps on the night I didn't choose the best dishes, but in the end The Ginger Fox was good, just not as good as The Ginger Pig.

The Ginger Fox
On the A281 at the junction with the B2117,
West Sussex.
BN6 9EA.

Tel: 01273 857888

http://www.gingermanrestaurants.com/

Essex Eating in Brighton - Chilli Pickle.

Last week saw myself and the GF spend a couple of days in Brighton. As is usual for me, I had planned where to eat beforehand, enlisting the help of fellow Food Blogger, Brighton based Graphic Foodie, who had highly recommended Chilli Pickle, which is located in The Lanes, so on our first night that's where we headed first.

But let's rewind a little. If you've never visited Brighton, The Lanes where Chilli Pickle is located are an ancient maze of streets and alleyways, packed full with small independent shops. Luckily Graphic Foodie had warned me that unless I knew the area well I should allow some time to find the restaurant. Bearing this in mind, I decided to scout out the exact location during the day, cunning and sly as I am.
Thank God I did.

I walked around and around, I couldn't find it at all....."But this IS Meeting House Lane?!!!" I muttered darkly turning the map and studying it closely for the umpteenth time. Finally, after resorting to randomly plunging off down alleyways - I stumbled across Chilli Pickle, Success!....taking careful notes of surrounding landmarks I vowed to return directly later that evening.

So, with a spring in my step, a Peroni or two sloshing around in my belly and the GF in tow I strode confidently through the balmy evening in Brighton - plunging into the lanes like a man who knows exactly where he's going, I headed for Chilli Pickle like a heat-seeking missile. Stepping up to the entrance, no problem at all. Time spent in planning is rarely wasted, as they say.

Sitting down at our table, we surveyed the restaurant and very pleasant it was too. Low lighting, modern, extremely busy and buzzing...all good signs.


We ordered some Poppadoms to eat as we studied the menu, these come in two varieties Dry Roasted or Fried, the former being quite spicy. These arrived with a selection of pickles and chutneys.....but any similarity with whats on offer at your run of the mill Indian Restaurant ends there - these chutneys and dips were all freshly made and tasted fantastic.

For starters I ordered the Veg Kadak Kebab, which are spicy vegetable dumplings with melted cheese and a roast tomato and ginger concasse on the side. These were lovely, with a really unusual texture - almost like deep fried shredded wheat! (probably doing the Chef's a complete disservice with that description) But, they were lovely.

The GF ordered Aubergine and Potato Pakora, which the menu describes as crispy fritters. These came with two chutneys, tamarind and mint. She really liked these, I had taste and I liked them as well. Combined with the dips, a couple of really nice starters. But, it was the Mains I was really looking forward to.

I'd heard previously about the Award Winning Oxtail Madras, and couldn't wait to try it. The Menu description describes this dish thus "Sussex Oxtail pieces gently braised in a spiced rich gravy served with cumin pilau and spring onion riata." Slightly perturbed by the 4 red chilli symbols next to its entry on the menu, signifying pretty damn hot - I stuck out my chest, Man'd-up and ordered it anyway.

It arrived and I tucked in with gusto. Wow. Spicy! but nice....so nice in fact that I discarded knife and fork and picked each piece of Oxtail up in my hands, biting, slurping and gnawing every single piece of meat off the bone. A Vulture couldn't have done a better job.
Delicious - really good stuff - but phew - hot.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the table looking at my performance with the Oxtail aghast, my GF was eating Paneer Tikka Masala in a somewhat more refined manner. The menu describes this dish as "Indian cheese tandoor baked, served in a Tikka Masala sauce with green chilli pickles and chapattis" - It's heat quota is denoted by a solitary chilli - so fairly tame then. She really liked this, again - I had a taste (taking a break between picking at oxtail bones) and thought it was pretty nice, not as nice as my dish. But good.

Sighing and patting my now rather substantially enlarged belly, I studied the dessert menu. As I've mentioned before, I have a real weakness for any dessert containing syrup, toffee, treacle.....or in this case Maple Syrup. I greedily ordered the Maple Gulab Jaman, which is Indian sweet curd dumplings soaked in spiced maple syrup served with cardamon ice cream. Take a look at the photo, It was as delicious as it looks. Really good dessert. But......

The GF picked the winner here, Pistachio Kulfi with cherry compote and honeycomb. Honestly, this was incredible. Really simple dish, but the flavours went together so well. She was really impressed with this, as was I - when I managed to get my spoon in there and steal a little taste.

Oh - a word about the drinks. As befitting this excellent contemporary Indian Restaurant Chilli Pickle stock a very impressive list of quality lagers, including stock from the Meantime Brewery in Greenwich to various German wheat beers.

Overall - We had a first class evening, the food was really excellent, the staff friendly and brisk and it was fantastic value at around £60. Bargain.

So thanks again to Graphic Foodie for the recommendation, and now I'm passing on the recommendation to you....with bells on.
When your next in Brighton eat here.

Chilli Pickle
42 Meeting House Lane
Brighton House
BN11HB

tel: 01273 323 824

http://www.thechillipicklebistro.co.uk

A trip to Brighton....Bills Produce store and The Ginger Pig

Yesterday, having nothing else planned we drove down to Brighton for the day. You must realise that I plan days out with military precison. I research things like which places to visit, where to park, how much does it cost....and more importantly - where to eat.

Too many days out (and trips abroad for that matter) are blighted by wandering from one restaurant to the next, perusing the menu, peering through windows trying to make a snap judgement on whether your going to get heaven on a plate or a cracking case of food poisoning. Therefore I like to know where I'm eating before I even arrive.

Generally, the evening before any trip I can be found scouring food critic reviews, blogs etc compiling a complex list composed of ticks, smiley faces, stars, arrows pointing to choice pieces of information and ad-hoc maps. It no doubt represents to a casual observer the tortured scribblings of a lunatic. But it's a goldmine of info.

Yesterday my scribbled research was time well spent, and I struck the bullseye, not once but twice.

Having arrived in Brighton and parked on the sea-front by 8-30am (I like to get out, and be at my destination early!) The first order of the day was breakfast.

My seemingly scribbled by a child research indicated that the place to grab breakfast in Brighton is Bills Produce Store a deli come restaurant of warehouse-like proportions with produce of all kinds lining the shelves that run almost the entire length of the building with benches, tables and chairs positioned around the center of the store.

We grabbed a table, and perused the menu. Knowing that I was in for some serious walking later....and with the girlfriend in tow also; no doubt, some serious shopping. I thought I'd better order something substanial from the myriad of breakfast options on offer (From porridge to Smoked Mackerel and everything in-between) - and went for 'Bills Breakfast' - a Full English affair.

My partner (having eyes bigger than her belly) ordered the same.

In seemingly the blink of an eye, two plates of 'Bills Breakfast's were deposited on our table by the friendly waitress along with two cups of excellent coffee.

Under that huge Basil leaf in the photo lurks two toast, two poached eggs, bacon, tomatoes, mushrooms and for good measure some really nice sausages. Now that's what I call a breakfast! and yours for £7-50, which isn't bad at all considering the quality and organic credentials of the ingredients. True to form, my partner couldn't finish hers, and purely in the interest of preventing needless waste - I stuffed the remains of her breakfast as well. Fantastic.

Setup for the day - we wandered the streets and lanes of Brighton - our little bellys (ahem)totally full, I honestly couldn't even think about food until with dusk falling, at 6pm, our minds turned to Dinner.

I'd heard about a Gastro-Pub called The Ginger Pig located in Hove. Not realising it was over two miles away, we walked down the seemingly endless seafront and after an epic journey, on top of walking around all day from 8-30am we practically collapsed through the door when we arrived. But arrive we did - and wow. What a treat!

The interior decor is very nice, and the food is seriously good. Sadly I couldn't get any photos inside, as my camera phone takes awful pictures under 'intimate' lighting conditions, and turning the flash on appeared just a tad too obtrusive dazzling other diners as they ate. I'd be very interested to know how my fellow bloggers deal with this.

An initial nice touch was the carafe of tap water already on the table, to my mind - water is water and the age of diners being fleeced for some ludicrously overpackaged, alpine mountain spring water; that's been hand strained by virgins and then; flown 2000 miles to your table but, is inderscernible to the free stuff that comes out of your tap is so over dahlings.

Foregoing starters (hungry but not that hungry after Bills Breakfast) I ordered a Rabbit, Smoked Bacon and Mushroom Suet Pudding - it came with Champ, and I ordered some buttered leeks on the side.It was quite possibly, one of the best mains I ever eaten anywhere. The suet crust was gorgeous and thin, it was crammed with tender pieces of rabbit and bacon - sublime. I ate the lot and just about stopped short of licking the plate.

My girlfriend ordered the Chickpea and sweet potato curry, and she said it was also very good. (She refused to eat Rabbit, a much loved childhood pet and traumatic memories of Watership Down have seen to that.)

On to Desert - and I ordered from the specials board, Chocolate tart with quince sorbet. My Girlfriend ordered Peanut butter parfait with Praline and Marshmallows. Now, my desert was competent - good even. My girlfriends desert was amazing. Ice cold, smooth peanut butter parfait, with a square of warm spongy marshmallow and a thin slab of crunchy praline. The taste and texture combination was amazing. My partner declared it the best desert she'd ever tasted, and I'm inclined to agree - its up there.

Altogether a really great gastro-pub, intimate, warm and buzzing - fantastic food with an emphasis on local produce. Price wise - not bad at all, my main was £10.50 which is dirt cheap, especially considering it was possibly the best main course Ive eaten anywhere!

So, my gastro pre-planning prevailed once again....into the night we departed Brighton, and drove back home to Essex, smug, satisfied and with me smiling and belching contentedly in my partners direction with the question literally hanging in the air "Does that smell like 'Thumper' to you?"

Bills Produce Store

The Depot

100 North Road

Brighton

BN1 1YE
Tel: +44 (0)1273 692 894

The Ginger Pig

3 Hove street

Hove

BN3 2TR

Tel +44 (0)1273 736123