October 2007

Eating out Reviews

Green dining

From city to coast, cafe to country hotel, eco-friendly policies on food miles and even furnishings are being embraced, allowing diners to eat out with a clear conscience.

SEASIDE CONSCIENCE

The Place

Camber Sands, New Lydd Road, Camber, Rye, East Sussex.  Tel: 01797 225057

theplacecambersands.co.uk

Our meal in this small hotel brasserie just a stone's throw from Camber Sands got off to a great start: twice-baked goat's cheese and lemon souffle with chilli beetroot, and pan-seared Cornish scallops wrapped in pancetta. 

The restaurant makes a point of declaring the greeness of its ingredients, the menu changes monthly to reflect the season's best.  Fish - from non-threatened species - mostly delivered from nearby Rye Bay.  My fillet of pollock, topped with black olive tapenade on a bed of spinach, was so fresh it fell away at the touch of the fork.

Meat and poultry are sourced from local farms that practise good animal husbandry.  Organic rib-eye steak was perfectly cooked to order and came with a mountain of delicious hand-cut chips.

We shared a pudding - the excellent 'a taste of The Place', comprising a small portion of treacle tart, chocolate brownie with organic stem ginger ice cream and pannacotta.  Heidi Ruge

* * *  £ £