The Sportsman

Haven't been to good updating the blog the last couple of weeks but have been out chowing down at quite a few restaurants as well as getting back into cooking again which has been ace! There's been three standout meals over the last couple of weeks, one was with my brother at Italian restaurant Assaggi for all the wrong reasons which I'll go into next time, a wonderful meal at Arbutus though I ruined it by having Tripe (Disgusting) & the best meal of the lot was at The Sportsman in Seasalter near Whitstable http://www.thesportsmanseasalter.co.uk/.

The Sportsman is a Michelin starred pub which serves local produce as well as lovely ales. It was Daisy's brother Sam whose idea it was to go so I booked a table for sunday lunch & we bombed it down the motorway to get there for 12:45. It's in a lovely part of Kent & The Sportsman from the outside just looks like a nice local pub, very unassuming. On arrival we ordered a local Whitstable ale & peruse the menu which is written on a blackboard. There's lot's of tasty fish & meat dishes & there's probably 3 or 4 things I would quite easily have if not more!

Big Mack

We order at the bar then get shown to our seat where we have lovely homemade bread of Focaccia & soda bread with homemade butter & olives. All very tasty. My starter arrives which is "Smoked mackerel, bramley apple jelly & horseradish on soda bread" which is amazing. The sweetness of the apple jelly with the smokiness of the mackerel & horseradish is delicious! A wonderful starter. Sam had "Slip sole grilled in seaweed butter" which was served very simply by itself but tasted wonderful & fresh & Daisy had "3 poached rock oysters, pickled cucumber & avruga caviar" which she thought was the best of the starters but I didn't get to try any because she only had 3. A little bit gutted. 

Hake

On to mains where I had "Roast hake fillet with cherry tomato sauce & oyster mayonnaise". It was incredibly amazing! The fish was so fresh & the tomato sauce was light & had little hints of lemon thrown in. One of the best fish dishes I've had this year. This was served with sides of new potatoes & mash which were both done to perfection. Sam had the "Roast rack (served pink) of Monkshill farm lamb & mint sauce"which was tasty & Sam enjoyed it but was a little bit disappointed overall. I think he wanted it to be a bit more like a home roast rather then a restaurant style roast, if that makes sense! Daisy had "Gurnard fillet with bouillabaisse sauce & green olive tapenade" which was also delicious. The Bouillabaisse sauce was so tasty & the gurnard was beautifully cooked. It was a bit difficult to decide which was the best out of the fish dishes  but both were excellent.

Crumbles

Dessert was a classic "Apple crumble & Jersey cream" for me, which was tasty & very filling, Sam had "Rhubarb sorbet & burnt cream" which consisted of sorbet with popping candy, a creme brulee & a delicious homemade shortbread whilst Daisy had "Cream cheese ice cream, pear puree & ginger cake crumbs" which was excellent. 

We finished off with a good coffee & some petit fours that sort of tasted purely of butter with a bit of chocolate chucked in. We all pulled funny faces whilst eating them! With the meal I had a delicious house white & a lovely sweet sherry with the dessert & Daisy continued with the Whitstable ale. All very good value, nice friendly service & would definitely go out of my way to eat there again! A wonderful meal & a lovely pub to.