The joy of trad pub food at The White Horse in the heart of The South Downs National Park
Park life
Have you visited the South Downs National Park yet? Well, you may not realise it but you most likely have done. You see, it pretty much surrounds our city so to get here or leave here you will more than likely pass through it. There are no signs to say when you enter it, a pity in a sense, but not a pity when you see the proliferation of signage that litters the roads that traverse our beautiful county. Anyway, it is there and it is beautiful, as I was reminded when I was out and about, filming the third episode of International Chef Exchange.
On one leg of the recce we ended up in Ditchling village after a quick visit to the lovely Ridgeview wine estate. I love it there and their fine sparkling English wine has cemented itself as my favourite fizz. After our meeting, lunch was required, so we headed into the village and the White Horse.
Pub dining has become something of a beast since some fool invented the term gastro-pub. I completely understand that the concept has been the saving grace for some public houses, but how I miss a good old pub with some nice traditional grub. So I am delighted to say that The White Horse is a pub with great food that lacks pretence. It also gives great value.
With little time on our hands we went for a main course each and we were pretty divided in that choice between the fish and chips and the steak pie, with one person opting for the rather more fashion led pulled pork burger.
The fish and chips were impressive, generous in size to start with and the fish was encased in a crisp batter that had real crunch. The quality of the batter is the defining thing. Get that wrong and the whole thing fails, crisp batter is the sign that the fish has ben steamed inside a hard case of flour and not soaked in hot fat. The chips were good too, nice and fat, and bless them for not saying that mashed up frozen peas were mushy peas. Get real, chefs! Mushy peas are cooked from dried peas and not your lazy squashed up frozen excuse. Sorry, that’s a bit of a bête vert for me.
The pulled pork was equally well received and the addition of a shard of crackling and a pot of apple sauce made it all the more appealing without treading the dangerously slippery gastro slopes.
I went down the route of steak pie. I like a good pie and all too often they are such a disappointment. I have been known to send back stewed meat on which a separately cooked pastry disc has been artfully placed. Not pie! Not in my book, anyway, is that a bête tourte à la viande? Answers on a postcard please. I digress, and perhaps unfairly as the meat pie at The White Horse was exemplary. To start, it was big, really big. Secondly it was packed with tender chunks of tasty beef, really tasty beef, in a rich savoury gravy. Third and best, the meat had been put in a dish and the pastry cooked on top. Rough puff, no sniggering at the back, where the laminated pastry touched the tasty gravy in cooking, perfection. Indeed it was so good that I might have forgiven poor vegetables had they been poor. They were to be honest better than good, they were exceptional. Rich mashed potatoes but not ruined by too much cream and too much butter, so unnecessary when the dish comes with a rich gravy, oh yes there was extra gravy in a jug on the side.
Excellent white cabbage, just cooked and piping hot, a perfect accompaniment for a meaty pie and finally carrots and parsnips. Now I have ranted about lousy carrots perhaps one too many times over the years, but these really were tasty.
Roasted with honey and mustard, not swamped by those flavours, the two root vegetables almost stole the show from the pie!
Sadly, time was not on our side, nor was my appetite, which had been more than sated by the excellent food. I would have loved to have time and space for a pud and a starter, so a return visit is definitely on the cards. I did have enough room for a pint of excellent bitter though and our place by the log-burning stove was delightful on a cold day.
A few weeks later I took our Dutch chef to the Royal Oak at Wineham. This was one of my favourite haunts when I first came to Sussex. Here we drank great ale and ate decent roast beef sandwiches, sausage and mash, Jerusalem artichoke soups and a scarily large pasty – all very nice and in such a wonderful example of an unspoilt pub. I was delighted to find it so unchanged and charming.
Of course, all these things have their place. I do enjoy some of the city’s pubs that truly deserve the term gastro, the Ginger Pig and Ginger Dog, The Cuthbert, The Forager, The Preston Park Tavern, The Connaught and Busby And Wilds all do an excellent job, I’m merely putting my hand up for something simpler and yet equally satisfying.
The White Horse Pub, 16 West Street Ditchling BN6 8TS
01273 842006
www.whitehorseditchling.com
Follow me: latestandrew
