Sussex success

My first attempt to review dinner at Thorne’s was thwarted. We arrived a little early to find the owner outside in the dark, calling all the evening’s bookings to say that dinner was off due to a power cut. It was a far more worrying thing than losing the dinner business as downstairs the fridges and freezers were packed with lovely Sussex produce in the food and grocery department of this fairly new business and an extended cut would create huge wastage and cost a small fortune. Fortunately for them the power cut was not too long, but we decided to wait a week and come back when there was less of a panic on.

So exactly a week later we returned to find the lights on and someone home. Thorne’s shop specialises in local produce, and so does the restaurant upstairs, which is open every day for breakfast and lunch but currently only on Fridays and Saturdays for dinner, which they plan to extend as soon as possible. Which is great news as dinner at Thorne’s is something I would now recommend any day of the week.The room is very nice indeed, the look is rustic crossed with loft and the open kitchen creates a great atmosphere. The service too is first class, attentive and well informed, which is ideal when you are dealing with produce that you need to boast about.

We started with good bread and excellent oil and vinegar and a bottle of sparkling water. The menu is short and very much dependent on what is fresh and seasonal. Mr R started with a chicken liver parfait. It came with cornichon, a good home made chutney that was mildly sharp and some toasted brioche. He declared that the parfait was as good as it gets and I pinched a morsel and had to agree.

I chose a classic combination of scallops with black pudding, cauliflower puree and parsnip crisps. It was a generous portion with three plump scallops that lesser restaurants would almost certainly have cut in half and great black pudding speckled with barley and not over spiced. The cauliflower puree had good flavour but was a touch watery and the parsnip crisps made a great alternative to the usual crisp pancetta that comes with this combo.

“I also commented that I would be happy with Mr R’s starter and mine as my dinner, they were certainly both generous enough”

Mr R pondered over a main course but finally settled on a rump steak. Good choice too, rump is my favourite when it comes to flavour and this beast of a steak certainly delivered on that score. But he also found it very tender and perfectly cooked. He liked the salad too and the peppercorn sauce which came in a tiny gravy boat. The chips, Jenga style, were less to his liking but he did eat most of them when he discovered that with the sauce they were delicious.

I chose a duck breast and I chose it because it came with creamed spinach. I love spinach and this was not only delicious but generous. I know how it cooks to nothing so often a spinach portion is pretty mean but here I had loads. I had nice roast fir apple and purple potatoes too, buttery in flavour and sweet. The duck was sliced, succulent and saucy. It was a proper dinner, eschewing the fashion for dainty portions and we both raised our virtual hats to that as a concept.

The presence of a sticky toffee pudding on the menu made my choice rather more limited as Mr R always has that. He liked it too, saying that it was more fudgey than usual but still good. I went for cheese and I am happy to say that it was a great selection, all of which the waiter could name and describe in detail and in portions that were once again generous.
We had a bottle of Spanish red from the bottom end of the list. I know it was not local, but have you tried much Sussex red wine? The last one I had tasted strongly like Germolene!
With starters around £6.50, mains around £13.95 including side dishes and puds £5.50 and cheese £6.50, we were impressed by sensible pricing for great food. The space is good too and would be ideal for larger parties.
Thorne’s, 39 Upper Gardner Street, Brighton, BN1 4AN 01273 573 660 www.thornesfoods.co.uk