Jeremy’s Restaurant

Jeremy’s At Borde Hill is one of the region’s great dining experiences. I was introduced to chef Jeremy by author Peter James almost 30 years ago and have been a fan ever since.
Jeremy is a wonderful character who has been passionate about great food, local produce and seasonal ingredients for as long as I have known him. He’s a fairly modest fellow too and happy to share his success with his wife Elvira who is a pastry chef beyond compare and runs the successful Elvira’s cafe next door.
In recent years he has also made Jimmy Grey his head chef, an excellent decision as Jimmy, despite being so scarily young, is as deeply passionate about food as his mentor. Jimmy and Jeremy took part in the Brighton And Hove Food & Drink festival and Latest TV project International Chef Exchange with me and that programme contains some of my best food memories of the last decade.
This January it seemed like it was time to go back to the restaurant and experience the food without the intrusion of cameras and the pressure of making TV. I was joined for my outing by my dearest friend Ms C. Ms C is no stranger to Jeremy’s and rates it as highly as I do, so she made the ideal companion. Like me she also likes a meal on a plate that will satisfy the eye, the nose, the taste buds and, dare I say it in these days of tiny portions, the appetite.
Food fashion dictates a delicate appearance these days but Jeremy is not one for serving dolly’s dinners and I was confident that we would not go home hungry.
To start we had their brilliant bread. This time we both gave the delicious walnut bread a miss, it is very moreish but very filling, and went for the fennel seed which had the best crust I have ever enjoyed, so crisp and yet light. Soon after an amuse-bouche of onion bhaji with yoghurt, mint, and cauliflower, very delicious and tantalising as an amuse-bouche should be.

Ms C started with tiger prawns which came on a risotto-like base and were covered in a blanket of mango gel. It was such a pretty dish and one that put a very large smile on her face. I could not resist the squid and it was an excellent choice. The tubes were griddled and the tentacles fried in the lightest of batters, all served in a bowl of delicate broth with griddled kohlrabi, monk’s beard and scallop corals. It was generous too, as I have come to expect, no one bite wonders here but enough to go back again and savour.
Ms C then chose the pork loin which she loved, excepting the sweet potato which is not to her taste, and she declared the sauce to be of the finest quality. I resisted reaching over to taste the potato, it’s not that kind of dining room, which does bring me to a good point. Jeremy’s is a smart restaurant that whilst looking stylish has not gone down the route of so many others with the total post-industrial vibe and matching music. Here all is calm and sophisticated, not po faced by a long chalk, but elegant, refined – in keeping with the food, to which I now return.
I chose the lamb, rack and belly, or breast as I know it. Oh how delicious can lamb be, the breast unctuous and soft, the rack pink and sweet and for me a fragrant oil dressing and dark and sticky gravy. I savoured every mouthful and I only just managed to resist running my finger across the plate to enjoy the last of that darkly intense sauce.

Over the years I have become aware of a pudding that most claim to be the best in the world but seldom does this prove to be true. Sticky Toffee pudding is a much loved dessert, but too often it is a leaden slab of over sweet gunge. If that floats your boat then good for you. For me it has to be Elvira’s recipe at Jeremy’s, not that I have ever enjoyed a full portion, as in a habit that could sometimes be described as lunacy, I always allow my guest to choose first, and at Jeremy’s they always choose the sticky toffee pudding!!! Ms C adored it, light and intensely flavoured in a tar pit of dark and glossy treacly sauce. I looked on with envy, but not for long as my dessert of meringue and rhubarb parfait with liquorice was magnificent, a jewelled gem of a pudding that combined so many of my favourite flavours.
Our delightful waiter chose two glasses of wine for me that perfectly matched my food and Ms C drank water. We ended our evening with a pot of tea for her and a double espresso for me and wolfed down some amazing passion fruit chocolates and jellies.
In all these years Jeremy’s has never failed to delight and surprise me, the cooking is fresh and inventive, the presentation exquisite and the service and welcome impeccable. I cannot wait to go back, maybe alone so I can finally have that pudding to myself.
Jeremy’s Restaurant, Borde Hill, Borde Hill Gardens, Haywards Heath,
West Sussex, RH16 1XP. 01444 441102, www.jeremysrestaurant.co.uk