Oh no! Surely not more scallops? I'm afraid so, folks! Last ones for a while, I should think, I'm pretty much scalloped-out!
Our second visit to Rye this Festival, this time to a little bistro we know quite well already on The Landgate. If you only visit one place during the festival week, make it this one. As well as their usual a la carte and set lunch menus they offer a special choice of scallop dishes available as starters or main courses. There were eight of us in the party for lunch, which must have been a bit of a challenge on the last weekend of the festival as the little dining room was full, and indeed our meal was not a swift one, but that was fine with us. The food came out hot and everyone got theirs at the same time.
The Landgate Bistro is a delightful little place on the very edge of Rye, essentially made out of two small cottages. The set lunch menu is excellent value at £12.95 for two or £15.95 for three courses. I recommend the potted rabbit with homemade piccalilli and sour dough toast, it is tasty, light, and different enough from the norm to be worth a try even if you're not keen on rabbit. It is pretty to look at and absolutely delicious!
The jewel in the crown here during the festival is the trio of scallops starter with fortified wines to accompany them. This includes a scallop in red & green pepper sauces with a glass of Madeira, scallop tartar with lime juice and tomato with a glass of oak chipped white port, and a bacon wrapped scallop on caramelised onion with a glass of pale sherry. Our waiter made sure we all understood which glass went with which scallop, this turned out to be important because each was chosen very carefully to match and enhance the various flavours of the dish (which were quite distinct, but came together very nicely). You could order three of any of these as a starter in its own right, or six with a selection of seasonal vegetables as a main course.
We thought we'd be a bit unconventional in our ordering, which can't have helped the kitchen but they took it entirely in their stride. Some of us ordered the trio, then a starter, then a main course, but some ordered just a single dish from the light-bites section of the menu. Can you guess which group I was part of?
We liked the sound of the potted rabbit, so we slotted it neatly between the trio and our mains, and this proved to be an excellent decision. Now, I like piccalilli, I like rabbit, I like toast, so I was clearly onto a winner here. It was as light as a feather, creamy but meaty, and topped with a sweet sauce a lot like hoi-sin. Lovely!
Between us we ordered an awful lot of scallops on Saturday. Several of us (me included) chose the main course versions of the scallop starters, but my Mum went for Romney Marsh lamb done in a Moroccan style with couscous, Anthony had fish cakes, and Bex went for fillet of sea bass so there was quite a variety of flavours, colours and textures on the table at once. Needless to say, the scallops were perfect, the bass had crispy skin and lovely white flesh and the lamb was just pink enough to be really moist.
I'm sure there were lots of different deserts on the menu, but I declined the chance to look as I decided I was quite full. It therefore came as a bit of a surprise to hear myself about a minute later agreeing to share a chocolate brownie with pouring cream! The waiter told us that the brownies were made to order so there would be about a twelve minute wait for them, which suited me just fine. Let me tell you, I'd wait an awful lot longer again for a chocolate brownie as good as that. It was supposed to come with brandy soaked plums, but they had run out of plums and were serving it with kirsch soaked black cherries instead. I don't think it's over stating it to say that this was the best brownie I've ever tasted. Gooey in the middle, a light crust on the outside, rich, light, tasty....mmmmm! Wish I'd ordered my own, to be honest.
Still my favourite place to eat in Rye then, The Landgate Bistro looked after us very well indeed. We weren't rushed at all, despite being the last table to leave. Not the most formal restaurant, but very welcoming, very friendly, and well known for serving excellent local produce. We'll be back soon, I'm sure.
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