The Sportsman – Review

Tags

1 Michelin Star, British, Michelin Star, Pub, Review

The Sportsman
Faversham Road,
Seasalter, Whistable,
Kent CT5 4BP
Tel. 01227 273 370

Food type: British

Food rating: 7/10

Nearest tube: –

Website: The Sportsman

Keeping with this week’s theme of travelling to the ends of the earth (or at least obscure places) for good food, I proudly bring you Stephen Harris’ Sportsman gastro-pub located in the sea-side town of Seasalter, Kent. The best way to get here from London is to take the fast train (1 hour 10 mins) from London Victoria to Faversham station followed by a 15 minute cab ride to the pub.

So why is it worth travelling all the way to the corner of the country to eat at a gastro-pub, what with the many excellent ones we have in London? The one word answer to that question is ‘Passion’. When most chefs appear on TV to talk about seasonality and sourcing local products, it does not hold a candle to what chef/ owner Stephen Harris is doing. Whilst some 3* restaurants in this country are not even bothered to bake their own bread (I am looking at you Fat Duck and Gordon Ramsay) they not only bake their own bread, but also churn their own butter, grow their own vegetables, rear their own pigs and cure their own ham. A cynic may claim that all these DIY stuff are gimmicks. I mean, churning your own butter? So with that in mind, I set off to see whether ‘the juice is worth the squeeze’.

If you want to read about chef/ proprietor Stephen Harris’ training and rise to fame well I am sorry to disappoint you. There is none. Nada. Zilch. Zip. Mr. Harris is a self-taught, self-trained chef. He got the original idea for the Sportman while dining at Chez Nico. Whilst the food was ‘mind-blowingly good’ as Harris puts it, he felt that it was unfortunate that not many people would be able to experience such cooking due to the intimidating atmosphere and more importantly the cost associated with such a restaurant. As such, he set out with a mission to recreate the food in a pub setting. The only catch was, he had no culinary training and had to learn by eating at the top restaurants in London including of course Marco Pierre White and Gordon Ramsey.

The original Sportsman opened its doors in November 1999 and since then has gone from strength to strength including picking up a Michelin star. During its early days, Harris’ food ethos was already in place – sourcing ingredients from farms and producers around the vicinity. The turning point for them, was the employment of chef Dan Flavell to help cope with their ever expanding business. Indeed, as their business flourished, this allowed Harris to start out various projects that have seen them producing their own er… produce. In fact, this project is still on-going and will be expanded upon in years to come.

One thing for sure – the pub is not going to win any awards for décor, at least not without a complete makeover.  From the outside, the pub looks dirty and rundown – its white painting clearly having taken its toll from the wonderful British weather.  Floors are wooden as are the large tables (made from reclaimed timber) which have nary a table cloth in sight. In fact the only thing you will see on the tables are some serviettes (that’s right – no napkin for you), cutlery and a vase with a flower. There is plenty for you to do whilst you wait for your food – books to be read, chess or checkers for you to play… or you could just down a couple of pints of the wonderful Whitstable ale on offer.

The menu changes on a daily basis and is scribbled on the blackboard which is visible when you enter the pub. Being out of London, the prices of both the food and wine are a refreshing change from the extortionate prices you will find in London. For example, when we visited, Starters were between £5.95 – £9.95, Mains £14.95 – £21.95 and Desserts £6.95. A tasting menu (the number of courses varies but they do feed you very well) is available on Tuesdays to Fridays and is priced at £55. You do have to book the tasting menu in advance. Like the menu, the wine list is also neatly written on the blackboard with most of the bottles under the £20 mark. Some of the mark-ups, or lack of, are unbelievable – for example a bottle of Dom Perignon 1999 vintage is priced at £135 which is pretty much what you would have to pay retail.

Tasting Menu:

Rock Oysters, Home-made Chorizo
˜˜˜˜˜˜
Pork Scratchings, Apple & Wholegrain Mustard Dip; Pickled Herring, Gooseberry Jelly, Horseradish & Soda Bread
˜˜˜˜˜
Bread – Sourdough, Red Onion & Rosemary Foccacia, Soda bread; Homemade Smoked Sea Salt Butter
˜˜˜˜˜
Baked Oyster, Jersey Cream, Gooseberry Granita
˜˜˜˜˜
Native Lobster Soup
˜˜˜˜˜
Salmagundy
˜˜˜˜˜
Seasalter Ham (cured in December 2007)
˜˜˜˜˜
Turbot Braised in Vin Jaune with Smoked Pork
˜˜˜˜˜
Crispy Lamb Belly, Mustard, Mint Sauce
˜˜˜˜˜
Roast Rack of Milk-fed Monkshill Farm Lamb, Braised Shoulder, Broad Beans
˜˜˜˜˜
Elderflower Iced Lolly with ‘Cake’ Milk
˜˜˜˜˜
Local ‘Fruit Salad’
˜˜˜˜˜
Rhubarb Sorbet, Shortbread, Jasmine Tea Jucket with Raspberry Sauce & Breakfast Cereal, Raspberry Tart, Chocolate Brownie

Rock Oysters, Home-made Chorizo

The meal began with a simple, tasty rock oyster topped with home-made chorizo. The oysters are supplied by the good people from Whitstable Shellfish Company which Mr. Harris favours to deliver him shellfish in perfect condition. Indeed, that was certainly the case – the oysters themselves exceedingly fresh, bursting with the brininess of the sea to complement the sweet, spicy heat from the tasty chorizo, although if I am picky, the sausage could have been diced off to spread its paprika flavour. (6/10)

Pork Scratchings, Apple & Wholegrain Mustard Dip; Pickled Herring, Gooseberry Jelly, Horseradish & Soda Bread

More nibbles followed. First, some very more-ish pork scratchings served with an apple and wholegrain mustard dip. These had terrific flavour, probably because the pigs are fed with scraps from the kitchen in addition to any regular feeds. Impressed, I had no other option but to ask for seconds which they duly obliged (with a ‘threat’ that if I did not finish the rest of the food on offer the chef would be very mad). (8/10) A second nibble of pickled herring canapé was equally good – the balance of the heat from the horseradish and acidity from the gooseberry jelly spot-on to match the fish. (7/10)

Bread – Sourdough, Red Onion & Rosemary Foccacia, Soda bread

I don’t normally consider bread an entire course but it might as well have been here. Along with their famed sourdough and Irish soda bread was an even better Foccacia with an immensely crispy crust and interior which was moist and fluffy. I often criticize the seasoning (or lack there of) of bread, yet I could find no fault here – each bread robustly seasoned. (8/10 bread) With these came their home-churned butter with smoked sea salt, which incidentally they also make themselves from the local sea water.

Baked Oyster, Jersey Cream, Gooseberry Granita

A second helping of oysters was offered, this time a single plump, fat, mollusk baked with a little jersey cream and then topped with gooseberry granite. I felt the addition of the granite to be ingenious adding contrasting temperatures and textures as well as acidity to cut through the richness of the cream. No salt was added, and none was needed given the natural brininess of the oyster itself. (7/10)

Native Lobster Soup

Lobster soup had good depth of flavour, garnished with a little bit of lobster meat and minced chives.  As a personal preference, I prefer my lobster soup (or bisque or whatever you call it) a lot creamier but this was still very well made and intense. Perhaps, the addition of the lobster meat was not needed, but certainly did not distract. (7/10)

Salmagundy

I hardly get excited when I get served a dish which consists solely of vegetables. After all, with the unpredictable and horrible weather we get here, and the lack of sunshine, it is hard to get top notch produce. As such, it came to me as a huge surprise that a local dish of Salmagundy made from different vegetables from their own farm, a little curry butter, cured ham and a poached egg was remarkably tasty. This dish proves two things – first that we can indeed grow great vegetables with a little TLC (tender loving care) and second, many posh restaurants are lazy, money-grabbing mercenaries who don’t really give a rats @ss about proper sourcing of ingredients. (8/10)

Seasalter Ham

 

December 2007 cured ham was described to us as ham cured in the style of Parma ham but bore more than a slight resemblance with its more illustrious cousin, the pata negra. As admitted, this is still an on-going project and there is still some refinement needed before it can stand toe-to-toe with the Iberico ham – the ham here a touch harder.

Turbot Braised in Vin Jaune with Smoked Pork

Braised Turbot with a vin jaune (a yellow wine from the Jura region of France) with a little smoked pork (home-made need I say more) was about the quality of the fish. When a dish is as simplistic as this, there is really no place to hide when it comes to the quality of the fish. Whilst not hitting the same heights of the turbot I had in Germany, this was an improvement compared to the turbot served in most restaurants in London. This is hardly surprising as unlike most restaurants, the fish is bought in on a daily basis. The creamy, sour, aromatic vin jaune sauce provided a nice background, highlighting the sweetness of the fish. (8/10)

Crispy Lamb Belly, Mustard, Mint Sauce

The main course of salt marsh lamb comes in two parts – they try to use every part of the lamb to prevent wastage according to my waitress. The lamb here is supplied by Monkshill Farm which is located nearby. In fact, you can see the farm from the pub. They also get their aforementioned pork and beef from here as well. First off, lamb belly is served crisp, sandwiched between a thin layer of mustard before it is breaded and deep fried. The lamb was unimaginably tender and had very good flavour with the freshness of the mint sauce providing balance to the gamey lamb. I often find mint sauce rather overpowering even with lamb, but here it is very well made, and the amount of mint used well judge. (7/10)

Roast Rack of Milk-fed Monkshill Farm Lamb, Braised Shoulder, Broad Beans

The second part consisted of a singular pink roasted lamb chop and a more intense braised shoulder simply served with some seasonal broad beans and lamb jus. This was perhaps weaker of the two dishes and although the components were individually well cooked, it could have done with a sauce which packed more punch. (5/10)

Elderflower Iced Lolly with ‘Cake’ Milk

A little pre-dessert of elderflower lolly with ‘cake’ milk helped resuscitate us after a long boozy lunch. I don’t really know what ‘cake’ milk is but it did taste nice – its floury, creamy texture complementing the cold, flowery, fruity notes of the elderflower lolly. (8/10)

Local ‘Fruit Salad’

The thought of fruit salad immediately brings up the idea of cheap, poor quality, stagnating fruits served free at the end of a meal at a Chinese restaurant. Thank goodness, the fruit salad here bore no resemblance whatsoever to the Chinese freebies. Seasonal berries and cherries (see… they rhyme!) of all shapes and forms sat in a small basket tuile accompanied by an accomplished lemon verbena ice cream. The fruits themselves had distinct, almost explosive taste and despite the tuile sitting on top of a raspberry coulis, it still managed to maintain its crisp texture.  (6/10)

Rhubarb Sorbet, Shortbread, Jasmine Tea Jucket, Raspberry Tart, Chocolate Brownie

Last but not least, a final flourish of sweets which were larger than your average petit fours. Rhubarb sorbet and a little yoghurt topping was a good idea but not my favourite – the sorbet needed a lot more sweetness to balance its tartness. Shortbread was very fine with a crumbly, buttery, loose texture. My favourite of the lot was a jasmine tea jucket (a bit like a panna cotta) with a little rosehip syrup and breakfast cereal crumble. Raspberry tart with custard was decent as was a little chocolate brownie (7/10) [note: if you look carefully at the pic you will see me doing something naughty – jotting down notes with a notebook!]

Coming to Sportsman, there was a lot of hype to live up to, given the good reviews that they have received as of late. I was honestly blown away by the food put in front of me. Ok, so this is not 3* cooking but the beauty of the meal is that everything is simplistic and effortless. The food is not fussy nor is it pretentious. There are no foams, no triple reduced sauces and no pretention. Chef Harris has wisely kept things to a bare minimum which allows the beauty of his produce to sing.  This is definitively food that you want to get stuck into. On reflection, the tasting menu at £55 was an absolute bargain given the amount of food and its quality. The only problem with the Sportsman is its location which is pretty hard to get to without investing some effort. With the newly developed bullet train line from King’s Cross to Ashford, perhaps foodies should set up a petition for a similar line to be built between London and Whitstable.

And to answer my earlier question – The juice is definitely worth the squeeze.