Review: The White Horses, Rottingdean

The White Horses Hotel in Rottingdean used to be a pretty typical boozer and meh restaurant on the seafront of the postcard village of Rottingdean, along the way from Brighton. Recently bought and re-vamped, now it’s like walking into the set of an Agatha Christie, all tasteful art deco furnishing, cane backed chairs and bright blue seaside skies through the picture windows. It’s a marvellous setting for a relaxed lunch and we came on a Sunday to try.

Being Sunday, we mostly picked the roast beef. They’ve put a good deal of effort into the makings of a good Sunday roast. The beef was very bravely pink, giving it a lot of great flavour. I will admit that I’ve had more tender roast beef, and if you’re going this pink you want it tender as possible, but I’m splitting hairs here as it was certainly the right quality for the price-point. Loved the Yorkshire pudding, a puffy and un-greasy specimen which they had topped with a scoop of lusciously slow-braised beef cheek. I’ll whisper it: that was the best bit! That said, the gravy was top-notch and plentiful. Roast potatoes were waxy, good on flavour if not crunch. And a roasted chunk of hispi cabbage with blackened edges accompanied well, along with sturdy roast carrots full of earthy flavour.

I couldn’t help adding a sticky toffee pudding on the end. For research, of course. This was a very good one: the pudding moist even without the sauce, the sauce plentiful and bitter-sweet, and the scoop of clotted cream ice-cream on top was silky and rich.

Sunday roast was £23, just about spot-on for the quality, but I’d say the attentive service and the lovely setting tip this over into a strong recommendation. Certainly if you’re planning to be anywhere east of Brighton, a long stretch of coast where there’s almost nothing else worth your time!