| This
four-hundred-year-old Sussex inn is extremely well run and has a lovely
restaurant with an excellent wine list but serves top nosh in the
bar too. There are eight bedrooms available if you fancy staying.
But if you are just stopping for a pint and a pie you will find yourself
in for a treat, nonetheless. When I visited, with Mrs Stalsis, we
had a couple of drinks first and she went for wine. Don't ask for
a glass of 'dry white' at the bar here: it's all off a proper list,
but there is no pretention at all - despite the vaguely Sloaney staff.
I went for a pint or two of Harveys bitter, one of the best beers
in the whole world (brewed in nearby Lewes), and it was the best:
cool, hoppy and flavoursome! The bar menu changes regularly and is
scribbled on a huge blackborad near the fire. I ordered vongole: clams,
cockles, and pasta. It was the best vongole I've eaten, with the shellfish
JUST cooked, so they were still sweet. Often they've been boiled to
a rubbery death - not here, though. The ONLY thing I would quibble
with was the difficulty of opening all the shells and winkling out
the contents before the meal became luke warm. It was certainly hot
when it arrived, but the total surface area of the food is enormous
so it cools fast, and those cockles are a pig to open. Not sure what
the remedy is here, because you don't want to overcook the shellfish.
The proprietor of the Griffin hangs around the bar looking and sounding
relaxed, but this is a careful illusion. He is aware of every last
detail in this place. When I asked at the bar for a sticky table to
be wiped, he raised a disapproving eyebrow at the barman and quietly
ordered ALL the tables wiped. Can't remember what Mrs Stalsis ate
but there was none left at close of play. We stumbled out into the
sunshine to wander round the Norman church. I love this place. Highly
recommended. Perry Stalsis 2004 |
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