Month: October 2024

It was the sign and mention of ‘Sussex Food’ that first caught my eye. That and the impossibly narrow and steep road down to the Royal Oak at Hooksway.

 

It’s different.

 

Not that there is anything particularly different about the menu. Standard contemporary pub food. Pedestrian rather than exotic. Nothing, bar their syrup sponge, really stands out.

But that is what makes it different.

 

Weathered wooden tables in the garden, a perfect setting for an old fashioned Sunday lunch.

 

Followed by that syrup sponge which for some obscure reason I go back for time and again. Memories I suppose.

The Sunday Roast is taken very seriously at the Independent. Which is why it is one of their busiest days.

There is a choice of different roasts served with potatoes and seasonal vegetables, all drenched in a deep rich gravy.

But it is always the Yorkshire pudding which is the decider. Crisp on the top, slightly soft and stodgy towards the middle. Perfect.

Closely followed by the potatoes. Neglect the spuds and you ruin the roast.

But not here.

The pub is run hands on by the owners who bought what was previously The Walmer Castle. They are fiercely independent of any brewery or pub chain and it showsin everything they do.

Perfect roast pork, crackling and apple sauce

At The Gravy Boat which is situated opposite the harbour in Littlehampton.

Offering a choice of meats with all the trimmings. We chose a cold windy day to wander along the harbour wall and it was an easy decision to settle in for what was an excellent meal.

Crispy succulent roast potatoes and an appetising array of vegatables soon assured that our plates were full to over flowing.