The Gallivant

Sunshine. That’s what stays in the memory after lunch at the Gallivant, a small hotel and restaurant by Camber Sands in Rye. Lots of sunshine. It’s not simply that the sun is literally shining when the taxi drops us there, although it is – a pale, milky sunlight of the sort you find close to the sea in winter. It is the whitewashed dining room itself, with its slat-board panelling and, framed under glass, myriad swimsuits attesting to the glorious variety of the human form. There are rubber plants and blond wood floorboards.

Late last year they announced the appointment of another chef, Jamie Guy, formerly group head chef for Mark Hix. At last, with cause to be in Rye, I had a good reason to visit. I’m glad I did. Guy’s cooking carries the fat thumb print of his time with Hix. It’s unfussy and extremely satisfying. Behold: whelk fritters. Whelks have an image problem. They sound less like food than something you need to get lasered off an intimate area. As in, sotto voce: “I’ve just had my whelks removed.” They often have a chewability problem, too, courtesy of over-cooking. It’s why we send most of ours to Korea. They know how to treat them well. Here, the umami-tastic molluscs are chopped up, mixed in with a batter and deep fried. Alongside is a coarse-chopped tartare sauce. It’s a very good start.

Guy has a smart way of using seafood as a flavouring. Half a hispi cabbage is grilled and drenched with a mussel butter, which sounds like a cheery thing to do to almost any ingredient. There’s a crumb of crisped bacon across the top. It’s a humble hispi in a bespoke suit. Jerusalem artichokes are roasted until almost toffee-like and laid across a thick surf of whipped goat’s cheese with the funky farmyard whiff that only goaty things can deliver. Both plates are £7.