Anthea Gerrie Discovers Fine French Food Can Be Successfully Scaled Up At The Ropemaker In Emsworth
When you’re tempted by a menu featuring bouillabaisse, that delicious but labour-intensive speciality rarely seen outside its hometown of Marseilles, expectations run high of a restaurant kitchen. When you discover that restaurant is part of a chain, those expectations sink temporarily – but The Ropemaker Emsworth serves a perfect bowl of fish poached in an utterly authentic, saffron-coloured broth, proving there was never a reason to question its chefs can deliver.
The Ropemaker has been packed with happy diners since its recent reopening, following the gutting and refurbishment of an older hotel, as the newest member of Heartwood Inns. No ordinary chain, but one with a huge commitment to gourmet food from top producers and sustainable practices presided over by no less than the great French chef Raymond Blanc, chef-patron of the group.
Modestly self-described as a “pub with rooms”, this is really a dog-friendly hotel on the Hampshire-Sussex border with a fine dining restaurant at its heart and a lively indoor-outdoor pub extension. A pub in that you can hang out and simply drink in the large back garden or on the front verandah as well as eat in the bar at high tables should you not want to engage in the formality of a dining-room.
We did, opting for an intimate section at the back looking out on to the garden which is a tad quieter than the busy main feeding hall, where a few booths by the window would make for a more intimate meal than tables in the middle.
House cocktails include an attractive Bloody Mary with a salt and pepper rim (£9.90) and a pink and pleasingly tangy Blood Orange Paloma made with Patron tequila. Good libations for perusing the menu, where starter options included an ultra-local salad of Isle of Wight heritage tomatoes(£9.95), and a salad of morteau sausage with crispy lardons, boiled potato, runny Burford Brown poached egg and a pile of frisee in vinaigrette which transported my other half immediately to France – also £9.95,and excellent value given it was filling enough to make a main course.
We never looked further among the mains than the bouillabaisse (£24.50), very properly served with a side pot of garlicky rouille, the traditional mayo-like accompaniment, and the steaks from award-winning butcher Aubrey Allan. A 7 oz fillet could have been a tad more tender for £32.50, but could not be beaten on flavour, and the hand-cut chips and jug of beautifully-made Roquefort sauce were the perfect accompaniment. A side salad of good leaves, red as well as green, was thrown in but proved superfluous given the generosity of the main offering – better to throw in the sauce and not charge an extra £1.95.
Thoughts of trying the ambitious cheese plate, offering many more varieties than the traditional three pre-selected in most restaurants, had to be abandoned, but there was just enough pudding hole to allow a shared order of superb pistachio soufflé with chocolate ice-cream (£8.95). We washed this feast down with some good wines by the glass – a superior Minuty Cotes de Provence rose, and a pinot noir from neighbouring Languedoc.
Just as well to have a room down the hall to roll into after this French feast, especially if lucky enough to bag one of those on the ground floor which open out onto the garden via French doors, a prime choice for dog-owners. Our room itself was compact, but with everything needed except a box of tissues, which we found out too late could have been delivered on demand; a safe, iron and ironing board were all present in the wardrobe, with a mini-fridge, hairdryer and coffee-maker beneath the television console.
The flat-screen TV was large, if a tad complicated to navigate, and full marks in the coffee-making department for providing small bottles of real milk. The spacious terracotta-tiled bathroom had a good rainfall-head shower over the bath, which could have used a hand-grip for safe entry and exit.
While breakfast can often be a disappointment in hotels serving a bang-up dinner, due to different chefs in the kitchen, this is clearly not true of Heartwood Inns. Choices at the Ropemaker included perfectly-poached eggs Florentine, with freshly-wilted spinach, runny yolks and a perfectly-balanced Hollandaise. Bafflingly, there was no bread on the self-service buffet, but the toast which had to be ordered separately was cut from a proper sourdough loaf.
If anything was missing from the offering, it was the freshly-squeezed orange juice for which a kitchen of this calibre raises expectations; Raymond Blanc must surely have argued for it when compiling his breakfast menus.
Not to be missed before leaving Emsworth, where the tiny village can be rounded within an hour and a walk around the sea wall offers delightful sightings of swans and kayaks, is Queenie’s Vintage Tea Rooms for a final cuppa before heading home along the A27.
Not in one of the picturesque side streets but in the old platform waiting-room/ of the working station. Another reason to visit this unsung but quirkily delightful little harbour town perched half-way between Chichester and Portsmouth – although for properly delicious eats, the Ropemaker can’t be beat.
Tell Me More About The Ropemaker in Emsworth.
The Ropemaker, 93 Havant Road, Emsworth, PO10 7LF
T: +44 1243 373363
Rooms from £100 per night.
