The Stables by Mark Charker

We were recently invited by The Bell Inn in Ticehurst to try the new fine dining experience by Mark Charter. Served from Wednesday through to Saturdays in the adjoining stables to the main pub. If you don’t already know, The Bell in Ticehurst is known as one of the best pubs that East Sussex has to offer, where you can dine and stay overnight. ‘The Stables’ by Mark Charter offers a new five-course menu with an optional wine flight, for £65.

The Stables is a beautifully decorated and quirky renovation that joins directly onto the main gastro style pub, The Bell Inn. Upon arrival and as designated driver I was thrilled to see a bar menu that had a generous amount of non-alcoholic cocktails available. My husband stayed loyal as ever to his favourite beverage and ordered a pint of Guinness, but I indulged in the rare novelty of something more exciting than a lime and soda. During the course of our meal I sampled two of the ‘mocktails’ and I was really impressed with both, not too sweet, which is often the way with non-acoholic drinks.

Our dining experience started with a few canapes- a real highlight being the ox cheek served with horseradish cream, and our bread course soon followed. Unfortunately for me, I’m gluten-intolerant and I was disappointed with the offering, but my husband assured me that his sticky and warm brioche-style buns were just as good as they looked, he was certainly making all the right noises! Top marks go to the accompanying marmite butter, although I’m biased as a devout marmite lover. The house-made butter was lacking in depth of flavour but on the whole, we were optimistic for what was to come.

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Edward tried the wine flight (very reasonably priced at £35 per head) with his meal and I settled with a small taster of the Spanish white, having made the assumption that our menu predominently be suited to this. I use the term assumption, because part of the whole experience here is that the courses are presented as theatrical riddles. I have seen a few similar menus in the past, so managed to guess a few, but in fairness to their creativity here we were gazumped at what the latter parts of the menu were going to be! Admittedly, this concept isn’t for everyone, but we enjoyed trying something different. The first wine was a sparkling number (forgive me for not having the details), and to follow was the very-memorable fruity Spanish white, that given I paired it two or three courses, was very well suited.

Following dishes included a beetroot tartare and the scallops; the latter being my stand-out dish for the evening. It’s been far too long since I enjoyed a dish this much but they were perfection. Fresh as can be, beautifully cooked and accompanied with an interesting combination of a tomato dahl, ‘curry sauce’ and crispy chicken skin which provided the perfect texture contrast.

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It would be criminal not to mention the goat course here from Cabrito goat meat. I rather naively had no idea about the food chain when it came to goats and having now been duly briefed on exactly why it is such a good meat to eat, am looking forward to experimenting with it myself. The course was essentially goat, cooked three ways, served with chive oil and seasonal vegetables.

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We enjoyed the sweet courses immensely however I was nearly defeated by the chocolate cream served on a biscuit base. Unfortunately, neither of us love alcohol in desserts so were happy to avoid the whiskey crumb but the main chocolate elements were extremely well balanced. I had a little sip of the Sauternes that was served with dessert and let me tell you, that was a special moment- I really recommend the wine flight based on what I saw and tasted.

We finished the evening with petit fours; a decadent fudge, ginger cake and chocolate truffle. Overall, I believe that this is a very reasonable entry into tasting menus if you’re looking to try something a little different without splashing out mega bucks. The creativity and thought behind every dish is refreshing to see in a pub setting and you can’t go wrong with the accompanying wine flight. As ever I love to see seasonal produce being sourced from some of the best Sussex suppliers, Trenchmore Farm and J.Cocoa and I am sure that this will be a very successful venture for Mark.

The Stables tasting menu costs £65 for five courses and £35 for the wine flight pairing, per person. Reservations can be made via thebellinticehurst.com or by calling 01580 200300.