No. 14 The autumn menu Dinner by candlelight
Salt Hollow
A restaurant at the end of the quay. Eight tables, a candle on each, and one tasting menu that follows the tide.
Course one of six From the morning boats
The Scallop
i. The butter
First, brown butter whisked with sea herbs, swept across the plate with the back of a spoon.
ii. The scallops
Three scallops, dived for this morning and seared hard on one side only.
iii. The greens
Pea shoots and sea purslane from the walled garden behind the kitchen.
iv. The flowers
Nasturtium and borage, picked an hour before the first table sits down.
v. The oil
A few drops of lovage oil, green and peppery.
vi. The salt
And salt, raked by hand from the flats below the harbour wall.
Hand-dived scallop, brown butter, sea herbs, nasturtium
The scallops come in on the morning boats, still closed. We sear them in brown butter on one side only, so the middle stays sweet and only just set.
The house Est. on the quay
A small room at the very endof the quay.
Salt Hollow sits where the harbour wall runs out, in a stone store that once held nets and lobster pots. There are eight tables, each with its own candle, and a long window that looks straight out to sea. On a clear night you can watch the boats come in while you eat what they brought.
We cook one tasting menu each evening, written that afternoon around whatever the boats, the walled garden and the salt marsh have given us. When something runs out, it comes off the menu. When something is perfect, it stays a little longer.
There is no music in the dining room. You will hear the water against the wall, the kitchen at work, and the people you came with. We think that is enough, and we hope you will too.
One menu, eight tables, and the tide for company.
- Tables
- Eight, by the window
- Sittings
- One each evening
- The menu
- Six courses, about three hours
- The kitchen
- Open to the room
Course two of six Opened to order
The Oyster
Rock oyster on crushed ice, cucumber, shallot, dill oil
Rock oysters from the beds past the harbour mouth, opened when you sit down and laid on ice we crush by hand. They need very little, so we add very little.
Course three of six An interlude
Bread from the wood oven,butter churned this morning,and a minute to talk.
Wood-oven sourdough, butter churned this morning, seaweed salt
Course four of six Cooked over embers
The Lamb
Salt-marsh lamb, lamb jus, charred onion, wild garlic
The lamb grazes the salt marsh along the estuary, which seasons it long before we do. We cook it slowly over embers, rest it for as long as it cooked, and slice it at the pass.
Course five of six A pause
A spoonful of sorrel ice,sharp and green, to clearthe way for something sweet.
Sorrel ice, buttermilk, green apple
Course six of six Cracked at the table
The Sphere
Dark chocolate sphere, sea buckthorn, warm salted caramel
A thin shell of dark chocolate around sea buckthorn sorbet. At the table we pour warm salted caramel over the top, and it gives way.
Reservations Up to ten weeks ahead
Reserve a table.
Tables open ten weeks ahead, and Fridays and Saturdays go first. We keep your table for fifteen minutes; if you are running late, ring the house and we will wait a little longer.
Hours
When the candles are lit.
Dinner Wednesday to Saturday, lunch on Sunday.
| Monday | Closed | Resting |
|---|---|---|
| Tuesday | Closed | Resting |
| Wednesday | Dinner | 6pm to 11pm |
| Thursday | Dinner | 6pm to 11pm |
| Friday | Dinner | 6pm to 11pm |
| Saturday | Dinner | 6pm to 11pm |
| Sunday | Lunch | 12.30pm to 4pm |
Finding us
At the end of the quay.
Walk along the harbour wall past the boat sheds and the lifeboat slip, and keep going until the lamps run out. Ours is the last door, painted blue, with a candle in the window.
Park by the fish market and walk the quay: four minutes, and the best part of the evening for some guests.
Private dining Up to fourteen guests
The Net Loft.
Up the stone stairs, under the old roof beams where the nets were mended, there is one long oak table and a window over the harbour mouth. It is yours for the evening: your own menu, your own pace, and a fire in the grate from October.
Tell us what you are celebrating and we will write the menu around it. We reply to every enquiry within two days.
- Guests
- Six to fourteen
- Menu
- From £150 a guest
- Evenings
- Wednesday to Sunday
- Also
- Lunch on request