Whites Bar & Kitchen at the White Horse

Very expensive !!! And not the best service I have had

Nice interior and well placed on the High Street, but not in the average working familys' budget.  Lunchtime menu starts you off with Soup and Bread for nearly £6.00, a cheeseboard for £9.00 and the least expensive dessert ie Creme Brulee at £5.80p. 
This eaterie is linked into same "chain" as The Fountain at Ashurst and The Swan Inn at Fittleworth.
I am surprised that this Bar/Kitchen does not reflect the prices at The Fountain!!

I found this place to be a bit hit and miss, both in terms of service and food. The waitress was very nice but we weren’t told about the specials until after we were ready to order, and my dad (whose birthday it was) had to ask for something to put the olive stones in… these are small points but basic really, you wouldn’t expect to have to ask for this kind of thing. There were no complaints with the starters, however my main course (pork belly with scallops) was very cold when it arrived, a couple of my companions said the same about theirs. My meat was quite good, the crackling was ok, a bit hard and dry. The oddest thing about mine was what appeared to be three tiny unseasoned boiled cylinders of potato (supposedly ‘braised potato’ according to the menu) – I really don’t know why these were included as they were completely pointless. A couple of clumps of wilted spinach, not seasoned. A bit skimpy on the scallops but as I said the meat was ok, although it was quite a small piece. One of my companions had cod which was a really nice piece of fish, nicely cooked and everyone else seemed happy with their mains except as I said, they were quite cold. Dessert was again, very hit and miss. My black forest gateau was really nice, could have done with a touch more chantilly and more cherries (there were 3 tiny ones) – but then I really like cherries. A couple of the other desserts were absolute disasters – the ‘plum parfait’ was a bright pink chunk of foamy, tasteless gelatine, accompanied by a burnt sheet of caramel which was left uneaten, although the liquorice ice cream that came with it was very good. My brother had the palm sugar brulee which he sent back as it was scrambled (he’s a michelin-starred chef by the way, so he knows what he’s talking about). So overall there was some very good, some ok and some awful. I probably wouldn’t come back here as for the same price you can get better food elsewhere. If a little bit more attention to detail was given to the service and the food I think this could be a very good restaurant though. So three stars from me.

Formerly a 15th century coaching inn and staging post on the road from Brighton to London and set against the lush backdrop of the South Downs in West Sussex, award-winning Whites Bar & Kitchen at the White Horse in the sleepy little village of Steyning presents a fabulously British dining experience that’s full of flavour and low on stodge.

Whites enables those with hearty appetites to sample the fruits (nuts, roots and flowers) of the English countryside. Here you can dine on exquisite and locally foraged garlic, sorrels, nettles, dandelions and edible flowers. With a chalkboard proclamation of what’s been recently picked by a local forager with knowledge of some of Sussex’s best spots for finding tasty treats and a delectable menu listing the distance in miles that the dishes’ key ingredients have travelled to make it to your table, Whites Bar & Kitchen takes great pride in their efforts to serve locally sourced ingredients.

Capably combining Whites’ often intriguing melange of mostly local ingredients to splendid effect is newly appointed Head Chef, Stuart Dove. Stuart started his career working under Gordon Ramsay and draws on his experience with the star restauranteur and at other Michelin starred restaurants across the globe to create a cuisine that speaks both to worldly palates and traditional attitudes towards food. The result? Comfort food done up right for destination diners.

Read more about Whites in my Qype does London blog post:
http://london.blog.qype.com/2010/05/locally-foraged-cuisi...