We had a little night away recently to celebrate my birthday. For one reason or another, we were’t able to venture too far afield so we settled on the nearby Ram Inn in Firle.

The Ram is a gorgeous little village pub,  nestled at the foot of Firle Beacon in Sussex. The food is fantastic, particularly their Sunday roasts, and they have a couple of boutique rooms which they offer on a B&B basis.

Each of the rooms is decorated differently, and all in contemporary style. Ours was the Bloomsbury Suite – a spacious double room with a roll top bath and views of the Downs and Firle village .

As we were staying on Sunday night, we were able to sample the Ram’s famous Sunday roast. We both opted for roast beef – thick slices of meat, crispy roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, an assortment of seasonal veg and a homemade horseradish sauce with enough of a kick to put hairs on your chest.

Breakfast the next day was served in the bar: a full English with fresh juice and coffee (top marks for the coffee – just what I needed after indulging in few glasses of wine the night before!). The majority of the food is locally sourced, and the bread is delivered fresh each morning from the Flint Owl Bakery in nearby Glynde.

After our hearty breakfast, we decided that a long walk was in order so we headed up to Firle Beacon. The Beacon offers panoramic views of the Sussex countryside, with Lewes, Glyde and the North Downs on one side, the sea on the other – truly breathtaking and one of the reasons I love Sussex so much.

For more information about the Ram Inn, visit:

The post Review: The Ram Inn, Firle. appeared first on Breakfast by the sea.

Street Diner, Brighton’s street food market has only been going for a couple of months but it’s already causing quite a stir amongst Brightonians.

The post Street Diner, Brighton appeared first on Breakfast by the sea.

We’re a bit spoilt for choice for places to have afternoon tea in Sussex, especially in Brighton – you’re never more than about 10 minutes away from a slice of cake.

But for something a little bit more special you can’t go wrong with afternoon tea at South Lodge in Horsham.

South Lodge, a beautiful manor house in the heart of West Sussex, is about a 30min drive from Brighton.

Afternoon tea is served in one of the Lodge’s stunning lounges, with large bay windows and views of the South Downs, elaborate wing-backed chairs and crisp white table linens. The kind of place a girl could get used to!

There’s a choice of two different menus: a Nyetimber Celebration Afternoon Tea (with or without a glass of chilled local Nyetimber Sparking wine), and South Lodge Cream Tea, which is just the scones and pastries.

The food came presented on a traditional cake stand and you are ‘introduced’ to the different cakes by your server. All the ingredients are locally sourced and the cakes are baked fresh on the day.

At £24 per head (without the glass of fizz) it’s by no means cheap, but the service was incredibly friendly and attentive, with refills of sandwichs and tea offered throughout. In fact, the portions were so generous that we couldn’t finish them and our server kindly offered to boxed them up for us to take home.

Once you’ve finished your tea you are offered the choice of a slice of homemade cake to take away with you – a really nice touch.

All in all the experience was deliciosly indulgent and made for a really memorable day, even if we all had to have a cake-induced nap when we got home!

All photography © Heather Elizabeth Wilkinson 2013

The post Decadent Afternoon Tea at South Lodge, Horsham appeared first on Breakfast by the sea.

The weather last week was a bit unsettled, with a distinct feel of autumn in the air, but the day I chose to pop out and buy fish for the weekend was bright, sunny and warm, perfect for a cycle along the seafront.

Fish supplies most of the best restaurants in the local area, as well as further afield, and they stock an amazing array of products, from scallops, sardines & mackerel to live lobsters and crab – I even spotted a tray of beautiful fresh samphire.  The staff are knowledgeable and friendly, testimony to how highly they’re regarded in the local area.

Get yourself along there – if you time your visit right you might even be lucky enough to see them unloading latest catch from the boats. Watch out for the seagulls though!

The post Catch of the day appeared first on Breakfast by the sea.

If there’s one thing that Brighton’s not short of it’s coffee shops, but in amongst all the usual chains there are a handful of independents to delight true coffee fans.

The post Review: Mr Wolfe, Brighton appeared first on Breakfast by the sea.

For a few months now there has been a bit of a buzz in Brighton about a new mobile catering business called The Troll’s Pantry. I can usually take or leave a burger, but quality of the food at Trolls is so tempting that I’d dare even the most hardened health freak to turn them down.

Paul, the owner of Trolls is on a mission to bring quality street food to the people of Brighton. All his burgers are handmade using locally produced 100% 35 day aged steak mince from ‘wild range’ grass-fed Sussex Longhorn Cattle. He also makes his own brioche burger buns – seriously! Most of the fillings are also sourced locally, one even includes Brighton’s very own Small Batch Coffee.

I’m always happy to give a hand to local, ethically minded businesses when I can, so Paul and I recently organised a photoshoot of his latest range of burgers. Did you see the McDonald’s viral about why their burgers look nothing like the ones you actually get served? In terms of styling on this shoot, yes we were obviously careful to ensure each unique filling was visible at the front of the burger, but that’s it – cook, fill, shoot, eat. The burgers you see in the pictures are pretty much what you’ll get when you buy one!

.>
All photographs copyright © Heather Wilkinson 2012

The post A ‘real’ burger photoshoot appeared first on Breakfast by the sea.