Yachting and Boating World forums: Cider House Appledram

Well, since none of you have been there, I'd better do a quick review.

It's a small, single story building, standing in some isolation off the Birdham Road at one side of a gravelled area. Outside, there are some tables, sitting under the shade of some mature trees. We were there on Saturday evening and it was a lovely spot to sit and have a couple of drinks before our meal. They don't do draft beers, but they had Hogshead T.E.A. and Bombardier in bottles, plus local Apuldram cider.

Inside, it's fairly rustic, but very pleasant with scrubbed pine tables. The decor fits the atmosphere of the building's history as a, well, a cider house.

The menu's predominantly seafood based, with crab, lobster and scallops included, plus a seafood platter for two which was the most expensive item at £40. Two of our party had the crab and lobster cocktail as a starter, which I avoided, expecting it to be a variation on the classic prawn cocktail, but it was a nice hunk of dressed crabmeat topped with a generous amount of lobster and garnished with a decent mixed salad. I had the scallops in soy sauce, which were sweet with a well balanced sauce.

There were several types of fish available as fish of the day, Bream and bass were cooked as fillets, with an option of several sauces. Mackerel and gurnard were cooked as whole fish, served split and cooked with olive oil garlic and lemon juice. There was also lemon sole panfried, although I can't remember the options with that one.

The menu also had lamb, pork, steaks and chicken as well as a cheesy cottage pie.

Three of our party had the gurnard. Although it was beautifully cooked, it's a fish that's hard to love due the the large number of bones, so it was probably a mistake, although that's not really the fault of the restaurant. I had the crispy belly pork in a cider gravy, which was pleasant, although the crackling possibly could have done with being a little crispier.

Puddings looked pretty good and I had the cider house creme, a variation on a panna cotta and really good. The others went for the cheeses which were excellent, served with oaty crackers, plus thinly sliced rustic bread that had been toasted on the grill.

The bill came to about £35 per head for three courses plus drinks before the meal and a couple of bottles of a decent plonk.

The service was efficient. If I had a tiny gripe it would be that given the rustic surroundings it could do with little more jollity from the staff. There was a slight air of earnestness and a few more smiles would have gone a long way.

All in all pretty good though, and no doubt we'll be back before long.