I continue with the previously mentioned wonderful aunt and uncle and a wonderful meal we had at a little pub restaurant in their hometown of Littlehampton. It's downtown on the banks of the Arun River and is really super. English pubs have so much atmosphere – it's like being at home, but with staff. I love it.

And when the food is really good too - what more could you possibly want? They also allow dogs which I think is great. Be happy that I took photos of the food as generally a sweet doggy gets preference over everything else. Yes, I am that mad woman who walks along the beachfront groping everyone's pets.

This restaurant was closed for a long time for renovations and has come out looking much better after its facelift. More like Halle Berry (nose job) than Sylvester Stallone (botch job)... Apparently there's a food themed quiz on Thursdays which is supposedly also great fun. There are local and non-local beers - just another Great British Thing, Beer. Normally I'm a drinker, I mean wine drinker, but a nice ale can make me wander...

The food was deelicious and although the service was a little slow (more drinking time so where's the problem) it wasn't anything to write home about. Two in our little group of 5 (hello Alison and John!) had the fish pie which was very, very hot, but apparently very, very tasty. Someone took a photo of all of us, but I look even fatter than usual, so I am not posting it...

Here is a list of what we had and how we enjoyed it.

Homemade Fish pie, made with locally caught fish and watercress in a bechamel sauce, and served with seasonal vegetables.

Beer-battered catch of the day with chips, peas and tartare sauce. Fish 'n chips, always good. At GBP10.95 it's more than at the corner cafe, but that's to be expected in a restaurant. Lovely crisp batter, homemade chips, yes baby!

Homemade steak and ale pie, made with succulent steak in a rich ale gravy, served with seasonal vegetables. Look at that lovely color and not too much pastry (which I don't need a lot of).

I had the meal from the daily specials board (there's always one who wants something else). I forgot to write down the full schpeel so this is the short version of the deelicious meal I had.
Fresh locally caught white fish, grilled and served with buttered vegetables and new potatoes, and roasted cherry tomatoes. SUPER.

The others had desserts (greedy pigs) while I ate the rest of the bread (sensible). All the desserts looked lovely and were apparently tasty too. The custard flan with caramel design is at the very top of the post, and the other two desserts were:

Rice pudding with pistachios. More runny than I normally make a rice pudding, but I will try it like this next time.

Mango posset (like a syllabub) with raspberries. I had a little taste and thought it was very good.

All in all a lovely meal in a lovely atmosphere. Thank you!

The Steam Packet
54 River Road
BN17 5BZ Littlehampton
England

Tel: 0044.19037.15994