Incredible seafood, local wine and a buzzing atmosphere moments from the shoreline
After 10 years of sitting unloved, the White Hart Inn on Mersea Island was snapped up by the folk behind the much-respected Sun Inn in Dedham and Church Street Tavern in Colchester, and it has been transformed – standing out like a newly polished gem along the island’s main street.
Mersea has a magical quality. I had many an adventure flying kites, eating slabs of cake and exploring the craggy shoreline on the eastern side as a kid. As an adult, it’s the seafood and glowing amber waters at sunset that lure me back.
We arrive mid-week to a trickle of glamorously dressed locals winding their way into the pub, via the spacious outdoor dining terrace.
Clad like a New England beach house, the exterior is twee and charming, giving little away of what lies within. And that is a staggeringly cavernous dining space, with a pitched ceiling, modern pendant lighting, dining booths and a genteel aqua and sage colour scheme.
There are nods to the water (which is just a moment’s walk away). Brittany-esque striped linens. Pastel-shaded menus harking back to vintage seaside posters.
And stonking menus they are too. The drinks list highlighting local beers and interesting wines – many by the glass or, pleasingly, by carafe.
I begin with a bowl of deep, savoury, almost sweet, warm dashi broth, with chestnut-hued nuggets of soft smoked eel, al dente leeks, and a buttery, chilled kombu custard freckled with caviar. A hot and cold combination that gives the old palate food for thought, being all at once comforting, rich, and sparky.
The chicken and pork terrine arrived at the table cubed, battered and fried. Each one bursts open under a knife to show off tender shards of meat, leaving a sheen of juices on the plate to mop up.
And now I pause to remember, quite honestly, the best seafood dish I've eaten to date.
The plate of gently coloured plaice, buttery caper sauce, split dill oil, potatoes and a smattering of brackish samphire appears pretty enough. Simple. But pretty. But, my God, the taste. The texture.
This plaice has been cooked with the deftness only a very skilled chef can pull off. The flesh of the fish is soft as the just-poached white of an egg. Tucked within is an insanely good, slightly spicey, café de Paris mousse, made with plaice trimmings.
The downside of the plaice is it does rather make our other plate of rare breed sirloin steak pale in comparison – even though this too is exemplary.
The flamed steak’s fatty heart and edges have been rendered to melting point. Mushrooms are chopped finely and dosed with herbs. In place of the omnipresent half a tomato, the kitchen has introduced a caramelised onion shell, filled with tomatoey-braised beef and melting blue cheese.
Despite the generosity of our previous courses, there’s room for pudding. Mr J raves about the barrels of whiskey and raspberry parfait on his side of the table, accompanied by crumbled oat biscuit, fresh berries, and a slick of Whiskey Sour glaze.
But I think it’s my own pud that takes the prize for innovation. It is a fresher take on that perennial British classic, the trifle. There’s a camp who get positively riled up when chefs start ‘mucking about’ with recipes. I am not in this camp. And I applaud this refreshingly not-too-sweet homage to the strawberry.
We leave mightily impressed. Good wine and beer. Food the likes of which I usually encounter in three AA Rosette restaurants. Genial service. A big, open, buzzing dining room. And a short walk from the wilds of Mersea’s shoreline.
whitehartinnmersea.co.uk
