When you get invited to dinner at Camellia restaurant at South Lodge, you generally know you’re in for a treat.
If you don’t know it, Camellia is one of three restaurants at South Lodge, the other two being The Pass and Botanica. South Lodge itself, as a building, has an interesting history, but it is now part of the Exclusive Collection of hotels (there are eight hotels in the collection but South Lodge is the only one based in Sussex).
Camellia restaurant and head chef, Josh Mann
Head chef, Josh Mann, has won 3 AA Rosettes for his modern British menu, which features fresh ingredients from the South Lodge garden and local Sussex meat and fish.
Josh has worked in several highly regarded Sussex restaurants, including Tristan (formerly in Horsham, which had two AA Rosettes and acquired a third while he was there), Alexander House (three AA rosettes), and Langshott Manor (Surrey). He has also worked at the Michelin-starred Olive Branch in Clipsham, Rutland. He joined South Lodge in 2022 and describes his style as modern British with a classic French influence.
Local produce
There’s a big emphasis on seasonal and local ingredients at Camellia. They source their fish from Brighton and Newhaven, their pork from Dorking and use South Downs Venison for all the venison on the menu.
The Restaurant
The restaurant is split over three rooms with bold camellia patterned wallpaper (which may or may not be upside down – I’ll leave you to decide) and wood panelling. It feels intimate and snug in the winter but in the summer you can spill out onto the terrace with views across to the South Downs.
The menu
It’s a succinct menu with a choice of five starters and five mains but they all looked so good, we struggled to choose. In the end, house-made black pudding, caramelised cauliflower, kimchi, Muscat raisins, cured egg yolk and curry oil, and Dorset crab beignet, brown crab custard, smoked cheese crisp, apple, finger lime and dill won the day for starters. This was followed by South Downs loin of dry aged venison, choucroute purée, bay butter roasted hispi, Medjool date, bourbon and elderberry jus, and BBQ monkfish, coco bean & Morteux sausage cassoulet, three cornered leek and brown butter hollandaise.
Our choices gave our waiter a challenge when it came to recommending a wine as one of our two person party only drinks white wine and the other red. The waiter’s recommendation of a “heavy white” South African chardonnay (Baleia) absolutely hit the right note and kept us both happy.
Our menu choices gave us plenty to talk about with my crab balancing smokey flavours with a sweet cheesy tang and refreshing apple, and the black pudding packing a full of flavour earthy punch, perfectly balanced by the cauliflower. Similarly, with our main courses, there was a lovely balance of sweet and salty with the sweetness of the veg and saltiness of the seaweed meeting the venison full on and the the monkfish melting nicely into the hollandaise.
The surprise dish of the evening was the beef fat fried Brussel sprouts with Gentleman’s Relish and crispy onions. Never have I tasted light and crispy sprouts like this which dissolve on the tongue with a hint of smokiness and just a smidgeon of sprout. I suspect I will spend the rest of the year trying to recreate this at home as it was the most moorish dish I’ve had in a long time. We finished with warm chocolate fondant with Bailey’s ganache and salted caramel ice cream which did everything you want a dessert to do.
The wine menu
Camellia has quite an extensive wine menu with wines from around the world including Greece and Lebanon. They have more English wine than I was expecting and Sussex wines include Ridgeview sparkling (who have vines planted at South Lodge) Nutbourne and Stopham’s still whites (West Sussex) and Bolney’s still red (West Sussex). Of course, I’d like to see more!
The service
The service was faultless and charming. Just enough intervention but not too much and nicely knowledgeable.
The verdict
Camellia is a lovely place to enjoy a special moment or a special occasion. There’s always a touch of luxury at South Lodge and everything is beautifully presented. You could stay the night to make it a really special occasion but when you leave, look for the piece of the wall of China in the hall!
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