Rhodes South

A mere six months old and something of a fingers-up to the recession, Gary Rhodes’ latest restaurant offering is already establishing itself as a culinary fine-dining destination on the south coast of England. I went to see what all the fuss was about, and to find out if the Kentish chef who’s conquered London can safely add another slice of England’s pleasant south to his bulging portfolio.

The rather unimaginatively named Rhodes South nevertheless conveys the two most significant points to this restaurant; it’s a part of Gary Rhodes’ empire and it’s in the south. Though one doesn’t realise quite how south it is until you enter the restaurant and find it perched on the water’s edge, overlooking Christchurch harbour in Dorset. Perhaps Rhodes-on-Sea would’ve been a more appropriate name.

The restaurant is located in the grounds of the Harbour Hotel and there is no restaurant signage on the main road, or for that matter in the hotel grounds. This struck me as rather odd – you’d think the hotel would want to shout about the fact that Mr Rhodes has opened a restaurant there (co-owned by the hotel, so it’s not competing with them either).

The newly constructed building is a modern affair of wooden decking and steel rails, appropriately nautical and somewhat glitzy inside. The decoration is muted and modern, the furniture chic and comfortable. Be sure to request one of the tables next to the window overlooking the bay. A rowing boat was positioned (intentionally, I presumed) in front of the window, completing the by-the-seaside theme. After the sun had dropped below the horizon the outdoor lighting flickered to life and the rowing boat became suspiciously spot-lit (there’s a good tongue twister), confirming my belief that the restaurant had purchased the boat just to moor it there to enhance the view. Good on them.

The menu was an agreeably constructed affair featuring British-inspired dishes that you would expect from Gary Rhodes. Head chef Andy Snoddy makes a point of trying to source ingredients locally, and in this area they are spoilt for choice, particularly when it comes to meat and fish.

An amuse bouche of white tomato soup kicked off proceedings, a palate pleaser that tasted more like artichoke than tomato, but flavoursome nonetheless. A selection of breads were placed in a basket on the table along with some pre-warmed butter.

A starter of crispy soft hen’s egg coated with breadcrumbs and served atop a wild mushroom duxelle, with blue cheese and truffle soldiers was quite delicious. The dish was something of a nod to the legendary chef Michel Bourdin and his signature dish of slow-cooked quail’s eggs with mushrooms. It’s a classic combination of flavours and one that works very well. The blue cheese soldiers were slightly tart, providing a nice contrast to the rich egg yolk and the woody mushrooms.

The main course followed suit with a whole pan-fried lemon sole, served with shrimps, capers, cucumber and nut brown butter, with a side dish of new potatoes and greens. This is another classic dish and so long as it’s executed correctly you can’t really go wrong; it was cooked just right. The fish was tasty and succulent, the flesh falling away from the bones with ease. It’s clear what menu philosophy the team at Rhodes South are following; great ingredients, classic dishes, perfectly cooked, nicely presented. Job done.

For dessert I sampled the intriguing Jaffa cake chocolate pudding, basically a deconstructed Jaffa cake. While they managed to replicate the flavour of a Jaffa cake precisely, it was actually so accurate that I began wondering why I was paying £7 for the dish when I could buy three packs of real Jaffa cakes for the same price. A rather unfair comment you might think, this is Rhodes after all, not McVities. But I would make the same controversial remark about Thomas Keller’s famous ‘deconstructed Snickers’. I can understand a chef creating a tribute dish to a cultural classic and I quite like that idea, but if you replicate the flavour too accurately and charge a small fortune for it, customers may start to regard it as a very over-priced imitation.

The wine list is a crowd pleasing affair with plenty of choices by the glass. I sampled an Italian red from Sicily, the Montepulciano d’Abruzzo; one of cheapest glasses on the list at a mere £5.75. Thankfully, it was better than a table wine and made for a light and enjoyable accompaniment to my starter.

The staff were friendly and for the most part efficient, though it took a while for our starters to emerge from the kitchen and the front of house coordination was a little amiss, but nothing that a touch of fine tuning can’t remedy. The reputable restaurant manager, Sebastien Dupont, didn’t appear to be on the premises that evening. With a CV including a stint at the three-star Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, you would expect things to run very smoothly under his eagle-eyed gaze.

Pricewise, the restaurant is probably quite expensive for the area, but my knowledge of Dorset restaurants and their pricing is somewhat limited. My delicious hen’s egg starter was a reasonable £7.80, one of the cheaper options, but the lemon sole smacked me for £22. However, it was a great dish of fabulous ingredients and one can’t grumble when paying for quality. The restaurant wasn’t full, but it was a Thursday night and reasonably busy so they appear to be doing well in the current climate.

If you happen to be in the New Forest or passing through Bournemouth, it would be an astute choice to visit this restaurant. On a nice day I can imagine that a lunch overlooking the harbour would be quite delightful, as was our evening meal, watching the sun go down. Gary Rhodes’ team are doing very good things here, and long may it last.

Rhodes South, Christchurch Harbour Hotel, Avonmouth, 95 Mudeford, Christchurch, Dorset BH23 3NJ. Tel. 01202 483434.