Pelham House – Lewes

A pleasant change of pace in the heart of Lewes

A meeting at Pelham House feels like lunching over business might have felt back in gentler times… people taking their time to meander around the issues of the day, discussing and deliberating, rather than grabbing a coffee and a wrap and firing off emails from the train…

There had been a house on the site of Pelham House for 200 years when, in 1725, Thomas Pelham bought the house and re-fronted the Elizabethan mansion in the classical style it bears today.

The Pelham’s current incarnation as a 21st century hotel and conference centre wears its history proudly. There’s a nod to local Bloomsbury heritage –  look skyward in reception to see artist Julian Bell’s tightrope walker traverse entrance hall ceiling – at the same time as offering the visitor everything you’d expect from a modern venue. There are meeting rooms for hire and many a wedding and civil ceremony has graced its terrace and chamber rooms.

However, we’re here for lunch and, from the minute we arrive, our waiter Sam – calm, efficient, and courteous – does all he can to make our visit as much about pleasure as business.

My lunch partner goes for the wood pigeon salad starter which comes with a delicious lentil accompaniment, served beautifully on a slate tile. I go for the scallops which come with a creamy hollandaise sauce and watercress garnish.

The hotel buys wine from Brighton-based Portuguese ‘Wine Importer of the Year’ and, on Sam’s recommendation, we chose a crisp Vinho Verde. There’s a slight fizz to the wine which gives the whole occasion a celebratory feel.

The wine also works well with the white and red meats we’ve chosen for our main courses. My lunch companion opted for ballotine of chicken – roundels of chicken breast wrapped in proscuitto, accompanied by a layered black pudding dish, with a delicious crispy almost tempura-style broccoli. Nothing but nothing on my friend’s plate, she said, was anything less than a delight.  My venison was exquisitely tender and immensely satisfying.

Although time was pressing by the time we got to desserts, we threw caution to the wind and ordered the chocolate pudding, with honeycomb and vanilla ice cream which the menu warned would take 20 minutes in preparation. In fact, Sam quietly did his stuff and it arrived in a respectable ten, at the same time as a cheeseboard which included an impressive spread of local and more regional cheeses.

There’s nothing not to like at Pelham House – perfect staff, extremely good food prepared by Glen Lester, who until recently worked at Terre a Terre, and a stylish wine list. The atmosphere is relaxed and certainly not intimidating and at the same time feeling pleasurably special. Highly recommended – if business were always this much fun, the weekends would roll around much too quickly!