Viva Lewes Issue #116 May 2016

FOOD
The Dorset Arms
Pick ‘n’ mix lunch
At 7.06am, aware
that I can’t really
review lunch at
the Dorset if I
go on my own,
I text my friend
Caroline, who
has over the years
become something
of a diningcompanion-inan-emergency
go-to, and who
understands she
won’t necessarily get an easy ride in the writeup.
Ten years ago I had her ‘plodding through
a pie,’ which she has never forgiven me for. A
few months ago I named and shamed her for
choosing the most expensive cut of steak in the
Limetree. At 11.01, a reply. ‘Yes please.’
I mean to ask her why she took four hours to
decide, but she arrives in such a fetching green
coat, I completely forget. I’m five minutes late,
but she’s even later, so I’ve chosen one of the
high tables next to the door, and the radiator.
It’s a filthy day outside, a brief mid-April return
to winter, so the warmth is welcome.
Caroline tells me about an interesting visit she’s
recently made to Lush, and hums and haws over
which starter to choose, as we sip fizzy water,
served with lime, ice and a bendy straw. I tell
her what ‘arancini’ means, so she opts for them.
Me too. One of the things I find it very difficult
to look past on a menu is calves’ liver, and this
is the case here; they promise to be ‘sautéed
with shallots, bacon, basil and butter’ (£13.50).
Caroline goes for a cut of chicken supreme
‘with a tomato and corn salsa’ (£11.50).
They have a ‘Pick ‘n’ Mix’ system whereby
Photo by Alex Leith
you can choose
a main, then a
choice of five potato
dishes, then
a choice of five
vegetables, which
is quite fun. I go
for mash, and
cannelloni beans.
Caroline plumps
for chips and
peas.
The arancini
(£6.25) are really
lush, nothing like any I’ve had in Sicily, but
delicious nonetheless, creamy and set off nicely
by the saffron and parmesan mixed in with the
rice, and the splodges of pesto, tapenade and
salsa rossa on the plate. So far, so good.
The mains arrive with a flourish, with the meat
on one (green) plate, and the sides in separate
dishes on a wooden board. My calves’ liver is
good, though cut slightly too thin for my liking
(the thicker bits are more tender). The crunch
of the bacon bits and the soft chewiness of the
liver, with all the flavours involved, definitely
constitute the best moment of my day so far.
The cannelloni beans, in a creamy sauce, are
about as guilty a pleasure as veg can get.
Caroline leaves her chicken skin, so I scarf that
up, too: it’s got that great grilled taste you get
from charred lines. Also, slightly oddly, she
leaves a single chip, which is a pretty good chip,
soft on the inside. We finish with a coffee and
then head into the drizzle, each to their own
Friday afternoon. At 14.29 I get a text from
Caroline. ‘Thank you for an enjoyable lunch.’
But not, as ever, an entirely free one. Alex Leith
22 Malling Street, 01273 474823
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