Let’s start with the fact that Arundel is pretty much perfect for a short break from London. An hour and a quarter by train from Victoria station deposits you in the most wonderful little town hugging the River Arun in the embrace of the South Downs. The vast mediaeval fortress of Arundel Castle, seat of the Dukes of Norfolk, looms over the town, albeit does promt the question of why their castle is in Sussex and not, well, Norfolk? Works for me though, as these rolling hills are much more to my taste than the eerie flatlands of East Anglia.
While the castle is spectacular and unmissable, it is not all that Arundel has to offer. As England’s senior Catholic family, the Fitzlan-Howards have also bequeathed a wonderfully Victorian gothic Catholic cathedral and I am sure discreetly support all aspects of life in the town. And that life looks very good indeed – a smorgasbord of independent shops, including a wonderful bookshop in which I could lose hours, more antique shops than you could shake a jousting stick at as well as the most perfect cafe for eggs, bacon and proper sausages to stave off the morning mist (Partners Cafe on the High Street, a few steps from the river).
It now also has a restaurant which I think is so special it alone is reason enough to visit Arundel, castle or no castle, and that restaurant is The Town House.
The Town House is the creation of husband-and-wife team, Matthew and Jennifer Price, and is located within a restored Georgian building which used to be the lodgings for circuit judges, and is adjacent to Arundel Castle. The building itself is wonderful, with an extraordinary restored 16th Century Florentine ceiling in the 17 cover dining room.
The decoration, stylishly countering tradition with modernity, is not just there to be beautiful and impress however. Although it certainly does both. Rather, and as Matthew enthusiastically explains, it is part of an holistic approach to the entire experience of dining at The Town House as design motifs reflect the precision of the food and stylistic cues mirror each other across both. And it works.
What it ultimately reflects is the determination of this two-person team – Matthew running the kitchen whilst Jennifer is front of house – to achieve perfection in every aspect of this, their first venture as owners.
Helpfully there are a very experienced duo, as Matthew was previously head chef of Sorell in Dorking and prior to that led the kitchen at The Vineyard at Stockcross. No stranger to success or Michelin stars, Matthew’s culinary pedigree is reflected across the seven course tasting menu which changes monthly. Jen’s experience includes General Manager at Sorrel and Breakfast Manager at The Pig in the South Downs, and her wealth of wine knowledge enables her to curate great wine pairings which continued to surprise and impress throughout evening.
And when I say a two-person team, I mean exactly that. They do everything themselves across the whole restaurant and also look after the bedrooms. They do this while also looking after their young son. That’s an astonishing approach to hard work, but also a testament to their determination to make it work and not compromise on excellence.
Which is the only word that can properly be used to describe the meal here. To be fair, I need to add the adjective utterly to the noun excellent.
So let’s begin at the beginning with the obligatory snacks which are now an essential part of fine dining and I think can be the most fun as they are an opportunity for the chef to show off fun and creativity while not needing you to like every morsel. In other words, the freedom to go off piste and accept the odd mistake is a liberating thing.
But no mistakes here: a Chinese Mantou ‘Everything Bagel’ – a steamed & fried bun, rolled in “Everything Bagel” seasoning, with Ogleshield cheese, balsamic gel, and bresaola from Calcot Farm in Ashurst (@calcotfarmproduce, and oddly the village my guest grew up in); then cornish bluefin tuna on a seaweed tart, with 50/50 Loin & Otoro, served raw with charcoal oil, house ponzu and trout roe. The sort of thing that I could happily scoff on the hour, every hour. For the rest of my life.
Yet best of all was an deep, unctuous roast Cotswold white chicken consomme, with preserved wild garlic oil and Lardo di Colonnata. So rich, so deep, so thick. It is what a shot glass of consomme should be – an umami heavy distillation of pure chicken.
And all accompanied by a perfect, dry gin martini with a twist (my bellwether test of a bar that knows what it’s doing – harder to get right than it seems) and a reliably excellent glass of English fizz.
A great start to dinner. And then it just kept getting better.
The first starter was a very well thought through dish of Fowey mussels from St Austell, with sea buckthorn puree, pumpkin seed praline, a mousse made from Crown Prince pumpkin & 60-month aged parmesan, and parsley powder. Big, plump mussels, in a sauce both subtle and strong. With this we had the first of many interesting wines: a Masseria Cuturi 1881 “Segreto di Bianca” Fiano Salento 2025 – young but full and crisp and neither food nor wine overwhelmed the other.
The next installment was excellent granary sourdough, and treacle & rosemary brioche served with koji-cultured butter, lightly salted and dusted with chive powder, 18 year aged virgin balsamic vinegar with an oil made from Scottish langoustines (which was a definite first for me – I have never experienced the flavour of the sea offsetting the sharpness of the vinegar like this before) and then some positively cardiac inducing Trenchmore Farm wagyu fat, infused with roasted yeast. None of the flavours of which were strong, allowing what can only be described as a bread course to wake up the taste buds in agricultural fashion for the next.
So on to the second starter, which is where you start to get a proper feel for Matthew is about. The dish is called ‘Forest Floor’ and has as its base year-aged acquerello rice, cooked in a mushroom tea made from a year’s worth of his personally foraged mushrooms, including jelly ears, chanterelles, porcini, girolles, trooping funnels, fenugreek milk caps, and wood blewits. Folded together with roasted porcini puree (also foraged), creme cru, and black rice vinegar. On top of that a garnish – crispy maitake mushrooms; pickled shimeji; truffle & black garlic puree; puffed wild rice; and sauced with more mushroom tea, and chive oil. A complicated dish, but with clear intent which succeeded in bringing the taste of the floor to the table, and staggered in its attention to detail and care – year aged rice for goodness sake, and a wonderful haul of mushrooms he picked in the nearby forests himself Localism (where possible), care, patience and an overall vision. Brilliant. As was the Carmanere which accompanied it.
Next a fish course the centrepiece of which was a huge, hand-dived Orkney Scallop, cooked all the way over coal and brushed with sweet & sour tamarind glaze. Perfectly cooked. I know everyone always says that, but this really was perfect. A caramelised crust giving way to firm yet moist flesh, and with an interesting garnish of sand carrot puree, roasted with vadouvan (a French curry spice mix). It sat in a loobster sauce, made with a lobster & saffron stock, thickened with home-made mayonnaise made in the style of Kewpie mayo (cider, distilled & champagne vinegar based). That’s pretty much the dictionary definition of a dish everyone will love right?
With an interesting wine too – Txakoli Marko Gure Arbasoak Bizkaiko Txakholina 2021. White wines are surpassing reds in popularity at the moment and this is a great example of the gems that can be unearthed and a credit to Jennifer in finding it: a barrel-aged white wine produced by avant-garde winemaker Oxer Bastegieta under the D.O. Bizkaiko Txakolina (Biscay Txakoli) appellation in the Basque Country of Spain. Meaning “Our Ancestors” in the Basque language, it has body and depth and is light years from the spritzy, and youthful style traditionally associated with standard Txakoli. A real winner.
I was also delighted that the main course was Sussex Fallow Deer. We just need to eat more venison in this country – it is lean, healthy and delicious, although not necessarily the easiest meat to cook well. Numbers are out of control and Chinese Water Deer keep getting into my garden and trying to gore my little dog. Shoot the buggers and let’s feed ourselves with venison rather than battery hens!
The deer at the Town House was shot in Amberley, the saddle and haunch then hung for 10 days before butchering. Loin marinated in Koji, then barbecued and served with broccoli puree, a royale made with cobnuts, and grated candied cobnuts and finished with caperberries. It turns out Matthew knows how to cook venison… The sauce was excellent too and again showed stunning levels of attention to detail and patience – the ribs and spine from the saddle were aged for another 2 weeks, then chopped and used with the diced haunch to make a port & madeira-based jus, finished with preserved elderberries. A very thoughtful and sensible main course in that he served venison as you would want it and was a substantial dish in a way that is sometimes lacking in other fine dining tasting menus.
As if that were not enough it also had on the side a ‘hotpot’ ragu made from the red-wine braised shoulder and minced belly, with black pudding melted into it. Topped with smoked potato mousse, finished with the buttermilk that is the byproduct of their house koji butter, an finally baked potato skin powder dusted on top and sourdough to mop up with. Wow. That was the essence of venison in a delicate glass jar. And very moreish too, as was the deep, unctuous Barbera d’Alba that Jennifer proffered as a pair.
A beautiful “Monks Head” cheese dish followed, sculpted onto a moscato sponge with candied walnuts and sorrel and washed down with a bang-on-trend glass of Pedro Ximenez (see above). Finally on to the last two: cheeky pre-dessert dish that was a take on Kir Royale, with blackcurrant leaf curd; lemon sherbet kisses; sorbet made with blackcurrants and creme de cassis; a (sparkling) champagne mousse, came the dish that to my surprise was the standout of the evening. And I don’t even like puddings. It was a butternut squash bavarois, with Quince puree (cooked in Digby’s 2014 vintage English sparkling wine); fermented blackberries picked by Matthew and Jennifer’s 2 year old son (go for it Morgan!), with candied squash, puffed buckwheat and milk chocolate & blackberry ice cream. Never had I considered butternut squash as the driving ingredient of a desert, and I may never taste the like again, but what a combination with blackberries. Truly inspired, as was the choice of a Yarra Valley viogner to accompany it and the succeeding (and excellent) petit fours.
I staggered upstairs and fell into a welcome slumber in a fourposter bed with views across to the castle walls…..
To be honest, I’m a bit sidewiped even recanting all of this. Look, I defer to no-one in my love of fish tacos, but this place will make you fall in love with fine dining again. Sure I could not eat a meal like that every day (let alone afford to) but it was so special. The place is beautiful, Matthew and Jennifer are warm and welcoming, and unbelievably hardworking. He is a chef who is grabbing the moment to do something with her that they have been working their whole lives towards, and it shows in the care, the love and the charm at every level and in every aspect of this place.
If the Town House does not get at least one Michelin star I will eat my hat.
The Town House 65 High Street, Arundel, BN18 9AJ – The Town House
[email protected] – 01903 944020
Restaurant – Wed – Sat 18:30 – 23:00; Accommodation – 7 days a week
Set menus £95 and £140 (wine pairings £50 and £80)
