THE ROYAL ST LEONARDS-ON-SEA

Does a regular diner reach the same conclusions about a restaurant as a food pro? Critic Eileen Twum and Olive reader Lillian Pierce compare notes on this East Sussex gastro pub

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The pro

Eileen Twum is a restaurant critic and start-up exec, who is part of Black Book, a platform for black and non-white people working within hospitality and food media. @eix.leen

The punter

Lillian Pierce works as a carer and lives in St Leonards-on-Sea. Her favourite cuisine is Spanish and her best eating out experience was the tortilla and seared octopus at Barrafina.

Just a short stroll up from the beachfront, and sitting opposite the town’s Warrior Square train station, The Royal is a newly renovated 19th-century pub in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex. Both the interior and the menu are reminiscent of London new-age gastropubs such as The Canton Arms, the recently closed Great Queen Street and St John – all of which feature in the team’s culinary CVs.

The menu centres on quality, ingredient-led, seasonal cooking, with dishes refreshed weekly, and there is a obvious focus on fish, with produce coming from Rocka-Nore Fisheries in Hastings Old Town. Ingredients are given a Mediterranean twist in dishes such as grilled mackerel with pesto; new season coco beans with spinach and artichokes; monkfish saltimbocca; and roast salt marsh lamb with calçot onions and romesco.

The menu is paired with a simple international wine list, featuring crémant de limoux for £5.50 a glass and beers on tap. The dining space has been beautifully restored with a cosy, friendly, charming feel – think calming shades of green, polished wood and masses of period details. theroyalstleonards.co.uk