The Gallivant at Rye

We travelled to Rye to have a peek at the place where my sister will be saying her 'I dos'. We had food to taste, florists to meet, and a beautiful beach to inspect. 

The Gallivant has a shabby chic style, and is very relaxed and informal with pale silvery blonde wood floors and lots of nautical touches. It's a 10 minute walk from the beautiful Camber Sands beach (over a road unfortunately, but you soon forget the schlep up the dunes when you see the view). 

We had a sample of the different pre-dinner nibbles they could serve on the day. Some were clear favourites - the wild boar sausage rolls and the salt lamb pasties were delicious. Great picnic food for when we're having drinks on the beach. 

We took our tasting job very seriously, especially Dad! We got to sample the different cocktails too - the Sea Breeze or a more tropical coconut concoction. I won't tell you which one we went for... there have to be some surprises for the guests... 

The tables were dressed beautifully with little touches of the sea and some great blue striped runners which would make perfect blinds for our kitchen... if they go missing they may need to search Walthamstow Village.

The food was presented on wooden sharing boards; smoked haddock with duck eggs, mackerel pâté, ham hock terrine, and a rather odd 'fish tart' which had calamari on top. We whipped out our forks and we put our heads together to chose the best, the worst and the ones that would make it to the big day.

The mains were the best. Succulent lamb and beef fillet, roast chicken, crispy roast potatoes, spring green vegetables and sweet and sharp red cabbage. Some didn't make the cut and some needed a few additions here and there. It's thirsty work all this tasting, so we had to try a few bottles of wine and prosecco. Well, we had to make sure it would be right, didn't we? 

For pudding, the choice was a rather nice crème brûlée, a bitter chocolate tort, the sharpest lemon tart and some quite boring plain yoghurt ice cream. We made our decision and, with groaning waist bands, we waddled out to inspect the reception room. I can't possibly show you photos or it will ruin the illusion, but suffice to say, it will be beautiful on the big day. 

The hotel puts on an afternoon tea with homemade cakes. It all looked delightful, but we were far too full, so we made our way to the shore to try and walk off some of the food. 

By the time we finished the sun was setting, and the colours in the sky were just exquisite. We didn't have time to have a proper look round Rye, but I can definitely recommend Camber Sands if you're looking for a day trip.