The Ambrette at Rye

Refinement is the hallmark of the Anglo-Indian fare on offer at Dev Biswal’s second Indian restaurant, and – like the Margate original – the food at this Sussex offshoot remains a world away from most similar Asian renditions. The kitchen deploys seasonal British ingredients and pitch-perfect spicing to distinctive effect, whether it’s local sardine fillets with carom seeds and ginger, char-grilled Godmersham pigeon, belly ribs of Sussex pork flavoured with fennel and sesame seeds or a version of ‘haleem’ (slow-cooked minced beef and organic cracked wheat infused with rose petals, cloves and cumin). Full marks, too, for the creative appetisers and pre-desserts. Tasting menus (from £35) and a full roster for vegetarians also broaden Ambrette’s appeal, and the setting is lovely: drinking and dining take place in the panelled rooms of an ancient house on Rye’s picture-perfect High Street.