La Sablonnerie

Located by the roadside, this beautiful old white farmhouse is exactly what you might expect to find on a car-less island inhabited by fewer than 500 people. Guests are transported from Sark harbour by horse-drawn carriage, while the place is a riot of hanging baskets, colourful flower beds and sub-tropical greenery; there’s even a croquet lawn and a suntrap ‘tea garden’. As a getaway, it’s a timeless, entrancing prospect. The refurbished interior still feels like a long-lost world, where the menu is sprinkled with ‘classique’ French flurries, a ‘water ice’ is served between courses and desserts come luxuriously lavished with Sark cream.

To start, you might be treated to a tian of local crab with chilled asparagus soup and a confit pink grapefruit, while main courses bring fillet of home-reared beef, breast of duckling with a green peppercorn sauce or a duo of spring lamb and veal served with a light Madeira sauce and garnished with a medley of wild mushrooms – all embellished with vegetables from the hotel’s own farm and kitchen garden.

Sark lobsters are a speciality in season and get their own mini menu (grilled with lime and ginger glaze, classic thermidor, poached in a brandy-laced lobster bisque, cold with dill mayo etc), while desserts are strictly old school – perhaps crème brulée with a mélange of exotic fruits and berries. Wines offer value and variety at very fair prices.