Lury

The unfussy semi-basement is intimate, understated and functional, and there’s no disputing the valiant intent in the kitchen – Jack Lury’s Sri-Lankan/British heritage provides the jumping-off point for a repertoire of precise, produce-led westernised dishes. With just 10 seats in the tiny dining room, the chef works alone, and his meticulously produced 10-course tasting menu of snacks and small plates (the only option available) is well-balanced.

Sri-Lankan flavours – tangy, sweet and sour, with undertones of warm spices – weave through dishes such as a luxurious soup of squash, its sweet-sour flavour offset by cubes of rich, fatty hogget, or a confit egg yolk served atop a tangle of aromatic mushrooms, toasted hazelnuts and seeni sambol (caramelised onion chutney), with a tangy lime-foam finish. Ingredients are top drawer across the board: we were impressed by the quality of a sweet hand-dived scallop teamed with just a dab of cauliflower purée and lobster sauce, and by a nugget of tender, flavoursome, pink-roasted venison loin.

None of this comes cheap, and the final bill is certainly at odds with the no-frills surroundings. However, given that Lury was just eight months old when we visited, we view it as a work in progress, and we’d argue that cooking this confident is definitely worthy of consideration – it is undoubtedly Hastings’ most original restaurant. The brief wine selection is well chosen with spice in mind – and reasonably priced.