Local Restaurant 'Pebble Beach' offers spectacular views, Mediterranean holiday ambience and superb food!
Close your eyes and imagine yourself in a restaurant on the Cote D'Azur, sipping a glass of perfect crisp dry white house wine, reclined in a really comfortable chair whilst dazily watching yachts drift by amidst the sparkling Mediterranean sea. Casually you savour the contents of a freshly dressed and cracked crab and licking your fingers you know for sure you must be on holiday. The people are warm and hospitable, the mood relaxed and convivial and the view to die for.
Now open your eyes...........................!
Don't worry nothing's changed; the only difference is that in fact you are on the terrace of Pebble Beach in Barton-on-Sea.
If you haven't already heard of Pebble Beach, a few minutes by car from Lymington, then you are in for a serious treat. Let's face it; Mike Caddy the owner, Cedric Poncin the General Manager and Pierre Chevillard Le Chef have done what many a local restaranteur has failed to do, which is to capture the aforementioned holiday feeling and deliver it lock, stock and barrel to its clientele.
One of the other great holiday pastimes is people watching and because Pebble Beach is so special it is always full of people to watch. The unfussy but stylish approach to service and the Mediterranean influences genuinely provide an opportunity to take yourself off to a different place for a while.
The key to a great restaurant is of course the staff, the location and the food and somehow Mike has managed to land two of Chewton Glen's finest in Cedric and Pierre and a small army of the best available supporting staff which answers the first requirement handsomely. The location for Lymington and New Forest Clientele is surprising, but nevertheless perfect if you want to feel like you've got away from everything having only spent ten minutes in the car and the food...well the emphasis on quality fish dishes is evident but not overwhelming and overall the menu is very cleverly designed to remain straightforward yet provide something for every palate. I had char grilled asparagus served on a crostini with a lightly poached egg, parmesan shavings and a lemon sabayon to start, followed by a stunning cracked crab, beatifully dressed. (See the pictures below for a larger version than the one I had!...honestly.) In summary and to avoid me babbling on for ages, I'm convinced that there is a whole self-contained art in the restaurant business of designing a menu to fit exactly with the mood of the Clientele, whatever the season or weather and that is in my opinion what Pebble Beach does so exceptionally well.
Pebble Beach has its own very good website at www.pebblebeach-uk.com if you want more information, but personally, if you can get down there whilst the sun is shining and have a meal on the terrace, I reckon you, like me, will shortlist this as a must-have number in your little black books and will be coming back again and again whatever the time of year, whether for the location, the service or the food there is every reason to be a regular at Pebble Beach.
Pebble Beach Marine Drive, Barton-on-Sea, Hampshire BH25 7DZ
t 01425 627777 f 01425 610689
For directions, please visit: PEBBLE BEACH
Pierre Chevillard - Head Chef, Mike Caddy, Proprietor (FBII), Cedric Poncin, General Manager
