Amelie & Friends

UPDATE: Sadly Amelie & Friends are no more. The good news is that a new restaurant called Purchases has taken over the place along with new owners and a new chef. Read our review here.

08/12/2016

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I’ve been to Amelie & Friends in North Street, Chichester several times over the last couple of years or more since they’ve opened. Sometimes just for a cake and a coffee, sometimes lunch and more recently for an evening meal with my sister in November. In fact, we enjoyed it so much we returned in late December along with our husbands.

I loved what I’d had the previous month and as I’m a creature of comfort I ordered the same apart from the dessert. As a pre-starter we all shared the bread basket filled with a couple of different kinds of fresh bread/rolls and also the pork scratching – very naughty but very nice. The scratchings were excellent. Crispy and lots of them.

I enjoyed the soup again which was Roast Chestnut Soup with Pecorino, Pancetta and Thyme Croutons.  It was lovely and thick, very tasty and came with a roll and butter.

The  6 Hour Pork Belly with Mange Tout, Crushed New Potatoes, Sea Salt Crackling, Apple Crisps and Port Jus was delicious, the meat just melted in my mouth. More pork scratchings, but I knew this and you just sometimes can’t have enough of them.

Last time I enjoyed the lemongrass parfait with pineapple salsa, not normally something I would order but the couple on the table next to us said they enjoyed it. It was so nice I almost had it again this time but chose instead the Christmas pudding & Bailey’s ice-cream. Again, ice-cream is not something I normally order as a dessert, I don’t mind if it’s accompanying a dish of course but this was really yummy with lots of big chunks of delicious Christmas pudding amongst the Bailey’s ice cream.

Last time we enjoyed a glass of white but this time we all shared a bottle of red, 2010 ’3′ Tinto from Spain which was very nice.

The interior of Amelie & Friends is nice and clean looking, not too fussy and without any clutter. Wooden flooring and tables, white walls with a few very good paintings of local scenes. The lighting on the walls is somewhat different. They look a little like reclaimed lights from an old fashioned underground tunnel or cellar. There is a large conservatory with more tables and chairs and in the summer they have a lovely sunny walled garden where everyone wants to sit, with olive trees. I remember having a very thick and creamy gooseberry fool a couple of times in the summer which was divine. I’m hoping that will be back on the menu for this summer. If you don’t want a large meal there are lighter bites for lunch time or just enjoy one of their delicious cakes or desserts with a coffee. Take a look at our post on Amelie & Friends from 18 months ago, still worth a read, although I think it has improved a lot.

I thoroughly recommend visiting Amelie & Friends. The staff are friendly and attentive and I shall definitely be returning again. Soon I hope because their Sunday lunch sounds fabulous!

Living life, loving cake

A x

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