UPDATE: MARCH 2019
Wellies has been taken over again. We went not long after the take over in 2018. The cake looked delicious but it wasn’t great, it was a large slice though. We haven’t returned… yet.
UPDATE 02/04/2016
We have returned for lunch and reviewed the new ‘Wellies’ which you can read here.
UPDATE 12/03/2016
Wellies has changed hands. The original owners now have the Crate & Apple in Chichester (that may have changed since this review was written). We visited Wellies today and sat outside in the sunshine. Geoff had a sausage & brioche bun AND a slice of Bakewell tart which I had a taste of and it was the BEST Bakewell tart we’ve had for a very long time! So moist it was delicious. The coffee was great too. We’re going back for lunch soon so expect a review in the next couple of weeks. They’re only open in the daytime now.
You probably wouldn’t come across Wellies unless you were trying to find it because the chances of you just ‘happening to be passing by’ are quite remote as Wellies is in the middle of the countryside with not much else around and on the way to almost nowhere. As I cycle in the countryside I did however find it as I was ‘passing by‘! You see so much more on a bike I can tell you. And as you’ve cycled to get there you can eat cake because you deserve it after burning off all those calories. And you can have cake if you arrive by car if you’ve been good too, I’m sure. There are tons of excuses to eat cake.
Wellies is set in a Sussex barn conversion in West Stoke, near Chichester, the back roads to Goodwood and Kingley Vale Nature Reserve which is only half a mile away. At the rear of the restaurant there is some decking with a wooden fence around and tables with large umbrellas. This is within a gravel courtyard where there is a veterinary practice and a shop selling equine stuff. As we were visiting on a Sunday I’m not quite sure how quiet it would be on a week day. The courtyard was closed so no vehicles could enter and thus make a lot of noise on the gravel or maybe barking dogs terrified of what was about to happen to them at the vets. Inside looked modern, clean and fresh and the upstairs seating area had an interior balcony. I must say that the steel pipe outside (to the right of my photo) does smell now and again of chip fat. That horrible greasy chip fatty smell wafted over us now and again.
As it was Sunday we opted for a roast. The pork was from Funtington, just up the road which is nice and local. Also the apple sauce is local from Appeldram Cider. This was served with four goose fat roasted potatoes, very nice tasting ones I may add, carrots, red cabbage, green beans, broccli and a nice piece of crackling and of course, gravy. A jug of water with ice was placed on the table as it was a very hot day but the water did taste a little funny. No one came out to ask if everything was ok a few minutes later and we did find that the staff were quite young and lacking eye contact and charm. Service was also quite slow and we waited for quite a while with empty plates. There didn’t appear to be a wine list but I was told there was a Touraine 2010 Savignon Blanc so I had a glass of that.
For dessert I had Chocolate fudge brownie with Swiss chocolate ice-cream. I was slightly disappointed at the size of my portion of brownie. It was quite small unfortunately. This was served topped with a physalis and the Swiss chocolate ice-cream which I believe was Mövenpick. This was very nice with little bits of chocolate in it. Although I enjoyed the brownie I feel it should have been larger.
It was however fairly rich and gooey with lots of walnuts inside and very tasty.
Wellies meals are homemade and freshly prepared and source what they can locally. They grow herbs on the decking and use them during the summer. The weekday menu looks fab, there were a few things I would find difficult to decide over. Lighter bites like toasted teacakes, bacon sandwiches, jacket potatoes, ciabattas, open sandwiches and many more are also available midweek including afternoon tea!
So apart from the few things I’ve moaned about I feel that I would like to return to Wellies as the meal was rather tasty. The Sunday roast was £11.95 and the dessert was £4.50, average prices and this is West Sussex darling.
Living life, loving cake
A x
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