The Pass at the South Lodge Hotel

With tables looking out on to the kitchen and TV screens showing staff hard at work creating fancy, fiddly orders, The Pass could be mistaken for the set of a new reality TV show, but for the fact there’s not enough drama.

Apart from regular cries of “service” and the sound of knives hitting chopping boards, this kitchen is disappointingly calm.

No tantrums, no tears – if it were a TV show, you’d definitely switch channels.

But of course it’s not.

It’s a 22 -seater, fine-dining restaurant that puts a spin on the idea of sitting at the “chef ’s table” by bringing people directly into the kitchen.

It was opened at the end of last year in the South Lodge Hotel (a grand country house surrounded by acres of woodland and parkland), intended as a contrast to The Camellia, the hotel’s existing and very traditional restaurant.

Instead of crisp linen tablecloths and oil paintings, at The Pass customers perch on high, lime green stools while on the back wall, neon panels gradually change from green to blue.

Diners can choose from three set evening tasting menus, which range from five courses (£35) to a stomach-clutching nine (£78).

At lunchtimes, prices start from £28 for four courses, going up to £38 for six .

In keeping with the hotel’s five-star rating, the courses seem designed to invoke a feeling of luxury, with a liberal scattering of ingredients such as quail’s eggs, asparagus and roast lobster, not to mention endless foams.

Dishes arrive looking like Jackson Pollocks, with delicate towers of rolled Iberico ham, perfectly cut discs of roast potato or little cubes of savoury jelly.

Customers can accompany their Henry VIII-style feast with a wine flight (from £40), which matches a different, complementary glass of wine to each course.

While it is no place for those who like their food simple and hearty, each dish is an extravagant treat, with subtle, imaginative flavour combinations, artful presentation and enough mild oddities (passion fruit lentils, anyone?) to hold the attention throughout.

Head chef Matt Gillan describes his style as “progressive British” – a term he coined himself.

“We use local, predominantly British produce but in new, imaginative ways.

It seems the most apt description.”

He has been with the hotel since 2006 and was involved in The Pass from the start.

It has since been awarded three rosettes by the prestigious AA Restaurant Guide 2009, awarded to restaurants that “demand recognition well beyond their local area...

timing, seasoning and flavour combinations have to be consistently excellent”.

The Pass aims to give diners a dramatic eating experience and allow foodies to see the process their food has gone through to get to their tables.

Matt explains: “When the new kitchen was being built we were having a bit of a joke with the managing director, saying we should put a restaurant in the kitchen, and he really went for it,” he explains.

“It was difficult when we first opened, but there’s so much that goes into each dish that our focus is totally on the food and we forget we have people watching us.”

The menu changes every six to eight weeks, to tie in both with the produce that is in season and Matt’s own whims.

“We try to keep it fresh because we know people are coming back quite regularly and I don’t want them to have the same dish twice.

It’s about having a different experience every time.”

But is a nine-course menu ever really necessary? “If I went to a restaurant like this I’d want to taste as much as possible!” he says, and it’s hard to argue with that.

Sample the menu

Just some of dishes on the set menus at The Pass
Rump of Sussex lamb, braised shoulder, broccoli purée, passion fruit lentils, vine tomatoes, Wasabi peanut crusted tuna loin, sweet potato puree, roasted mouli, teriyaki sauce Veloute of asparagus, poached quails egg, truffle asparagus Vanilla panacotta, ginger crumb, popcorn broth Cajun spiced pollock, Portland scallop, fricassée of peas and broad beans.