‘Apart from anything else, there’s the beauty: a glass jar of perfectly ripe greengages sits beside sundae glasses of strawberries and meringue; an enamel tub brims with rosy lobsters. In the semi-gloom and dark-painted walls, it’s as affecting as a Vermeer still life’ says Marina O’Loughlin in her review of the restaurant in The Guardian September 2012. ‘There are only a handful of tables, a few of them in the kitchen itself. The food, which comes without any kind of starter/main course rhythm, is everything you want lunch by the sea to be. There’s dressed crab, sweet and pungent, with the kind of wobbly, homemade mayonnaise you can cut with a knife.

Simple things make you coo with pleasure thanks to the freshness of the ingredients: oily, chargrilled sourdough piled high with creamy goat’s curd and emerald broad beans; a whole wild seabass with ticklish green sauce of capers, gherkins and fresh herbs. A slab of delicate courgette tart is subtle and soothingly bland; Hendy suggests raw, mandolined courgettes: “Let some ripple and loop back on themselves, so it looks like a rectangle of green-edged tumbled ribbon.” Everything is plonked insouciantly on white plates and canteen metal trays, with nothing more than a slice of lemon or slick of sauce. Crab bisque offers the tricksiest presentation, but even that’s just a metal saucepan on a tray with ladle for self-serving. It’s gorgeous, too: rich, deep crab flavour, lick of cream and brandy. Which kind of says it all.’

‘I went here for lunch with a group of friends and were lucky enough to be seated in the kitchen where we could see all the food being prepared and cooked. For me, the experience was fabulous – the care and attention being paid to each dish as it was cooked and served was clearly on display. Also knowing that the fish served is picked up daily so the menu changes according to what has been caught by the local fishermen made me realise that not only was this a restaurant that was serving delicious tasting food, at a price I felt was very reasonable, but was also keen to be a part of Hastings’ heritage.

I could not fault the food or service in any way. I didn’t sit at the kitchen table expecting to be entertained by the people working in there – I sat there so I could watch and enjoy professionals at work delivering exquisite fish and seafood dishes – and I, and my companions, weren’t disappointed. I’m certainly looking forward to eating there again.’