Mark Jordan at The Beach

Beach is the casual sister restaurant of Ocean, a ten minute drive away along the coast at Beaumont. It lives up to its name, with the restaurant directly overlooking the beach. The L shaped dining room has quite a low ceiling, wooden floor and no tablecloths, but welcoming staff. The menu has British classics as well as several fishy options, reflecting its seaside location.

The wine list came with tasting notes and included wines such as Romanis Ollieux Corbieres 2010 at £25 for a wine that you can find in the high street for around £11, Antinori 2008 Chianti Classico at £55 for a wine that retails at around £24, and Berliquet 2005 at £89 for a wine that will set you back around £40 in a shop.

Scotch egg (£8.50) was made using pork from Manor Farm in St Peter in Jersey, and was prepared to order, with a runny egg yolk centre. It was served with home made piccalilli. The meat filling had good flavour, and the piccalilli was a nice touch (13/20). Lobster bisque (£7) was impressive, the lobster flavour quite intense, the pieces of lobster tender, seasoning accurate. This could have come from a much grander kitchen (15/20).

The "MJ Burger" (£19.50) was a luxurious take on the beef burger. The beef is from the same cattle supplied to Ocean restaurant, the fine cuts being used there, the lesser cuts used to make the burgers here. The patty was served on a bed of red cabbage coleslaw, topped with warm foil gras and a fried egg, presented in a brioche bun. On the side were thick chips and home-made tomato ketchup. This is about as good a take on a luxury burger as you are likely to encounter (14/20). Asparagus (£12.50) was served with Hollandaise sauce, wilted spinach, oyster and enoki mushrooms and egg fried in breadcrumbs. The asparagus had very good flavour, the mushrooms carefully cooked (14/20). 

Apple tart (£7.50) had good pastry, the apple a touch on the dry side of ideal, but certainly this was a capable tarte fine au pommes, served with a scoop of ice cream (14/20). Coffee even came with petit fours, including a nice lemon macaroon. Service was very good, the staff friendly, and water and wine carefully topped up. This was a very enjoyable experience, the food showing a level of care and attention that was much higher than the casual setting might suggest.