From China to the Med, it's the Silk Road
, Wednesday, 06 February 2008
By Vicki Fairman
Creating silk isn’t something that can be done over night, nor is it a simple process. The finest silk is produced by the bombyx mori caterpillar, which feeds on young, ripe mulberry leaves. Through a lot of hard work and incredible evolutionary processes, it creates itself a silken cocoon, within which it metamorphoses into a brilliant moth. While dining at the Silk Road restaurant in Arcade Road, Littlehampton, one only sees the moth, to carry a theme on. The restaurant has been created to echo the eclecticism of the Silk Road (an ancient trading route from China to the Mediterranean), and yet, it’s immensely homely as well. Since the décor fits so perfectly with the theme, ethos and ambience of the restaurant, it’s almost easy to skim over the time, devotion and sheer hard work that Silk Road proprietor and hostess, Teresa Haskell, has put in. Which is how it should be – effortless ease and unrelenting quality.
Dining at the Silk Road is an experience, nothing less. While I and my companion, Adam, were settled at our table, we watched as the belly dancer – all silks and glittering jewels – swirled among the tables, laughed with Teresa as she glided from dining group to dining group and tucked into exquisitely prepared fare.
From the extensive menu, I decided to begin with the Patates Salatas (Turkish potato salad), while Adam headed for the Melon Feta. One might think that melon and feta wouldn’t sit too well together, but the saltiness of the Feta contrasted perfectly with the sweet melon, each bringing out the flavour of the other. My Patates Salatas meanwhile was prepared with an obviously light hand – the herbs and paprika combined subtly to add both flavour and colour to the salad.
Following swiftly (but not too hurriedly) came my Sigara Boreygi and Adam’s Chicken Iskender. Sigara Boreygi are finger shaped filo pastry parcels, filled with spinach, carrots, onions, rice, tomatoes, green peppers and feta cheese cooked in olive oil with a little seven spice – and I can thoroughly recommend them. Once again, nothing was too much and the chef’s light touch really paid dividends. I can believe that too much of any one ingredient would kill the entire dish, but it was tasty and evidently made from fresh ingredients.
The Chicken came marinated and chargrilled to perfection. Although Adam and I were meant to be sharing forkfuls (he had some of mine), it was all gone before I could get my fork across the table. Since he’s a bit picky about his food, that’s a real testament to the quality! It looked great though, so I suppose that I got my bite with the eye (if nothing else!).
While we were digesting the evening with a coffee, it became obvious why Silk Road is such a success. In any other establishment, we’d expect the bill to be thrust under our noses even before we finished the first cup of black heaven. But not so here – the guests aren’t ignored but they aren’t hassled either. Teresa and the team have come up with a magic formula for dancing non-intrusive attendance on their guests.
And we did feel like guests as opposed to customers. We relaxed, we laughed, we had a really good time. And we were made to feel welcome, like old friends from the moment that we walked through the door to the moment that we left. It’s probably the first time that I’ve experienced this when dining out – and I can’t wait to experience it again!
The Silk Road is open for both evening meals and lunches, family occasions, dinner-a-deux or business lunches. Easily accessible on Arcade Road, Littlehampton (BN17 5AP for those of you who need to fire it into SatNav), the restaurant truly feels like a home from home – except there’s no washing up! If you want to know more about the restaurant or the extensive programme of events that they put on, call 01903 722055 or visit their website: http://www.thesilkroadrestaurant.net/
Creating silk isn’t something that can be done over night, nor is it a simple process. The finest silk is produced by the bombyx mori caterpillar, which feeds on young, ripe mulberry leaves. Through a lot of hard work and incredible evolutionary processes, it creates itself a silken cocoon, within which it metamorphoses into a brilliant moth. While dining at the Silk Road restaurant in Arcade Road, Littlehampton, one only sees the moth, to carry a theme on. The restaurant has been created to echo the eclecticism of the Silk Road (an ancient trading route from China to the Mediterranean), and yet, it’s immensely homely as well. Since the décor fits so perfectly with the theme, ethos and ambience of the restaurant, it’s almost easy to skim over the time, devotion and sheer hard work that Silk Road proprietor and hostess, Teresa Haskell, has put in. Which is how it should be – effortless ease and unrelenting quality.
Dining at the Silk Road is an experience, nothing less. While I and my companion, Adam, were settled at our table, we watched as the belly dancer – all silks and glittering jewels – swirled among the tables, laughed with Teresa as she glided from dining group to dining group and tucked into exquisitely prepared fare.
From the extensive menu, I decided to begin with the Patates Salatas (Turkish potato salad), while Adam headed for the Melon Feta. One might think that melon and feta wouldn’t sit too well together, but the saltiness of the Feta contrasted perfectly with the sweet melon, each bringing out the flavour of the other. My Patates Salatas meanwhile was prepared with an obviously light hand – the herbs and paprika combined subtly to add both flavour and colour to the salad.
Following swiftly (but not too hurriedly) came my Sigara Boreygi and Adam’s Chicken Iskender. Sigara Boreygi are finger shaped filo pastry parcels, filled with spinach, carrots, onions, rice, tomatoes, green peppers and feta cheese cooked in olive oil with a little seven spice – and I can thoroughly recommend them. Once again, nothing was too much and the chef’s light touch really paid dividends. I can believe that too much of any one ingredient would kill the entire dish, but it was tasty and evidently made from fresh ingredients.
The Chicken came marinated and chargrilled to perfection. Although Adam and I were meant to be sharing forkfuls (he had some of mine), it was all gone before I could get my fork across the table. Since he’s a bit picky about his food, that’s a real testament to the quality! It looked great though, so I suppose that I got my bite with the eye (if nothing else!).
While we were digesting the evening with a coffee, it became obvious why Silk Road is such a success. In any other establishment, we’d expect the bill to be thrust under our noses even before we finished the first cup of black heaven. But not so here – the guests aren’t ignored but they aren’t hassled either. Teresa and the team have come up with a magic formula for dancing non-intrusive attendance on their guests.
And we did feel like guests as opposed to customers. We relaxed, we laughed, we had a really good time. And we were made to feel welcome, like old friends from the moment that we walked through the door to the moment that we left. It’s probably the first time that I’ve experienced this when dining out – and I can’t wait to experience it again!
The Silk Road is open for both evening meals and lunches, family occasions, dinner-a-deux or business lunches. Easily accessible on Arcade Road, Littlehampton (BN17 5AP for those of you who need to fire it into SatNav), the restaurant truly feels like a home from home – except there’s no washing up! If you want to know more about the restaurant or the extensive programme of events that they put on, call 01903 722055 or visit their website: http://www.thesilkroadrestaurant.net/
