Viva Lewes Issue 117 June 2016

FOOD
The Sussex Ox
Moo with a view
There’s been a lot of
talk in recent years
about ‘food miles’.
When it comes to the
Sussex Ox, that ohso-very
country pub
in Milton Street, with
its spectacular views
over Firle Beacon,
this could be translated
to ‘food yards’.
The pub is owned by
the people who also
run the farm around
it, and the lamb and beef they sell is from animals
reared organically on the premises.
I pay a visit with my best friend Johnny, and my
fiancée Rowena, and my best friend’s latest flame
Sarah, who I’ve known for 25 years, but not in
that capacity. The girls have met once before,
briefly. So you could say that there’s an interesting
dynamic around the table. It’s a Monday
evening and we’ve rushed to get there before
9pm, when the kitchen closes.
I’ve been to the Ox before, and I’m happy to see
that it hasn’t changed too much since the new
owners took over a couple of years back. There’s
still a bit that looks pubby and another bit that
looks pub-converted-into-restauranty and we
are lead there. It’s a well-lit room with prints on
the walls. Monday being Monday, there’s only
one other set of diners; Monday being Monday
there’s a buzz around the rest of the place – it’s
quiz night.
I know what Rowena is going to want to eat
because we almost always want exactly the same
thing (go figure). In this case it’s salt and pepper
squid (£6.25) as a starter and ‘char-grilled 28-day
aged prime Sussex sirloin steak’ as a main course.
The latter, with all
those mouth-watering
adjectives, is impossible
to look past, even
at top-dollar £18.50.
Johnny has chosen
trout, and he orders
first, and you can see
his dismay as we all
order the steak after
him.
You can tell a lot about
a person from how
they behave after they
trip over, and our waitress’ graceful and selfdeprecatory
reaction having gone arse over tip in
front of us endears her to us no end: luckily this
happens as she’s coming up to take our order, and
not laden with hot food.
And the food? Pretty excellent. The squid has
been cooked and seasoned so perfectly it seems
a shame to dip it in the garlic mayonnaise sauce
it comes with. And the steak is as succulent as
you’d imagine from the meat of an animal you
might have heard mooing on an earlier visit. The
peppercorn sauce is a little waterier than I’d have
made it, but that’s a small moan. We share a bottle
of Sicilian Primitivo, which hits the nail bang
on the head.
Everyone leaves happy, our foursome better
acquainted than before. The company has been
more than agreeable, but next time – perhaps
after walking across from Alfriston on a sunny
evening – I’ll make it a meal for just two, and
we’ll sit in the garden, and try to coincide the arrival
of the food with the sun setting behind Firle
Beacon. We marry in July. Alex Leith
The Sussex Ox, Milton Street, 01323 870840 /
07532 305909
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