Poynings Village near Brighton

If you have any interesting stories about the Oak, please share them with everybody else.

There has been a 'Royal Oak' on this site since the 1880's. The present 'Royal Oak' is privately owned and operated by Paul Day and Lewis Robinson who aquired the business in 1996.

We are very pleased to welcome Alex Tipping who joined us in June and now heads up the team as General Manager & Host. He replaces, of course, Steve Hamence who has been with us for more than five years. Steve will be returning to his native Sydney, Australia at the end of October. We look forward to working with Alex, who has moved into the Royal Oak with his partner Michelle. Of course, we will be sad to lose Steve but he returns home with our very best wishes for his future career and our heartfelt thanks for the dedicated hard work he has put in to the Royal Oak. We know he has made lots of friends here and hopefully they will gather to give him the send-off he deserves towards the end of October.

It never rains but it pours! Our Head Chef, David Wharton, departed at the end of August to embark on his own entrepreneurial venture. David was with us for over six years in total and again, he goes with our very best wishes. David and his partner Karen are now hosts at the Chequers at Slaugham. It’s a great spot and well worth a visit.

The good news? Wayne Cortilla, who joined us as Second Chef in July 2006 has fitted seamlessly in to the Head Chef role and we all look forward to his Autumn menus. Matt Nixon is now into his fourth year with us as Assistant Manager and Sian James continues to run the bar and is currently busy training our new team members that replace our summer students.

We have recently introduced our new wine menu which will run until at least Spring 2008. We have extended the range of ‘wines by the glass’ to a total of fourteen different wines. We are pleased to continue to offer a red and a white from Bookers Vineyard - just a few miles away at Bolney.

For the first time we have included a range of organic wines. All of our wines, except for the Bookers Vineyard range, are sourced from St Martin Vintners in Brighton, as they have been for the last decade.

This is not news any more, of course, particularly at the Royal Oak where we took the decision to go ‘no smoking’ a year earlier than the law asked required us to, in June 2006. Our customers seem virtually unanimous that the cleaner environment is a very welcome improvement to the dining and drinking experience at the Royal Oak, as indeed it is elsewhere.

You may have noticed the fine collection of artwork in our two main dining areas (the carpeted areas). The majority is by local artist Jen Green and is being offered for sale - each item is individually labelled. Please ask us if you are interested in purchasing - you can take your purchase away with you today. Jen will also consider commissions - you can contact her direct via email: jengreenuk@yahoo.co.uk or on 01273 857772

We have recently added Bookers Vineyard (Bolney, Sussex) to our Local Suppliers list. Check out their wines on our current Wine List.

Our latest addition is Downsview Farmhouse Ice-Creams. This family business uses the milk and cream from their own dairy herd near Lewes to produce a superb range of hand-made ice-creams on the farm itself. They will feature on our Pudding Menu this autumn.

The photos for the Country Girls Calendar have been shot in and around Poynings in aid of Breast Cancer Care.

The launch party will be staged at the Royal Oak on 25 October from 8pm, when you can enjoy the ‘undressing’ of the calendar with a complimentary glass of pink bubbly and canapés. Do come along to meet the gorgeous local models and to support this very worthy cause and, of course, to purchase your calendars !

What summer you ask? Well like it or not the long dark winter evenings start here so don’t forgot to your clocks, watches, mobiles and plethora of electronic gadgetry back - by one hour, before you go to bed on Saturday night, 27 October.

For a trial period, Alex has decided to remain open until midnight each Friday evening - so long as there proves to be a demand. Friday night has always seen a good turn out from Poynings folk but, of course, everyone will be welcome to stay that extra hour at the start of the weekend.

Get out your flares, put on your wigs (both optional!) - it’s Retro Night at the Oak.

For one night only, our menu will transform into include all things past. So expect prawn cocktail, beef stroganoff, Angel Delight and much, much more. It’s a three course fixed price menu at £15 per person. Reserve your table !

The ‘Dine with Rioja Wine for £10’ promotion will be launched in the ‘Independent’ magazine on Saturday 20 October in association with Rioja Wines.

‘Independent’ readers will be able to collect vouchers to enable them to enjoy a special main course menu with us for £10 - including a glass of a quality Rioja wine. The promotional menu will be available from 12 noon to 9.30pm Monday to Friday and will run until Thursday 29 November.

This spectacular display will, as usual, be organised by our Parish Council together with the proprietors of Forge Garage, our local farmer and various willing helpers from around the village.

This event is now something of an institution. We’ll be serving a traditional breakfast from 8.30 to 9.00am to celebrate the arrival of this year’s ‘Beaujolais Nouveau Villages’. Strictly by advance reservation only, you will be able to enjoy a glass of the new Beaujolais with our compliments. Please ask for a copy of the menu.

These events have been staged during the autumn and winter months for a number of years and are as popular as ever. Reserve your table as soon as you can as we expect to be fully booked very early.

A selection of delicious dishes, including vegetarian options, will be served ’buffet style’ at 8pm. The price, £11 for two courses.

Who needs to go to Padstow? Chef Wayne Cortilla has put together a superb ‘Seafood Festival’menu which will run throughout the weekend (subject to availability of the fresh fish products).

Please ask a member of our team at the bar for a copy of Wayne’s menu - and be sure to reserve your table as soon as possible.

We would be very pleased to cater for your pre-Christmas Lunch or Supper party, be it a gathering of work colleagues, club members or just family and friends.

We can accommodate 12 to 16 guests in our upper dining area and up to 32 in the lower dining area. Smaller parties can, of course, be accommodated as usual.

We can offer you the option of selecting from our regular menus of from our fixed price Festive Menus. Alternatively we would be very pleased to discuss tailor-made fixed price menus to suit your particular taste and budget.

If you would like to discuss further details please call in, phone us on 01273 857389 or email us at ropoynings@aol.com.

and finally..........

YOUR VIEWS ARE IMPORTANT TO US !!

Please let us know what you think about any aspect of our menus, our food, drinks and service. Feel free to contact us via Email or write to us:

Alex Tipping

Royal Oak

The Street

Poynings

BN45 7AQ

email: ropoynings@aol.com

fax: 01273 857 202

www.royaloakpoynings.biz

The Royal Oak Poynings