Globe Inn Marsh, restaurant review: Profits here are ploughed back into the Sussex economy

10 Military Road, Rye, East Sussex. Tel: 01797 225

The Globe Inn Marsh is a bit too 'curated' to have the authenticity its outside suggests

The runaway success of the Twitter account @WeWantPlates proves something; I'm just not quite sure what. It was funny at first, but probably those who tweet their grumbles about being served chips in a wheelbarrow or steak on a slate are a wee bit passive-aggressive. With this in mind, I smile benevolently when my Scotch egg arrives on a slate at the Globe Inn, and Mr M's burger and chips is spread along a thin wedge of wood. That's just the way they do things. Now eat up and tweet it later, if you must.

The Globe Inn is one stop on our brief tour of the Hastings area: a mini-break with the aged parents (this is not ageist, mind – we've been calling them that for decades). The requirements are dog-friendly, coeliac-friendly and a decent range of drinks.

Olive – the dog – is in disgrace after chewing through her lead within five minutes of arriving, and is in the back of the car. Diane – the coeliac – is in clover; the menu features grilled Dover sole, a favourite, and there's gluten-free bread on offer. Mr M Sr and Jr are getting stuck into pints of Hooker's Hooch, a local bitter, while I gaze at the pub's bar, which is less a bar, more a buffet arrangement in the middle of the room, with all manner of beers on tap, bowls of olives and nuts and bottles of wine with the corks already eased out… how very inviting.

The Globe Inn Marsh, as its pleasingly Dickensian exterior has it emblazoned, is tucked away down a windy lane outside Rye, where the houses give way to nature. The interior is, on closer inspection, a bit too "curated" to have the authenticity its outside suggests. Driftwood candlesticks and milk-churn bins look a bit hokey; as for the corrugated wall and hay-bale seats… it's no surprise about the slate and the plank, really.

So, the food. This pub has had a fairly recent overhaul and the menu (although cosily handwritten, with specials on a roll of brown paper) is caught between the new olde worlde and the traditional "something for everyone" offering. So there's sausage and mash and baked camembert and Scotch egg and king prawns and fish pie and pizza. Phew.

Our (disad)vantage point near the back of the bar means we're near an open fire – it's blowing a gale out on the marshes – but we get a fair bit of the clatter and banter coming out of the kitchen. Luckily, it's a productive noise.

The black pudding Scotch egg has a lovely crisp crumb and briskly seasoned meat; the accompanying apple chutney is really terrific slathered on a slab of crackling, while fish goujons off the daily menu have the odds'n' sods shapes that prove they're made up of the catch, not out of the freezer. Mr M's marsh burger comes not quite pink enough, but with a perky dill pickle and a mound of chunky chips.

Diane wins comprehensively, though, with her Dover sole. For £16, the fish is a big beauty, served on the bone and spankingly fresh. Her complaint (such as it is) is that it's been placed on top of the wilted greens, which makes it hard to eat. Perhaps there needs to be a spin-off from WeWantPlates called WeWantBigEnoughPlates?

There's a pretty good wine list here, with a commitment to English wines that's admirable; my rosé, from Chapel Down – eight miles north of Rye – is delightfully blousy.

The slightly frenetic interior and swirly writing have distracted me from a significant point trumpeted by the pub: "For every £1 you have spent, 60p returns back into the local economy," it states. The wood oven uses local chestnut, and whether from boat, field, farm, herd of flock – it says – almost everything on the plate comes from nearby. That's admirable, as is the Military cheese board – "Fit for an army", as the menu banter has it. Three local cheeses at the peak of fitness – Canterbury cobbler, Brighton blue and Sussex brie, a fantastic thing for £8.

But of everything that makes our spring lunch jolly, the hands-down winner isn't the provenance, the service, the room, the drinks or the dishes we've so far eaten… it's a pudding.

Rice pudding, to be precise. I'm a sucker for this, if it's on a menu, and the Globe's version (£6) is tanned with demerara, and unctuous in the extreme. It's adorned with a huge blob of bramble jam and two scoops of clotted cream. I'd run the length of nearby Camber Sands and back for a second helping of that.

7/10

Globe Inn Marsh, 10 Military Road, Rye, East Sussex. Tel: 01797 225 220. £50 for two, with drinks

Four more foodie notes from the past week

40 Maltby Street

The raved-about south London hole-in-the-wall is well worth queuing for on a Saturday. Everything on the chalked-up menu is sublime.

Spices

Had no harissa for a spiced pomegranate molasses-glazed leg of lamb (an ace Dan Doherty recipe), so used chipotle powder. Smoky and spectacular.

The Shed

Lunch with the Sustainable Restaurant Association bosses; split delicious sharing plates and gazed at fellow diner, the fab Miranda Richardson.

Rhubarb

Still on recipe substitutions, I used ground pistachio rather than almonds to make a frangipane for a rhubarb tart. Pink, green, very moreish.