Hastings and St Leonards . Restaurants in England . Uncategorized

Booh, Old Town Hastings: restaurant review

On January 11, 2026 by The Plate Licked Clean

Ox cheek pie. Duck liver parfait. Locally-caught plaice, roasted whole and served with cider butter sauce. Oysters, three ways. Cullen skink. Scallops. Ribeye and bone marrow. Chips cooked in beef dripping. Goose. Fish pie.

Yes, Booh, you have my attention.

I’m on the train out of Charing Cross, and already smitten with Booh’s menu, when a sudden worry strikes: what if they only offer ‘lighter bites’ at lunch? What if it’s just sandwiches and wraps- or, god forbid, salads- for the shopping, office and WFH crowd?

I’m already invested. I’m too far in, already regretting what I won’t be able to have, which is pretty much the benchmark of a good menu. One which feels somehow written for me.

I needn’t have worried. Lee and Jo Cosson’s menu is there for you all day, and it reads as if it was put together by people who love to feed: it’s nicely compact, unfussily written, and crammed so full of good things it seems hellbent on drawing me in for an unhurried, expansive lunch.

There’s no rigid slot after which to flip the table, although it’s a small space. No ‘Please note your table will be required after two hours’ small print here, but the rather more hospitable We won’t ask you to vacate after a certain time like most restaurants, your table is yours for as long as you want it. The invitation couldn’t be any more explicit. Come. Ease back, enjoy, indulge yourself: there’s no need to watch the hourglass dwindle as you eat.

It’s my first day off in thirteen, we both have new jobs to tost, and it’s just what I’m looking for.

Named after their late dog, Booh is a small room: a low ceiling, old black beams. Leaded windows face on to the never-dull George St, and there are narrow, winding stairs down to the kitchen, so a little dumb waiter delivers the dishes.

There’s ‘Old Man bread’, named for the Long Man Brewery dark ale in the dough, served in thick slices with a subtly malty tang and a slathering of sea herb butter before sweetly meaty Maldon oysters arrive. We have them all three ways- of course we do; naked with red wine vinaigrette, Tabasco and lemon; lightly battered with a sriracha mayonnaise; and, best of all, dressed with a Bloody Mary granita which makes them taste even more of themselves, somehow, and is reordered sharpish.

Starters are squarely in the £10-12 bracket. Lamb croquettes, their crisp shells stuffed with a tender, sticky tangle of braised meat others would call ‘unctuous’ for those all-important SooperDooperFoodie points, are just begging for a little slick from that jug of glossy jus, or a quick dredge through that punchy herb mayo. And yes, obviously we have the jumbo pigs in blankets: and yes, very good they are too.

As we drink our cocktails we watch many stop to read the menu displayed outside. You’ll excuse us for feeling a little smug at having a head start on knowing how good this little nook is.

Scallop pie: a light puff pastry lid, a homely puff of steam, a subtle fennel and cream sauce, a quiet pleasure. ‘It’s all about the scallops, isn’t it? Everything gets along beautifully but nothing gets in their way’, is B’s take, and she’s right. She always is.

Mains are in the £18-30 range, and top out at £30 for a 9oz locally farmed ribeye, beer & bone marrow sauce and beef dripping chips. Most are at the lower end, though, and it’s here I think you see the heart of what they do at Booh.

Goose- gently rosy slices of breast, the fat impeccably rendered- is impressive too, the sauce deep and dark and so rich and thick it already has its offspring down for a major public school. It’s a lovely touch too, to spin the leg meat into a subtly gamey sausage roll, and there’s more impressive pastry work on its way. Regulars on the next table, greeted like old friends as they arrive, grin approvingly when they see my pie on its way.

It is £18 worth of patience and precision, a long, slow, dark braise of ox cheek and stout in excellent pastry, with a faultlessly silky mash. This is proper elbows-on-the-table, stick-to-your-ribs cooking and the spicy, peppery house red is just the thing.

We have no room for desserts but we ask for the menu to see what we could have won. It’s pretty much as expected, a come-hither of chocolate (several, obviously), crumble, local cheeses and tiramisu. Next time, definitely.

As we trundle towards our taxi, full and happy, we remember Jo’s parting words. ‘Come and see us again- even if it’s just last thing, for pudding and a bottle of wine’.

Somehow, that feels just right here. Booh already feels fully formed, a place for indulgence; for long lunches, for cancelling afternoon plans, or for memorable nights. Let it all unfold around you: begone dull care and all that.

And we all need a place like this, don’t we? That one which keeps you coming back, the one which wants to feed you well, with no fuss, no bells and whistles. Just a menu to reel you in, full of things you can’t wait to eat, from people who give a damn. Now, all I can do I suggest you go find out for yourself.

Booh, 31 George St, Hastings TN34 3EA

07353093145

OPENING:

Thursday-Saturday, lunch service 12.30 -3.30
Dinner service 6pm – 8.30pm
Sunday 12pm -3.30

Closed Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday, but open for large table bookings on any of those days. Phone 07353093145