I don’t know if it was the sun, the service, the people or the views, but I simply fell in love with Jersey within only the first few hours of arriving – it was love at first sight. If any of you know me well, you’ll know I have a passion for sun, sea and drinking Champagne in it. I also love to be busy too, but at the same time I also love to relax and try to combine the two through my love of social media – Twitter to be exact. With that in mind Mark Jordan at the Beach is unbelievably photogenic. Everything is so vibrant to look at that it quite literally leaves you salivating before any of it gets near your lips. We started our meal here on the terrace with a glass of Champagne and a gorgeous selection of petit fours. It’s a great place for people watching, while looking out to sea, spying the coast of France in the distance on a clear day.
Looking after the everyday side of things here at Mark Jordan on the Beach is Mark’s wife, Magda Jordan – who is a fabulous host. Magda’s assisted by front of house manager Andrew Guilfoyle and together they make this place truly fabulous – all with the help of Mark’s cooking of course. Choosing anything off the menu here is a hard task, given how delicious it all sounded but we quickly settled on these pan seared scallops with a sticky oxtail base and vibrant pea puree. The scallops were stunning, perfectly cooked and incredibly fresh. The oxtail element of the dish I liked it mostly, but I’m not sure I fell in love with it – I think the oxtail just needed to be a little more pulled in its texture. With that said it was still a very good plate, of very serious food.
Magda was telling us that some of Mark’s original creations that helped gain his Michelin star at the acclaimed Ocean Restaurant in The Atlantic Hotel, had in fact found their way on to the menu here and you can really taste that. This dish of roast Gressingham duck with red cabbage, caramelised figs and vanilla jus deserved its own Michelin star – no wonder Mark Jordan at the Beach is currently sitting on a Bib Gourmand. Our duck was cooked to sheer perfection, marinated in a fragrant honey & five spice sauce and served alongside an almost tuile like cannelloni tube, filled with leg from the duck. This was hands down the single best dish I ate during my time here in Jersey. The side of cauliflower mornay may have helped a little.
I say that the duck was the single best dish, but that was before I started writing this paragraph and had forgotten all about the soufflé. You’ll be hard pushed to find another example just as light, bouncy and fluffy as it was here. This hot passion fruit soufflé was served with a dollop of expertly made sorbet – the deliciousness of it all comes free. Pair it with a glass of the restaurants selection of sweet wines for the full experience.
Before saying our goodbyes to this wonderful restaurant we devoured a selection of petit fours which were simple, yet very well crafted – sometimes that’s all you want after such a rich and enjoyable meal. Mark Jordan at the Beach is one of Jersey’s best restaurant. It has a Michelin star chef as its backing, memorable front of house service and a restaurant manager with a real passion for not only the food and Jersey – but for Mark and that reflects in the way everyone talks about the food here. All I need to do next is win the lottery, so I can retire to this gorgeous island.
8.5/10
