‘the Jetty’ opened its doors back in the autumn and it really is one of Christchurch’s most stunning locations. Set within the grounds of The Christchurch Harbour Hotel the restaurant, bar and grill is right on the water’s edge overlooking Mudeford Quay. The restaurant is headed up by Michelin star chef Alex Aitkin who knows the area and most certainly his craft very well.

As you arrive at ‘the Jetty’ one is immediately struck by the innovative design of the building with acres of glass forming the walls showing the vista off to its best. The evening we were there it began to snow, making looking out onto the water a magical experience. Inside has a modern, contemporary feel and most importantly, the house was full of very happy looking diners.

Whilst being shown to our table the waiter immediately noticed that Cheryl, my wife, was pregnant and explained the menu, reassuring us that whilst it was quite heavily weighted towards fish and shellfish, the chef was very happy to adapt things to suit her in what she could or couldn’t eat.

Whilst being shown to our table the waiter immediately noticed that Cheryl, my wife, was pregnant and explained the menu, reassuring us that whilst it was quite heavily weighted towards fish and shellfish, the chef was very happy to adapt things to suit her in what she could or couldn’t eat.

Whilst deliberating over the menu the wine waiter came to the table and offered to select a wine for us if we were at all unsure and was happy to offer advice on which wine would best suit our choices of food. I explained that my wife was pregnant and that I felt that drinking an entire bottle to myself might appear to be a little unfair if not slightly greedy. He then suggested that as my preference was red wine, he chose a wine that complimented my choice of food and I simply had a glass (large!) of this. Very good.

Starters included scallops, twice baked cheese soufflé and risotto with wild mushrooms and truffles. I chose the jetty’s special “chunky” fish soup whilst Cheryl had Classic crab on toast, both delicious. Whilst we were waiting for our starters we were presented with delicious celeriac soup as an appetiser compliments of the chef.

It is a very rare thing that I can eat out and feel that I could have happily eaten anything from the list of main courses, in the case of the menu in front of me however, this was most definitely the case. I finally plumped for the fresh Christchurch bay sea bass with mussels whilst Cheryl chose whole grilled lemon sole with new potatoes and spinach and butter sauce. Both dishes were cooked and presented beautifully and most importantly tasted wonderful. For those who are not as keen on fish as we are the menu also offered liver and bacon, pork and tomato tart tatin.

The dessert menu if you still have space, offers classics such tiramisu and dark chocolate fondant as well as exciting “newies” such as white chocolate terrine spiked with strawberries coated in praline. Cheryl swooned her way through the most fabulous sticky toffee pudding whilst I could not resist my all time favourite of crème brulee which was truly great with its crunchy glaze and creamy filling. Very satisfying!

What can I say; the service was excellent, attentive without being irritating. The setting fantastic and the food quite beautiful.

If you want to impress then my advice is to consider booking a table at ‘the Jetty’, Valentine’s is on its way......

Jonathan Dennett