The Crab & Lobster

Overlooking the reed beds and salt marsh of Pagham Harbour Nature Reserve, this ‘lovely little pub’ is not a local boozer but a very good restaurant-with-rooms, a sister venture to The Halfway Bridge, Lodsworth (see entry). Oak-beamed bedrooms have a subtle palette of pale blue, sage and taupe, with some overlooking open farmland. A reader’s deluxe room had a perpendicular beam at the centre – a sort of 17th-century jack post, more curiosity than hazard. 'The bed was very comfy.' There are rooms in adjacent Crab Cottage, which has a sitting room and a kitchen with an espresso machine, should you want to self-cater, but a full English awaits next door. The restaurant is stylish, and also comes with a log-burner in an inglenook for chillier days. Specials are chalked up on a fish-shaped blackboard, while the à la carte menu brings dishes such as traditional fish soup, baked crab gratin with fennel and watercress salad; beer battered fish and chips, and steaks. A separate vegetarian/vegan menu might include sweet potato gnocchi, Moroccan spiced chickpea tagine. ‘The staff are young, efficient and friendly. We will return.'