Somehow I missed the golden age of Wagamama. A time when everyone was ‘queuing down the street!’ the manager tells me, wistfully recalling early days in the 1990’s. I must have been somewhere else I suppose, possibly Covent Garden, because this is the first time I have ever been inside one.
Waldo’s is named after the architect of the great fountain in Cliveden house’s driveway, Thomas Waldo Story. It’s not perhaps the best of names to have chosen - I keep thinking of Nando’s - but this is seriously fine dining.
To secure a sitting at Wheelers at either 1pm, 3pm or 5pm at the Formica counter, or past a curtain, the demob-demure dining room, you must be dogged. I tried for months, finally capturing a cancellation with hours to spare.
We had heard good things about Whites, since head chef Stuart Dove, took the helm last year. It is a remarkably good restaurant and we ate perhaps the best food we have had outside central London for some months. We would certainly recommend it to anyone who can travel to Steyning and could see it becoming a destination restaurant.