Autumn list The new list starts Wednesday 15 October. November counter seats are released Monday at 10:00. Request a table
Drift Quill Wood fire
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Menu
Warm, low-lit dining room with timber tables set for an evening service
Wood fire · Tidal water · Autumn

One fire, one list, and whatever the morning boats bring in.

Drift Quill is a thirty-four seat kitchen on the water. We cook over embers, rewrite the list every Wednesday, and keep eight stools at the counter for people who would rather watch than sit.

Read the autumn list Request a table
The autumn list

Written Wednesday, cooked until it runs out.

Four courses, priced plainly. Anything marked below can change by the evening if the boats are short or the fire runs low — the room is told before you order.

Marks: (v) vegetarian, (ve) vegan. Prices are per plate and no service charge is added. Tell us about allergies when you request a table and the kitchen will write around them.

To begin

  • Hearth bread & cultured butter (v) Baked to order in the mouth of the oven, salted on the way out. 6
  • Smoked trout, pickled apple, dill oil Cured overnight, smoked for twenty minutes over applewood. 12
  • Charred leek, hazelnut, aged ewe's cheese (v) Leeks buried in the embers until sweet, dressed warm. 11
  • Raw beef, juniper, rye crisp Hand-cut from the dry-aged rump, seasoned at the pass. 14

From the fire

  • Whole plaice, brown butter, sea herbs Grilled on the bone for two, carved at the table. 29
  • Dry-aged sirloin, bone marrow, watercress Forty days on the bone, rested fifteen minutes before it reaches you. 34
  • Fire-roast celeriac, barley, black garlic (ve) Roasted whole in salt and ash, served in its own stock. 22
  • Clay-pot chicken, squash, thyme Slow pot over the coals; the lid comes off in front of you. 26

Alongside

  • Embered potatoes, smoked cream (v) Cooked in the ash drawer, split and dressed hot. 7
  • Bitter leaves, mustard, walnut (ve) Chicory and endive, dressed sharp to cut the fire. 6
  • Creamed kale, nutmeg (v) Cut small, cooked long, finished with a little vinegar. 6

To finish

  • Quince tart, bay custard (v) Poached in late-season quince syrup; made in sixes, so it ends early. 9
  • Burnt honey ice cream, oat crumb (v) Honey taken dark in the pan, churned the same morning. 8
  • Three cheeses, damson, seeded crackers (v) Two from the valley, one washed rind; ask what is eating well. 12
On the fire this week

Three plates the kitchen is cooking the most of right now.

These move with the season rather than the menu print. If one disappears mid-week, something close to it takes the slot.

Dry-aged steak sliced on a dark board with watercress alongside

Dry-aged sirloin

Forty days on the bone, finished close to the coals and rested longer than most kitchens have patience for.

Bowl of dressed autumn leaves, grains and roast vegetables

Celeriac & barley

Our vegan main all autumn. The root goes into the ash whole at four, and comes out at six tasting of smoke and butter.

Plated fish course with herbs and sauce on a pale ceramic plate

Whole plaice

Landed that morning, grilled on the bone and carved at the table. We only have as many as the boat had.

Two ways to dine

Pick the room before you pick the night.

The dining room and the counter run from the same fire but behave nothing alike. Here is the honest difference, so you can choose once and not be surprised at the door.

Set tables in a quiet dining room with timber floors and soft lighting

Option one

The dining room

Twenty-six seats across two long windows. Order as you like from the list, share the fire plates, stay as long as the seating allows.

Format
À la carte from the autumn list
Seats
26, plus six bar places
Allow
Two hours for a table of two
Booking window
Up to eight weeks ahead
Typical spend
Around 45 – 60 per person, before drinks
Request the dining room
Counter seating facing an open kitchen pass under warm pendant lights

Option two

The Quill counter

Eight stools along the pass. No menu is handed over — the kitchen cooks twelve small courses and tells you what each one is as it lands.

Format
Twelve set courses, no choice
Seats
8, one seating a night
Allow
Two and a half hours, arrive together
Booking window
Released Mondays, 10:00, for the next month
Set price
85 per person, paid on the night
Ask about counter seats
The kitchen

Everything is cooked over wood. That decides the rest.

There is no gas on the line. One hearth, an ash drawer beneath it, and a grill we raise and drop by hand. It means the list is short, the timing is honest, and the kitchen can only hold so many orders at once — which is why service runs in two clean seatings rather than a rolling night.

We buy small and close: one boat for fish, one farm for the dry-aged beef, two growers for everything green. When a grower has a bad week, the dish comes off instead of being topped up from a box. The list on this page is the one we are cooking; it is reprinted every Wednesday.

Bread is baked twice a service. Stocks go on at seven in the morning. Nothing is portioned into bags the night before.

  • First quince of the season arrived — the tart is on, six at a time, usually gone by nine.

  • Switched the grill charcoal to a slower-burning oak. Fire plates now take a few minutes longer and taste better for it.

  • Plaice is running well and the boat is landing early, so whole fish is back as a two-person plate.

A finished plate of grilled meat and vegetables resting on a dark surface
Fire plates are carved at the pass and go straight out — nothing waits under a lamp.
The dining room seen from the entrance, tables laid and lamps lit before service
Two seatings a night: 17:30 and 20:00 in the dining room, one at 19:00 at the counter.
Request a table

Send the night you want and we will write back.

Every table at Drift Quill is confirmed by a person, not a calendar. Tell us the date, how many of you there are and which room you would like.

  • How it worksRequests are read before each service and answered the same evening, or the next morning if you write late.
  • Holding your tableNothing is taken up front. We ask that you let us know by the day before if plans change.
  • Diets and allergiesWrite them in the notes. With two days' warning the kitchen can rework most of the list, including the full counter menu.
We only use these details to answer your request and confirm the booking.
Questions

The things people ask before they book.

If the answer you need is not here, add the question to your table request and we will reply to it directly.

Do you take walk-ins?
Six bar seats are kept back every night and never booked out, so there is always a chance without a reservation. The dining room itself is usually committed by midweek, and the counter never takes walk-ins because the courses are prepped to the exact number of stools.
How far ahead can I book?
Dining room requests open eight weeks ahead. Counter seats work differently: the whole of the following month is released on a Monday at 10:00, and we work through requests in the order they arrive rather than first-click.
Can you cook around allergies and diets?
Yes, and we would rather know early. With two days' notice the kitchen can rewrite the full counter menu, including a complete vegan version. On the night we can always adjust the à la carte list, though the fish and dry-aged plates are harder to substitute.
Is there a dress code?
None. The room runs warm because of the hearth, so most people are more comfortable in a layer they can take off than in a jacket they want to keep on.
Can you host a group?
Up to ten in the dining room, on a shortened set version of the list so the fire can keep pace. Larger parties are possible on Sundays, when the room runs a single seating — mention the headcount in your request and we will send the options back.
What if I am running late or need to cancel?
There is a fifteen-minute grace on dining room tables; after that we may need to shorten the seating. The counter cannot be held, as all eight guests start together. Cancelling the day before is fine and costs nothing — counter seats can also be passed to someone else if you tell us the name.
Are children welcome?
In the dining room, yes, and the early seating suits them best. We will happily cook something simple from the fire that is not on the list. The counter is for guests aged fourteen and over because of the pace and the length of the menu.