Aldeburgh will be getting its first ever Indian restaurant as the Sea Spice opens its door for the first time. This will be yet another addition by the TA Group which also owns several very popular hotels in Suffolk including The Swan at Lavenham and the White Lion Hotel which is where the Sea Spice was recently unveiled. This restaurant will be special because it will be the first sit-down indian restaurant in town and it will also be first restaurant of its kind along the entire East Anglian Coast that opens up directly to the beach.
The decoration inside the restaurant is a tasteful combination of Indian and coastal themes. The colour scheme used is deep blue and this mixes well with the dark wood used for the furniture and vintage-style glass lighting. The curved wooden fire surround and original panelling of the building are also still in place. This is a restaurant that is already promising to be full almost every evening if the bookings are anything to go by and the place definitely promises to bring something new to the town’s restaurant landscape.
The manager of the Sea Spice, Anupam Seth, and the Pratap Singh Rawat, the head chef, both arrived from other restaurants in London. Pratap has worked in more than 16 countries in many popular restaurants in major Indian hotels. He has also trained with many star chefs and has most recently worked at restaurants such as Tamarind and Benares in London.
The manager, Anupam, has stated that they were going for something elegant but they also didn’t want it to be fine dining. They wanted an environment that was comfortable so anyone could find something that works for them inside. This is why there will be coastal dishes which will be coconut based together with northern traditional dishes. The menu will be changing depending on the season so the restaurant will always be preparing dishes from fresh ingredients. This would ensure they make the most of what is already produced in Suffolk.
The restaurant has spent a lot of time seeking out suppliers and there’ll be selling whatever is freshly caught on a given day. The menu will even have East Anglian chicken and local muntjack. Rather than a long list of poorly prepared sauces, the menu at the sea spice is very concise and will only have a short list of very refined dishes.