Anyone searching for a French wine list restaurant UK wide is really asking one thing: what goes with what? Here's how we think about it at Harry's, the French bistro behind the dunes at Camber Sands.
French food deserves French wine
French dishes and French wines grew up side by side. Regions built their wines around local food over centuries and most of the best pairings come from that. Keep one idea in mind and the rest sorts itself out. Light dishes suit lighter wines. Rich dishes suit fuller ones.
Our chef cooks classic brasserie dishes with French technique and says he is "especially excited about the dishes for two or more". The à la carte shifts with whatever he can source at its best so the right bottle can shift with it.
Pairing with the seafood platter
The tiered seafood platter arrives with crab and oysters and lemon. Salt and brine and citrus call for a wine with bright acidity and little oak. Muscadet from the Loire is the classic match. Chablis from Burgundy works just as well and its mineral edge suits oysters especially. Picpoul de Pinet is another dry white that stays crisp beside shellfish.
Champagne or a crémant makes a fine partner if you're celebrating. The bubbles clear salt and richness from your palate between bites. Skip heavily oaked whites. Oak and oysters rarely get along. The current dishes are on our menus page.
Pairing with steak frites
Steak asks for structure. A red with some tannin cuts through the richness of the meat and the salt and fat of the frites. Bordeaux is the traditional choice. A Southern Rhône red brings warmth and spice. If you prefer something lighter try a Loire Cabernet Franc or a red Burgundy. Both keep enough freshness to handle a rich sauce.
Pairing with the Sunday roast
Sundays bring a hand-selected joint of Sussex beef with all the trimmings alongside the à la carte. Full details sit on our Weekend Roast page. Roast beef is gentler than steak straight from the pan so the wine can be softer too. A Bordeaux blend suits it well. So does a Northern Rhône Syrah with its pepper and dark fruit. Red Burgundy is the lighter route.
Every guest at weekend lunch orders a main course so you can choose one bottle for the table with the whole meal in mind.
A glass or a bottle
Two people sharing a seafood platter or a Sunday joint can settle on a single bottle. Mixed orders change things. If one of you has fish and the other has steak a glass each lets both dishes get a proper match. Sharing plates often land in the middle. Start with a glass of something crisp then move to a bottle of red as the heavier dishes arrive.
On weekdays Harry's Bar serves lighter dishes at the bar or in the Sitting Room. A single glass suits that kind of visit. Pull up a green stool and take it slowly.
Start with the region. The Loire and Burgundy cover many of the best whites for seafood. Bordeaux and the Rhône cover most reds for beef. A bottle from a lesser-known village can often match a famous label at a gentler price. If a name means nothing to you that's a good moment to ask.
Ask our team when you visit
Our team knows what's open and what's pouring on the day. Tell them what you're eating and roughly what you'd like to spend. They'll point you to something that fits. Guests often tell us this is the easiest way to find a new favourite.
Grace Dent called Harry's "a startlingly good dinner" in The Guardian and Country Life went with "the best dinner we've ever had". Recent guest reviews online show how an evening tends to go. When you're ready you can book a table directly on our website and mention that wine is part of the plan.
The terrace is allocated on the day to diners only so book a table first and ask about it when you arrive.
