Travel notes - we pay a visit to The White Hart Inn on Mersea Island

The White Hart Inn on a glorious day in Mersea

So what actually is The White Hart?

This is a pub with rooms in Mersea, a small tidal island in Essex that's a very easy trip from London (we'll get back to that in a bit). The pub that was here before apparently closed back in 2013 and was reopened as The White Hart in 2022 after a £1 million investment. A visit to Mersea at the end of a Covid lockdown back in 2020 left us wanting to go back to the island, and we'd been hearing good things about The White Hart, so it felt the right time for a return trip.

And it's not too far from London?

Not at all, as it's about 1 hour 45 minutes by car (well, from North London, anyway). Travelling by train is a little more complicated, so we'd definitely recommend heading there by car if you can. Plus, you get to drive through Maldon and Tiptree, so there are extra food shopping opportunities to be had there.

Of course there is one major thing to note - the main route onto the island is a causeway, which can get flooded during high tides. So you definitely need to make yourself aware of that when getting to (or leaving) the island. Luckily, they have a handy page on the Whit Hart's website which keeps up to date with those (and they list the high/low tides in the pub too). 

The pub is in the middle of West Mersea (a very small town), and that's about a two-minute walk from the beach. 

The main dining room at The White Hart Inn

What's on the menu here?

The food is a seasonal one, that calls itself "Modern British" but also takes its influences from Italy, Spain and the South of France, and, given the location, there's a strong seafood showing.

Slightly jumping to the end, we thought the food here was fantastic. From the initial snacks to very generous mains, it's a menu that sees to the needs of regular pubgoers (you'll find steaks, burger and lobster rolls on there) while also pulling off some great dishes that you wouldn't normally find on a pub menu. 

Here's a selection of what we ate on the night:

Hash brown, mushroom parfait, black garlic (£5.25) - mini confit potatoes with a great topping combo.

Mersea rock oyster trio - raw, cured, cooked (£12) - from local Richard Haward (see below) this is a great way to try the local oysters (you can get platters if you'd prefer). 

Crisp fish taco, jalapeño, achiote mayonnaise, soused onion, lime (£12)

Linguine pasta, crab, tomato, parsley, bisque butter sauce, pangrattato (£20) - such a generous amount of fresh crab, but that bisque butter sauce propelled this to next-level.

Market fish (which was monkfish on our visit), creamed corn, corn ribs, orzo, confit tomato, sauce vierge (market price) - a super portion of local produce, with the use of local corn making it a standout.

Chocolate cremeux, cherry beer sorbet, streusel (£10)

As well as the above, there's also an extremely good value set menu (two courses for £20, three for £25).

What about drinks?

Beer is sourced from Crouch Vale and Adnams in East Anglia as well as the more local Burnt Mill brewery. There's also a great wine list that would put many a London operation to shame (as well as offering a house wine at £25).

There's much to try here, but we're going to particularly single out Danbury Ridge, a local vineyard just down the road in Essex. We hadn't tried their wines before and had the opportunity for a tasting earlier in the day. Now we do like an English wine, but sometimes the still reds and whites still have some ground to make up when compared with the wines on the continent. But we found the chardonnay (£58) and pinot noir (£60) from Danbury to be absolutely exceptional and next-level when it comes to English wine. They say this is because their vines make the most of the local clay, but ultimately they were game-changing for us. So we would absolutely recommend those. 

Cocktails are very good here too, and there's a strong low/no alcohol list if you're the designated driver. 

Trying the Danbury Ridge Wine. SO GOOD.

And there are rooms too?

There are six rooms above the pub and, given that the pub was only renovated a few years back, all blend the look of the classic pub with a modern approach. Essentially, all are very comfortable, with super king beds (no twins available here, unfortunately). There is no aircon, but all the rooms have large tower fans.  We also appreciated the thoughtful touches like a chocolate truffle waiting by the tea and coffee table, and the binoculars for taking out on sea walks.

One of the rooms at The White Hart Inn - this is "Strood" (named after the bridge that links the island with the mainland)

And staying over means breakfast?

Absolutely and the breakfast was every bit as good as we hoped for, based on the food the night before. You can, of course, go for a massive fry up (£12.75) and they have both French and avocado toast on the menu, but after a big night, this was perfect. 

Bacon and egg brioche bap (£6.75) - our ideal breakfast.

And what is there to do on the island?

There's obviously the extensive beach that runs along much of the south side of the island. When the tide is in, that's good for swimming and if you don't fancy that, it makes for a very pleasant walk when the weather is good. There's a vineyard to the east if you fancy drinking some of the local wines.

One thing we did, which isn't available to book just yet, is take a trip out to see the oyster beds with Richard Haward's oysters. There are plans to do more of these tours in the future, but in the meantime you can buy their excellent oysters online, as well as pick them up locally (and in The White Hart Inn, of course). 

Out by the oyster beds with Tom Haward and his wife Gemma

If you're staying more than one night or want to try something different for lunch, there's a lot to try on the small island (they even have a Michelin-starred restaurant). There are some great options for seafood closer to the docks and we can particularly recommend Seafood at Dawn, where the chips loaded with prawns, calamari and garlic sauce were really very good. 

For more food ideas, check out our more detailed guide on where to eat in Mersea.

Overall thoughts

We really like Mersea Island, and we'd go back on a much more regular basis if only we had the time. The White Hart Inn turned out to be the perfect place to stay while we were down there. The rooms are comfortable and well appointed, the food is very good, the drinks are well made, and the staff are lovely too. All of which makes it a very easy recommendation for a seaside break from town.