Donovans

A restaurant that strives for consistency risks being underrated in a milieu that prizes novelty. But reliability is the key to a great restaurant and Donovans is as constant and steady as the wavelets tickling the beach it overlooks. For 15 years now, this dreamy beachy pile, with decor that's tweaked as the seasons roll, has been the place for luxurious but straightforward meals with Mediterranean flavours. Forest mushrooms are wood-roasted and their juices allowed to drizzle into tarragon-scented pecorino polenta. Subtle prawn and scallop ravioli are ramped up with a robust bisque. The barbecue dishes - steak, fish, chilli-flecked leader prawns - are persuasive arguments for simplicity as perfection, and the more complex plates (a lamb medley including juicy sausage and pull-apart shoulder; peppery and tender venison with buttery shortcrust pie) are elegant and thoughtful. The jitters that accompanied a changing of the kitchen guard have settled and Donovans is back to its easy, hospitable and generous best.