Just when we’d finally stopped calling it The Green Dragon, the Olive Branch has gone and changed its name once again.The Bishopric pub is now in the ownership of Andrew Crompton, a flamboyant Australian who has taken on the pub and re-named it Crompton’s at The Olive Branch, a compromise of the old and the new.

Andrew has brought with him a delicious Aussie-inspired Tiramisu, as well as a new manager and head chef.
Andrew, formerly the Operations Manager at South Lodge Hotel in Lower Beeding, is joined at Crompton’s by his friend and former South Lodge colleague Kim Neaves.

However, the pub’s greatest asset could prove to be head chef Andy Collard, who is another member of the ‘ex-South Lodge’ club but who most recently worked at Effingham Park in Copthorne.

It will be his menu that could raise the bar in terms of the food Horsham town centre pubs are serving, and which will be pivotal if Crompton’s is to entice people away from East Street’s numerous restaurants. There is certainly plenty of potential. It wasn’t long ago that Hall and Woodhouse spent in the region of half a million pounds renovating the 15th century building.

As well as improving the interior and installing an open plan kitchen that looks out to the main dining area in the conservatory, a pretty garden area was created, with its own firepit (presumably for unruly guests). With so much in place, it was a relatively easy decision for Andrew to commit to the project. He said: “I have been looking around for something for a few years.

“I had my own place in Australia – when I was 22 I was running a bar and restaurant in Melbourne and the infrastructure was basically the same as it is here. But nothing came up that was quite right, until I saw this place. Kim and I came in for dinner and had a look around and then we met with the area manager for Hall and Woodhouse.

"The pub was under management before, but that wasn’t working out, so the brewery was looking to offload on to some poor, unsuspecting devils like us! I’d been looking at country pubs mostly, because of the affordability, and was probably looking to go somewhere that was a bit run down that we could renovate and build up.

"But when I saw this place in the great state it’s in, after considerable investment only about 18 months ago, I thought it was ideal. It was ready for us so we’ve been able to hit the ground running."

Andrew, who spent seven years working at the Petersham Hotel in Richmond before moving to South Lodge, hopes to inject a bit of fun into the dining out experience. He said: “Kim and I are a bit ‘old school’ – we don’t take ourselves too seriously. We’re just going to try and give guests a fantastic experience. We’ll give them good honest value for money with the food, the wine and the service, and try and give people a good time.”

But would AAH be entertained? We visited on a weekday evening as we always do, so Toby doesn’t unsettle too many other diners as he takes 32 photographs of the soup of the day from various angles. Firstly, we noted that in the five weeks since taking over, the new team had not felt the need to tinker with the interior. There remains an intriguing mix of the rustic, the nostalgic, the historic and the modern. So you have  exposed oak beams and original brickwork complemented not only by images of historic Horsham, but also a number of mirrors packed together like a box of broken biscuits.

Old library books sit above oak tables, yet the toilets are a gleaming black and white surrealist chess board fantasy land! The idea of the open kitchen has been nicely realised, and personally I like the frequent shouts of ‘service’ from the chef, as it helps to maintain an atmosphere. It’s also a good excuse to have a peek at some of the food on offer…

There are currently six starters and six main courses on the menu. Mains include pork loin medallions with fondant sweet potatoes (£13.50), seared salmon fillet with mini fish cakes and spring vegetables (£13.50) and sirloin steak with spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms and sautéed potatoes (£17.50). Side dishes of mixed vegetables, chips or garden salad cost an additional £2.50.

There is currently just one vegetarian option, the fresh Tortellini with sun dried tomato and olive and garlic bread (£11). But Andrew hopes to introduce a menu with more options and variety soon. “The food can be even better,” he said. “What we offer at the moment is what Andy is able to reasonably put together and plate up while he is in the kitchen on his own. He has not had a day off in five weeks, but his commis chef started last week and the sous chef starts soon.

“The menu will stay small but it will evolve and change frequently. There will always be something new coming on. I’m not going to prescribe what Andy should serve up. I’ll guide him a bit but from then on it’s his own interpretation.”

For starters we went for the smoked salmon with crème fraîche, cucumber and brown bread (£7) and chilli beef stir fry with vermicelli noodles (£7). Other options include poached pear with blue cheese and walnuts (£5) and the cider braised ham hock salad (£5). The smoked salmon was neatly prepared and presented, although the seafood options may improve if Crompton’s do as they hope to and link up with Veasey & Son Fishmongers, which has recently opened in Horsham.

The chilli beef stir fry was excellent, light and mild but sweet and tangy too with succulent thin noodles. For main course we selected the seared salmon fillet, and the Sussex lamp rump with broccoli, bubble and squeak cake (£14). The salmon was excellently cooked and carried good flavour, and was well complemented by the bite sized fish cakes. The lamb was tender, mouth-wateringly delicious, and again immaculately presented with the chef giving thought to the placement of the tenderstem broccoli and sauces. All of the meat is sourced from the award-winning New Street Butchers.

We also ordered fries but in truth need not have bothered as the dish was plentiful. Most of the desserts at Crompton’s at The Olive Branch are also home-made although the ice cream comes courtesy of Purbeck of Dorset.  But Crompton’s does have a secret weapon – Andrew’s very own Tiramisu.

Andrew said: “The Tiramisu we serve is an Australian recipe. I worked at a pretty good Italian restaurant in Melbourne, and they made it with crunchy chocolate bits which give it a bit of texture. I always serve it out of a large bowl. It’s delicious!”

We tried the Tiramisu and it was indeed very tasty, as was the vanilla cheesecake with sorbet. All of the desserts cost £5.50. Other than having a good chef, Crompton’s at The Olive Branch does have much more going for it. There is a late licence that allows the pub to stay open until 1am on Thursday to Saturday. Kim tells us that there has already been nights when people have enjoyed a meal and then stayed for a while drinking wine and dancing to the Human League. Staff are now being trained to develop their understanding of wine and cocktails.

Andrew is also not worried about the view that the pub is located at ‘the wrong end of town’. “I’m not too worried about our location,” he said. “We’re bold enough to become a destination and I don’t want to be up there with all the chains. There is a niche for a good pub in Horsham, but there is room for competition too. If there are
several good places to go to it is healthier for the town and more people will come out.

“For people of a certain age that are thinking of going out, the Black Jug is seen as the only option. But if they can come here, and have a cocktail at Wabi, there’s a little circuit opening up and the town has more to offer them. We want this to be a place for everybody, as it’s a nice place with a great garden.”

Andrew, Kim, Andy and the rest of the team at Crompton’s certainly seem intent on making their mark on Horsham and there is no shortage of ambition and ideas. Having spent many years working at a vineyard in
Australia, Andrew plans to launch a wine club soon, while the pub is already opening early to serve coffee (it is one of the few places in town that serves Illy).

With the imminent arrival of a sous chef, plans to utilise the garden area and the council seemingly wanting to push a café culture in the town, it would appear that Crompton’s at The Olive Branch could be in line for a good summer. But whilst there is more to come, the food alone makes it worth a visit.

Crompton’s is an intriguing prospect – the efficiency of a hotel team with the spirit of a traditional market town pub. We shall watch this one with interest…