Whitstable

[Charlene Leonard]

as someone who grew up by the sea I would say the the majority of seaside resorts have rough areas, something to do with there not being much to entertain youths and the corrosive nature of all that sea salt perhaps? I do agree about the quayside though, another reason not to eat at The Crab and Winkle. And Oyster Fishery has become a victim of its own success. If anyone knows of any other great places by the sea on the South coast, I'd love to know.

[Gavin Convery]

Following Jay's recommendation further up this thread I have a table booked at the Sportsman at Seasalter for tomorrow lunch. It has a bib gourmand in michelin and 3/10 in the GFG. I shall report back.

http://www.whitstable-shellfish.co.uk/spor...rtsman_main.htm

[circeplum]

think i've mentioned this before, but the dove at dargate - a five minute drive from whitstable - is pretty damn fine.

m

[Gavin Convery]

The Sportsman at Seasalter is not actually in Seasalter but a few miles further on towards Faversham past an array of retirement bungalows and caravan parks. Finally you come to a bend of the road where you can see the pub and a row of beach houses overlooking the sea. Inside the pub is seaside rustic chic with scrubbed boards and lots of blue and cream - nice and airy. We were sat at a big pine table in the back - first black mark, no highchairs, no, I hadn't checked and the meal got off to a sour start.

The menu is chalked up on a board as is the wine list which has a small selection by the glass. Starters could have been 'rock oysters with chorizo' or 'cured bresaola', we both plumped for smoked eel with horseradish sauce and soda bread, followed by Sea Bass with Tapenade for Julie and Turbot with cockle broth for me, roast chicken with sautes to be shared by the girls.

The eel was excellent, the moistest smoked eel intermingled with the horseradish sauce, laid on soda bread and then topped with wild rocket. The sauce was subtly horseradishy and sweet. Orla wolfed it down and then wished she'd ordered that instead of chicken. A glass of Timara sauvignon/semillon went nicely.

Second minor fault was the amount of time between courses but there was some interesting local character to keep us amused - four Kent geezers with Phil Mitchell hairdos but obviously big into their food tucking into mixed antipasti, oysters and bresaola with a bottle of chilled Fleurie!

Main courses were nicely presented, my Turbot was a small but thick piece laid on greens topped with cockles and cherry tomatoes surrounded by a lemony, oil broth sort of thing - delicious - some proper cooking is going on here. The Sea Bass was also pronounced excellent by Julie. The Chicken went down a storm - suitably simply roasted for kid's palates, but the star was the saute potatoes which tasted as though they had been poached in chicken stock before being sauteed in goose fat. Yumm!

Desserts were strawberry gratin which was served with a strawberry sorbet and jersey clotted cream, lemon tart with blackcurrant coulis and pannacotta served with berries and a shortbread biscuit - all excellent.

Despite some minor gripes this is one of the best pub meals I have had - and certainly a better bet than the Oyster Stores or whatever they're called in Whitstable. Highly recommended.

If you have kids the best beach is in Tankerton the other side of Whitstable with a mile of groynes and pebbles with quaint beach huts (£10,000 to you mate) ranged up the slope.

[peterpumkino]

then we came back to london on the train, and there was a very drunk glaswegian man who kept saying "ssshhggarrrr" and pulling down his trousers (with nothing under them of course).

It wassnna me, honest.

ssshhggarrr

[britcook]

I'm going again on Sunday and plan to do just that after a few pints @ The Old Neptune. 

Now there's bad timing, I've a prior commitment (picnic in Ash) otherwise I'd have made the 20 minute trip to Whitstable to share a beer or two. Echo the comments about the Sportsman. Excellent. For those that want to spend a weekend try an overnight in Read's at Macknade Manor in Faversham, just up the road.

[Charlene Leonard]

Britcook - how lucky to live so close to Whitstable. It's weekend's like this that I really hate living in London.

[Pweaver1984]

Anyone been recently?

[Pweaver1984]

Anyone coming to the world famous Whitstable Oyster Festival

starting on this Saturday 23rd July.

Cheers

Paul

[Suzi Edwards]

Just been doing on beavering around to find places to eat (and stay) near Whitstable this weekend. The Sportsman now has a sister restaurant, the Granville, on the Hythe Road near Canterbury which we're booked into as everyelse is busy.

We're staying in Romney Marsh. Can anyone recommend anywhere here for supper on Sunday night?

[MobyP]

Grab a local sheep from the salt-marshes, and throw it on a large bonfire. Remove when done!

[Pweaver1984]

What you after Suzi?

Jojos in Tankerton is really nice. Bit far from romney marsh though?

The Granville is very good, basically its the sameish menu as down at The Sportsman.

My neck of the woods so I hope I can help.

Paul

[Suzi Edwards]

Thanks for this Paul. A bout of food poisoning from a restaurant that I shall not name saw me laid low for the weekend, so no romantic mini break for me, but I shall get to Whitstable and its environs before I die.

[fisherman]

go on, tell us who was the guilty party!

[curlywurlyfi]

the other wonder is just outside whitstable at Seasalter. The sportsman pub is a real joy.

I went here on Saturday for lunch with Moby. Fantastic. Stephen Harris is an ocean-goingly nice man, passionate about working with the terroir - all his ingredients come from within a few miles of the pub - eg the little lambs you see gambolling in the salt marsh across the road are the ones that appear on your plate; the kitchen scraps (cabbage parings, etc) are taken to the farm on the hill where they are fed to the pigs who later become the delicious ham; the rhubarb for the sorbet comes from the kitchen garden...

He showed us round the kitchen + garden, talked us through the ham-curing + sea-salt-making processes, and proposed a tasting menu for me + Moby (Kate, Kate's mum + Gabe went à la carte). Here's what Moby + I ate:

Except, of course, being greedy weasels, we decided we'd like to add in a crab risotto. Between us - we're not THAT greedy. Well, except Moby nearly cried when I vetoed ordering some pork belly as well.

Highlights:

Oyster + chorizo - mmm. I'm not a fan of oysters, but this one had a fabulous, slightly crisp texture.

Potted crab - served in a shot glass. Possibly bound with double cream (so beautifully light, not solid + buttery). Stunning. My dish of the day. Ozoney fresh crab, heaps of white meat, clean intense flavours.

Pickled herring on soda bread with lemon + vodka jelly. One bite of fishy goodness. Fantastic counterpoint with the sweet jelly (so soft-set it melted while we watched).

Ham + tomato - now doesn't that sound like the worst kind of petrol station Ginsters sandwich? Ha. This was the ham we'd seen curing. Strong, salty - Spanish style rather than Italian. Heavenly sweet crisp fat. Tomato granita intense + sweet. More more more please.

Beautiful piece of turbot, mini mini broad beans, asparagus tips, courgette brunoise. Gripe? I didn't want tomato in this dish + left my little squares to one side.

Lamb - a shade disappointing in flavour. Also, same veg as the last dish (mini asparagus, beans, etc).

Rhubarb sorbet - in a shot glass, with a thin layer of yoghurt on top + a layer of Space Dust under that. Really charming! Sorbet itself had the most perfect consistency - not a hint of granularity. Served on a square duck-egg blue plate so looked totally beautiful with the pink + blue. My other dish of the day.

Strawberries + brioche - a little bit Tiptree on toast (I'm not mad about poached strawberries). Didn't stop me eating the lot though. Had tried the junket on its own first (the size of a thimble, + served on a tiny little duck-egg blue square plate - very very pretty), and wasn't enamoured - for me jasmine tea is all about floral notes followed by astringency, and you don't get much astringency if you add cream (are you listening, Mum?) But eaten in conjuction with the strawberries, it made more sense.

Meanwhile Kate + her mum were having an astounding chocolate mousse cake, with a texture I can't explain - imagine if velvet suddenly melted on your tongue?; and a delightfully unsweet almond + raspberry tart. Both with raw Jersey cream. which I went at with a teaspoon only because there were no bigger implements available.

With a bottle of Chablis, lots of water, coffees + delicious chocolate brownie squares with the coffees, the bill came to... well, I can't tell you, since Stephen, completely unecessarily, didn't let us pay. How nice of him was that?

I *loved* this place. Friendly, happy staff; superb ingredients; intelligent cooking; gorgeous spot by the shingly beach. If only Whitstable were a little closer to London.

[battleofthebulge]

Why didn't you have to pay?! If I get an egullet t-shirt and wear it, do I get the same treatment?

But seriously, how easy is it to get there if you don't have a car? Taxi from Whitstable?

Sarah

[citylunch]

It's a little under 4 miles walk from the Whitstable Oyster place, all the way along the beach, probably a bit less from the train station. Takes about an hour and builds up a good appetite. I've got a taxi back after lunch a couple of times and had to wait ages so don't call them at the last minute.