During August the Seafoodshack team took a short break in Lyme Regis in Dorset. We went partly to take a look at the Jurassic Coast (www.jurassiccoast.com), now a World Heritage site, where 185 million years of geology are visible along around 95 miles of England’s southern fringe. Weathering and the sea’s erosion keep working away at the cliffs, ensuring a ready supply of fossils along the beach. Indeed, it was here that Mary Anning (1799 – 1847) made the first discoveries of complete fossilised ichthyosaurs and a plesiosaur, and generally started the idea of fossil collecting.
We also went, of course, in search of seafood. First stop was the Hive Beach Café (www.hivebeachcafe.co.uk) just outside the village of Burton Bradstock near Bridport. The gloriously sandy beach is under the ownership of the National Trust, and the enterprising owners of the café have a wonderful position. There is a large outdoor patio area as well as seat under an awning (useful for the dubious British summer we’ve been having).
The seafood here has been praised highly by many writers, and so I was looking forward to sampling the trademark Crab Sandwich. Sadly the weather had been poor in the days before our visit, and there were no crabs to be had! The boats had been unable to get out. This also meant no seafood platters. Quel dommage! So I settled for a perfectly respectable jacket potato with prawns – generous and yummy and served with a nice home-made Marie Rose sauce and salad. This was washed down with a bottle of splendid local ale in the shape of Palmers IPA – brewed just down the road in Bridport (www.palmersbrewery.com). It’s a nicely hopped brew and at 4.2% is an ideal lunchtime imbibement. Jenny, however, plumped for a more special dish – pan-fried squid with salad, which was absolutely superb. The squid (not called calamari here!) was wonderfully tender, absolutely melt-in-the-mouth. It was served with salad and generous doorsteps of brown bread – perfect seafood shack fare. Not the cheapest at £14.95, but well worth it. We went back later on for a local ice-cream from Lovington’s (www.lovingtons.co.uk) and saw the most wonderful looking scones appearing – enormous, with generous cream and jam. They open from 12 noon to around 7pm in summer, with the lunch menu running all afternoon. It gets pretty full around one o’clock but is quieter later on, so why not take the chance to check out a real British seafood shack! Hooray!!
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