Whitstable Oyster Fishery Co.

I made a promise.  I promised to treat Miscriant to a lobster and champagne dinner to apologise for neglecting her so much when I was working on developing the new Canterbury Players website.

I recently made good on that promise.

One Saturday, after Steve had come home from cricket, we were both trying to work out what to do for dinner.  It was hot, really, really hot and neither of us fancied slaving over an oven, hob or BBQ for any length of time.  We both were craving seafood as well and didn't have any in the house.

We made the decision to go out for dinner in Whitstable, as, frankly, if you have a hankering for seafood there is really no other place to go.  My treat.

Our first choice was actually The Lobster Shack but we got there to find a wedding going on, the whole place hired out and no access to the resturant for people not involved in the wedding.  How rude!  I toyed with the idea of following in the footsteps of Wilson and Vaughn but then my Englishness kicked in and I just couldn't handle the idea of crashing someone elses wedding, no matter how good the lobster was!  I'm just going to have to go back another time. 'Tis a hard life, but someone must live it.

Instead we headed back to the main high street to see if we could scrounge a table at one of the Whitstable Oyster Fishery Company restaurants, the Royal Naval Oyster Store (better known as the Whitstable Oyster Fishery Co.).  Located opposite The Pearson's Arms, I was highly doubtful about this plan as we hadn't booked, and the chances of a walk in table being available were about as likely as a review of ouzo appearing on this blog (shudder). 

Apparently I need to start drinking ouzo as we were told that they could seat us, but we would have to take one of two tiny tables right in the middle of the restaurant.  These were the kind of tables that made me hope I didn't slip on my lobster crackers and send a claw flying to land gently in some poor man's toupee.  Elbows in!

Settled happily, Steve ordered a Whitstable Bay Blond whilst I was on the sparkling elderflower (aren't I a good date - driving and everything!) which he enjoyed so much he made us stop off at The Offy (I've mentioned this place before) so we could stock up. 

Then it was time to order food.  I scanned the menu.  I blinked and checked it again.

They didn't have lobster.

Well, not exactly.  They had it as a starter but not as a main.  The problem was, I'm greedy and I didn't want a starter size portion of lobster!  A quick word with the waitress and a check with the chef and I had my lobster lined up for my main.  It was pricey (£30), and I didn't want to ruin it, so I passed on the starter and instead tried one of Steve's Oyster Rockefeller which were really good.  They came with spinach, cheese and breadcrumbs and the flavours were warm and comforting. I don't normally like oysters when they have been cooked, preferring to eat them raw with Tabasco and lemon, or shallot vinegar but these were a bit of a revelation.  I could see the cogs turning in Steve's head as he worked out how to recreate the dish at home.  You need big, fat, meaty oysters for it though, which is why the local Whitstable ones are so perfect!  Problem is, no matter how clever you are with a camera, an Oyster Rockefeller ain't an attractive creature so I will spare you that.  Have a look at the menu instead.  Hmmm, if you don't like seafood, then you probably don't want to eat here.

Now, as you may have guessed from my lobster price, The Whitstable Oyster Company isn't exactly a cheap night out.  Starters are on average £10 each and a main will cost you around £20, whilst desserts are also around the £8 mark.  The food is worth it.  It is of a seriously good quality and there is a reason why I would normally recommend booking well in advance!

I got my lobster, with lemon and garlic butter (simple, perfect and just the way I like it) with a side portion of ridiculously good chips.

Steve had beer battered cod (£16.50) with mushy peas, samphire (sea asparagus), tartar sauce and more of those amazing chips.  The batter was light, crispy, flavourful with only the lightest hint of the beer and cod was cooked to perfection, moist and flaky.  We did recreate this at home shortly afterwards with our own beer batter and it was divine.  For one starter, two mains (one of which was a full lobster), a side of chips, a couple of beers and a couple of sparkling elderflower's the full cost was £80.  

The restaurant itself is utterly relaxed - located right on the beach with views of the company's oyster grounds in an 18C brick warehouse style building, it isn't fancy in the slightest.  Giant green shutters lead out onto a deck that is ram packed at peak hours with diners and the used shells are stacked high outside, ready to be recycled into cultch on the seabed, a nursery for baby oysters (spats) to settle on.

Whitstable are very protective over their oysters and they have a right to be.  Natives reared on the ground owned by the Whitstable Oyster Fishery Company (a tiny area of six square miles known as the Flats) are the only true Royal Whitstable Native Oyster. Rock Oysters, although not native, have also settled into the area and are regularly harvested and the stocks replenished with brood, ware or half-ware (different maturity levels of stocks).  A huge amount of care goes into preserving the quality of the oysters as they rightly enjoy a reputation world wide as being some of the best out there.

Back inside the restaurant, Steve and I chatted for hours before wandering along the shore line to take in the sunset.  Date nights like this are still so important to us, even after 12 years together and I really treasure them.   

By the time we left the sun was very low in the sky.  We headed to The Offy to pick up the beers, drove back to Canterbury and settled on the sofa for a film.

Perfect evening.

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Fish 'N' Chips 'N' Fireworks

The Whitstable Oyster Festival has just finished.  Seafood lovers, music lovers and speed eaters congregate on this little harbour town for a week once a year, building Grotters on the beach and celebrating the festivals ancient beginnings as a thanksgiving for the fishers and dredgers survival at sea, a celebration of the harvest and a blessing of the oysters.

These days the festival lasts for an entire week and is packed with various activities to keep all ages amused.  Despite knowing about it, loving oysters and living ridiculously near to the festival I have actually never been, mainly due to the fact it is on when I am at work and I have always had other activities booked at the weekends, plus I am always slightly daunted by the fact that Whitstable is packed at this time of year.

This year I was determined not to let the Festival go by unnoticed.  I rounded up the troops and informed them that we were going for a fish and chip dinner on the beach on the final night of the Festival to watch the Fireworks at Sea closing ceremony.

Everyone who was around agreed it was a good idea and we arranged to meet on the beach at 8pm, just as the sun was starting to set casting a golden glow over the festivities.

I'm not going to lie.  Whitstable was packed.  If you don't like queues and crowds you may want to avoid the beach at this time of year!  Queues for the chippy were seriously long, as were queues for the off license, so we divided and conquered, using our phones to convey messages about who wanted what from where.  We were just in time as well, just after our order was placed for food the people behind in the queue were told that they had run out of cod!

I was in charge of the drinks and I have to say The Offy is the only off licence I have ever been in where they will sell you plastic glasses, jugs to put your Pimms in and limes for your beer.  Very, very civilised!

40 minutes later we were settled on the shale and got stuck into particularly good fish and chips from VC Jones in Harbour Street.  This place is hailed as one of the best chippy's in Whitstable, which, for a town famous for its seafood, is a serious claim to fame.  It does not disappoint either.  The chips are soft and fluffy while the cod is tender and moist in a really crisp batter.  Portions are generous - I'm not sure any of us managed to finish!

We settled down as the sun was setting over the sea on a night so clear you could see all the way to Southend and Sheppey.

The beach was filled with families, friends and holiday makers.  Beach huts had their front doors open to take in the atmosphere and children ran around with sparkling light toys, paddling in a sea that was surprisingly warm.

At 10pm just as the sky turned pitch black the fireworks started from a small boat a short distance from the shore, lighting up the midnight blue sky.  There was a collective "ooh" as one of the fireworks went skidding off to the side like a skimmed pebble, making everyone think it had misfired, only to separate into a dozen pieces and explode up in the air across the water, illuminating the waves below.  In the words of one of my friends, it must have really irritated Poseidon.   I pinched some of her pictures as my sports mode just isn't fast enough to capture all the fireworks although I did get a couple I was pleased with! The below are all off Sinead's camera.

All too soon the fireworks were over and we followed the crowds back to the high street to drive home.   (These are from my camera).

Next year I will be trying to enjoy a lot more of the Festival.  Sinead, Stella and I are already eyeing up the Oyster Speed Eating competition!  6 oysters and a half of bitter for £3 as fast as you can and the quickest stay on and keep going.  Sounds heavenly!

BBQ's and Beaches

It's hot in the UK at the moment.  People everywhere are eyeing up the sunshine with a kind of morbid fascination, convinced it will turn on them the second they start to try to plan anything which relies on being outside.  BBQ's are treated with reverence and when we manage to get some sunshine that we think will last a little while we pile as many of them into our social (and occasionally work) calendars as humanly possible and once booked in, nothing come hell or high water will stop them from going ahead.

This has the effect of back to back BBQ's at the moment.  Never mind burning the candle at both ends, currently I appear to be burning the charcoal non-stop.  My waistline is not going to thank me when September hits.

On Saturday we escaped the heat of Canterbury and headed to the seaside town of Whitstable for Hannah's birthday BBQ celebration in her back garden.  I'm really quite jealous of summer babies.  Being an early spring baby myself it is far more likely to rain (or snow) on my birthday which instantly cuts out any form of outdoor activity.  Hannah got to take full advantage of this glorious sunshine and throw a BBQ and trip to the seaside in for hers.  The fact that she lives 2 seconds from the beach is neither here nor there.

Our first mistake was driving to Whitstable.  Never a good idea in the summer.  Should have taken the bus.  We circled the streets a couple of times and then headed to one of the lesser know car parks where we got lucky with a space as someone was pulling out.  We unloaded our bags of food and drink and fought our way through the crowds of tourists who had all seen the sunshine as the perfect excuse to head to Whitstable (you can't blame them really).  We made our way through the winding little back streets and down a tiny alley into the garden which was packed full of people drinking and eating.

Away from the busy high-street this was a sea-side sanctuary in the summer sun.  You could hear the gulls and feel the sea breeze, a welcome relief in the glorious sunshine we have been enjoying.  The air hangs with the tang of the ocean and gulls will bomb you for a scrap of bread (or a full fish and chip dinner.  They are quite bold).

In the garden people mingled and chatted, taking turns to cook the vast quantities of meat that people had donated.

I want to stress now that there was absolutely no competitiveness over the BBQ with people fighting for the sacred crown of BBQ king or queen! All the tong-leaders performed their duties admirably and we had a wealth of goodies to choose from throughout the day.  The chicken kebabs did flummox people though as they would not stay in one piece!

 

No BBQ is complete without a little bit of 'drama' and when the BBQ went out there was a frantic flurry of activity as people searched for fire lighters, newspaper and scrunched envelopes a hundred different ways whilst blowing gentle on the remaining feeble flames.

It eventually caught and was left to heat up and burn off causing a heck of a lot of smoke, leaving us feeling like we were in a smokehouse but at least there was more food cooked! You know you are with good friends when you don't care that your hair reeks and your eye makeup is halfway down your face as long as people get to eat!

There was plenty of drink to go around (absolutely essential for a good BBQ) and impromptu cocktails created from whatever happened to be floating around. 

There were also plenty of creepy crawlies - not so essential but really rather quite beautiful with their markings.

Plus pudding made by the birthday girl's fair hand.  Lemon cheesecake covered in equally delicious celebrities.  Yummy!  The girls got to request whose face they received on their slice.  The boys were less bothered it has to be said...

As the afternoon wore on we packed up the drinks and some of the left over food, locked up the house, piled into the street and headed across the road to the beach to watch the sunset over the sea. 

We found a nearly deserted stretch of the beach and set up camp on the stones.

We had hoped to go paddling but the tide was pretty far out so instead we played games and chatted, topped up our glasses with wine and munched though more snacks!  No wonder my tummy is feeling a bit full these days!

Chatter wasn't enough for the boys though and a wrestling session broke out on the clattering shale of the beach.

The sun set and that was our cue to pile back into the cars and drive home, tired, happy and smelling vaguely like salt and smoke.

How has your BBQ season been so far?