Wilting in the heat of landlocked central England we longed for a little sea breeze and an invigorating dip in the sea. With this mind we packed our bags and sped due East to the cooler climbs of Southwold. Southwold is a pretty seaside town in Suffolk rather more upmarket than some, but still providing the ubiquitous arcade slotties, candy floss and fish & chips so loved by the British seaside traveller. Where Southwold differs is by the fact that most of the town is owned by Adnams, the local brewery, who also own the wine merchants, kitchen shop, many pubs and restaurants to mention just a few of their multifarious interests. Adnams is no bad thing, generally running good pubs and restaurants providing quality beer, wine and food.
Having eaten at the Crown situated in the heart of Southwold many times in the past, it was the obvious choice for lunch. The hotel is set in an imposing double fronted white building offering informal dining and a good wine list. We settled down at a rather warped old wooden table and began to paw through the lunch and wines-by-the-glass menus. I ordered cod with samphire and my wife the dressed cromer crab. As the sun was shining, I had rosé in mind but decided against the one of offer as it was 2008 vintage. For a hotel with an award winning wine list the wine by the glass menu was pretty pedestrian and not as exciting as it could be! The dishes came and were well presented and pretty satisfying; the cod was succulent and flaky with the samphire giving a salty fresh tang. The crab was very fresh and flavoursome.
After lunch we had a prom on the pier and then walked along the beach viewing the many brightly coloured beach huts. These were which fully animated with families drinking tea or lying in deckchairs outside. The beach was littered with stripy wind breaks and pop-up tents to protect the pale skins from the sizzling 18° heat! Another British beach-time fascination seems to be digging large holes in the sand. Yes, we’ve all done this as children whilst making sandcastles, but I noticed several men with full-on garden spades digging feverishly to the earth’s core!
I also spied a number of elderly Brits sitting upright on their fold up chairs reading the paper and drinking steaming tea from a thermos. I’ve never understood how a boiling cup of tea can be the least bit refreshing to drink in the blistering heat? I guess it’s just another endearing British quirk!
That evening we took a short drive around the estuary to the very pretty village of Walberswick where we had a dinner booking at the Anchor. The Anchor has a huge garden area, restaurant, bar and a number of rooms all tastefully furnished with a relaxed informal style. We sat in the restaurant and were handed both wine & beer menus to accompany that evening’s dinner menu. The beer list is a nice touch listing a number of interesting brews stretching from Southwold to Belgium and the USA. I started with seared scallops with pancetta on an artichoke puree accompanied by a celery salad. The scallops were sweet & juicy accompanying the artichoke puree well with the the crispy pancetta adding texture. Skate with blackened butter and capers accompanied by local asparagus and new potatoes followed. The fish was cooked to perfection and the asparagus succulent, but it was all a little bland and needed more sauce to give it a punch. The finale was a chocolate fondant which was rich, smooth and very gooey. The perfect encore!
The next day we pottered down to the harbour which is a fully functioning, proper harbour housing boat building sheds, fish mongers, chippy and the local lifeboat service. The harbour was buzzing with life on the Saturday morning with people buying fresh fish and samphire, boat enthusiasts lovingly cleaning and painting their vessels and noisy seagulls scavenging for scraps. We then repaired to the Harbour Inn for a a pint of frothy Adnams and a bite to eat. The food was nothing to write home about but the beer was very good.
After lunch we walked over the dunes to the wide sandy beach which stretches far in the distance. After a bit of frisbee action and another ice cream, it was time to head home but not before we had frequented Mrs T’s renowned fish & chip hut in the harbour. Stuffed to the gunnels with cod & chips we waddled contentedly back to our landlocked home!
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
loving the photo’s here… great blog, really into the whole ‘local’ food thing also! now a follower!
Dom, thanks- like your site too
A very well written article. I liked the amusing references to the men digging to the earths core…..Duncs to a T. Very interesting. Keep up the good work. Great site.x
Haley, thanks. I can picture it too, but Duncs would probably bring a pick also!