Monday 31 August 2009

Southwold eating


I've had a hankering to go to the seaside for a while now, and took advantage of last weekend's lovely weather to head down to Southwold on the Suffolk coast. I'd never been before but had heard a lot of talk about beach huts. Luckily due to the power of Twitter (thanks to @EssexEating) and a blog post by Around Britain with a Paunch I also had some top food tips, which proved to be excellent- I do love the internet.

Southwold is a little bit of a trek from my patch of East Anglia but it was definitely worth it. This little town does indeed have a lot of beach huts but it also has a lot of lovely beach, quaint little streets with funny houses and lots of places to have a cream tea.

During a wander around we stopped off at Munchies for an ice cream. My strawberry ice cream was some of the nicest that I've had- lovely and fruity but with a rich creaminess and not too sweet. The male companion person had a toffee crunch cone that also disappeared very rapidly, and there was serious consideration about going back for seconds.

An ice cream-powered stroll along the beach all the way to the harbour followed, with sand dunes gradually evolving into families crabbing from the rocks, and eventually lots of little boats moored in the estury. As you walk further into the harbour area there are various ramshackle huts that would normally be selling fresh fish, though as we were there quite late on a Sunday afternoon they were mainly closed or on the verge of shutting. Luckily we were just in time to join the end of the queue for the fish and chip shop (phew) and as we were waiting felt a little smug as various latecomers tried to get in only to leave disppointed when they realised it had already shut.

Mrs T's was run by possibly the poshest ever fish and chip shop proprietor that I have ever encountered. A request from one customer for a battered sausage was given a disdainful response, as she pointed out (quite reasonably actually) that they specialised in seafood. There was no sign of any battered fish sitting around here and everything seemed to be freshly cooked. This did involve a bit of waiting around, taking of tickets and checking of numbers but the final outcome was definitely worth it. My plaice came in an amazingly crisp batter that required some concerted effort to break into. The fish inside was soft and moist, and there was barely a trace of grease present. The chips were nice if unremarkable but the portion size was just right, which meant that the walk back along the beach was an enjoyable one rather then an over-stuffed waddle.

I would happily spend a lot more time in Southwold as I'm sure there are many more foodie spots and other things to see and do. In fact I'd be happy just to go back and laze about on the beach (and eat more ice cream and fish and chips of course).

5 comments:

Dan said...

Thanks for the mention. Southwold is lovely, really glad you liked the ice-cream. I only went there myself a couple of weeks previous, and the ice-cream they served up from the cart outside Munchies was outrageous - a scoop the size of a cricket ball! - God knows what the 2 scoop cone looked like!

As for the Fish and Chip shop - never saw this, looks fantastic, I'm going to have to visit again.

goodshoeday said...

Southwold is lovely and so glad you liked it. A lot of that part of Suffolk is wonderful. You should try Aldeburgh or Orford next they are both fantastic as well.

TheFastestIndian said...

Hi Dan

Well thanks for the recommendation! Have to say that without it I might well have been put off Munchies due to its ridiculous name! The cart and very efficient serving man were there when I went too- so impressed he managed to fill the cone with ice cream as well put a huge scoop on top!

And hello Goodshoeday! Yes, it was lovely and made me wonder why I've never been before. Must try and visit some of the places you've recommended as despite living in East Angular for most of my life I've hardly seen any of the coast around here at all.

And thank you both for dropping by the blog!

Browners said...

Super stuff. Glad The Paunch came in use. I love the story about the posh fish and chips shop attendant.

TheFastestIndian said...

Hi Browners!

Thanks for the comment and the info- not sure I would have twigged you could walk all along the beach to estuary bit otherwise, and that there would be fish and chips at the end!