Where the Rock Oysters Rock!
We followed the advice from our new friends in the British Custom service and ended after 30 minutes in Whitstable. Whitstable turned out to be a little sunshine story. It was quite touristic and there were a lot of people walking the streets in a holiday pace. The village was probably and old fisher mans paradise 100 years ago that slowly and safely had turned in to a tourist gem.
The houses were mostly cute and well maintained; narrow with small window covering a tourist shop with nautical items collected on the attics of the fishermen’s widows. There were also a large number of small cozy restaurants. We went looking for our oysters because we had them clear in our mind since we left Dover. We entered the restaurant Pearson´s Arms which was the one we were looking for.
The restaurant was situated at the Sea Wall next to the water. It had clearly at some point been a house for fishing material or something close to that. It was literally a stone's throw from the sea, right in the heart of Whitstable, and its dining room offers arguably the best views overlooking the sea.
The restaurants location marked the original landing site of the Thames Barges to Whitstable, and is known as 'The Horsebridge. This was where the old cobbled jetty would allow goods to be transported from the waiting boats on horseback. We got a table on the first floor which turned out to be very nice for several reasons.
The room was very bright and provided us with an excellent view over the water and a large number of wonderful girls out celebrating the coming marriage of one of them.
We took also large plate of oysters; rock oysters. These were nice and large; truly a good choice. After the healthy lunch we felt that it was time to cool off along the water. Oysters and loads of women are otherwise supposed to be a good cocktail but we felt that we had adventures enough so far that day.
The promenade along the water was nice but we were far from alone; a huge part of London’s population had apparently had the same urge to walk it off. The promenade was crooked and up and down around some old nice houses almost situated on the rocks.
The harbour was fairly large and sheltered some but not many fishing coasters; there was also a large number of very small two ��" tree persons fishing boats. In the harbour there was also a school for small sailboats and a lot of youngsters were training their skills there.
In the real harbour there were also numerous fresh fish shops and sale of rock lobsters and I must admit that I managed to taste further 6 of them which also were divine. After a long walk we decided to go towards the centre of the village and taste a local pint of bitter in the oldest inn in the city.
The inn was not as cozy as it looked from the outside but we decided anyway to fulfil our mission; we found a table close to a window and ordered two pints of bitter.
We enjoyed the numerous of couples coming in to the bar having visited a large number of bar on their way in there and after a huge lunch. We left after less than an hour in order to see more of the region.
On our way to Dover we decided to bring the car a long as a last minute decision. We were checking the prices at the ticket office and she told us that it would be 75 euro if we wanted to the car along. We looked at each other and agreed that was indeed fair.
Arriving in Dover we were picked out by the customs; not just an ordinary check, a very very thorough one, where they look inside our doors and even inside every crack that you have in the car. I must say they found a lot of my missing golf tees.
The custom officers were rather nice and I guess they were just doing their job and not harassing every Dane travelling in a Belgium car. We started chatting with them, when they realized that we apparently were more innocent than we looked, and since they didn’t find anything during their eager search. When they were finished we asked them where they would go if they were on a one day trip!
One of them had heard about this seafood and oyster place in Whitstable which was supposed to be very good. We followed their lead and ended in the restaurant Pearson´s Arms.
The restaurant was situated at the Sea Wall very close to the water. It had clearly at some point been a house for fishing material or something close to that. It is literally a stone's throw from the sea, right in the heart of Whitstable, and its dining room offers arguably the best views overlooking the sea. It's location marks the original landing site of Thames Barges to Whitstable, and is known as 'The Horsebridge', where the old cobbled jetty would allow goods to be transported from the waiting boats on horseback.
We entered a very light and open room with a lot of space and a big bar in the open space. We were met by a young woman who asked where we wanted to sit, or if we were interested in joining the restaurant upstairs. We went for the 1st floor.
This was also a very bright and cosy room with 20-30 nicely decorated seats; the restaurant was almost one third full and there was a large Hen-party making a lot of noise since they had been drinking some time.
We were not that hungry but both of us longed for oysters! We got each a plate with half a dozen large rock oysters and man they were great! Besides tasting great they also were big. Truly a great place to get this wonderful dish! We both ordered an local beer; I had a pint of Gadds no5 which was a bit dead and my friend had taken a seasider had the same experience, but we are probably quiet picky since we live in Brussels with all this great beers around us all the time.
The restaurant is renowned for its seafood, but The Pearson's also serves a range of dishes for discerning vegetarians and carnivores alike. With Chef Rob Taylor's emphasis on what's best in modern and traditional mainly British cuisine, The Pearsons' resurgence has fast gained it recognition as one of Whitstable's top restaurants
Head Chef Robert Taylor was trained at The Tenth, Royal Garden Hotel, London, and worked in Australia for two years after a brief time at Le Manoir Aux Quat' Saisons under Raymond Blanc. Now back in the U.K, Robert Taylor's passion is exploring and rediscovering the full range of modern and traditional British cuisine.
|
|
|||
|
|
