"Oh, I do
like to be beside the seaside…"
And that’s
exactly where we all met up to celebrate mum’s birthday last month at
the end of July. My brother organised it all and decided upon an afternoon in Whitstable.
He booked a table at The Harbour Garden Café, which was utterly gorgeous – and also
a surprise, mum had no idea where we were going.
This seafood
restaurant has a really lovely outdoor dining area, which was ideal given the
weather we had been having. It’s a good job we booked, as there were queues
down the road – and I’d imagine, a lot of people were left disappointed that they
didn’t have a reservation. Anyway, we were able to bypass the queue and immediately
be seated. We had a wonderful corner table, with benches and seating, and it
was right next to the specials boards.
I’m glad I
looked at the specials boards though, as I had my eye on the market fish of the
day, which was seabass… and on the drinks special, there was a frosé! Although
the frosé was no match for what Alfie ordered.
Aptly named ‘Shark
Attack’, it was a blue raspberry slushie in a fishbowl style glass, complete
with a shark rock dummy, and even a Haribo freaky fish at the very bottom. He
loved it! I’ve never seen someone with such a blue mouth – it was everywhere!
Sadly, there
was no more seabass available, and the alternative was plaice. I wasn’t too
fussed about having that and so, panicked when it came to taking my order.
Everyone had ordered the lobster roll (from the main menu) or the crab roll (on
special), and I followed the crowd – choosing the crab roll.
I ended up going
halves with mum, who had opted for lobster – and wow. The meat was so fresh, flavoursome,
and delicious. I decided to tart both rolls up with some citrus and tabasco –
and what a difference that made. Both were served in brioche buns, so nice and
light – as well as a fryer-style pot of seasoned skin-on fries. It was so tasty.
We also shared a
bottle of wine – I think it was a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, I can’t remember
now. I do know the wine list isn’t overly extensive but supports English
vineyards. One thing I do remember is that there’s no dessert menu. No bad
thing, of course – and we were all feeling quite full. So instead, an after-dinner
drink was on the cards… roll on a round of frosés! While listening to some
great live music. The atmosphere was so chilled throughout.
After settling
the bill, we went for a nice long walk, passing the converted Fisherman’s Huts
(mum said she and dad stayed in one before) and the RNLI Lifeboat Station –
before stopping off at a gelateria, which was just dreamy.
It was a really
lovely day, which was helped by the weather. Alfie even got to spend some time
on the beach and enjoyed collecting shells and stones – before throwing the
latter into the sea. Ash also tried to show him how to skim stones, while we just
watched on.
There’s something
about sea air – it’s good for the soul!
Love, Lucy xx
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Love, Lucy xx