Sometimes the simplest is the best…

Took a drive down to Sidmouth last Sunday afternoon. The weather was glorious summer sunshine and the town was busy with tourists and day-trippers, although there’s not a lot to look at apart from the sea. Sidmouth, like most of our beach resorts has been turned into a clone town with exactly the same looking cafes and gift shops as everywhere else.

 

And like everywhere else, gone are the streets full of pubs, so we headed to the far end, past the lifeboat station and yachty club to the old, working fishermans’ yard, hidden behind the public loos where crab sandwiches were to be had for a quarter of the price to be paid in the now ubiquitous gastropubs.

Munched on the beach sat on the old pipes washed up from the Napoli and breathed some fresh sea air, still to be had gratis. Pudding was some delicious fresh-baked chocolate tiffin, also from the fisherman’s shack and where we made our way back to after taking the promenade, to collect our sea-bass for tea.

Rockfish

Last week on a wet and windy Sunday in June, Tipsyscone did a little jaunt to our old stomping ground of the South Hams (and find some material to kick this little blog back into life!).

Starting with lunch at the Tower Inn in Slapton, we sheltered from the typical inclement English Summer weather. This pub has a beer garden to die for with its view of (strangely) a tower, but inside it’s equally atmospheric with low ceilings and dark, old beams. The gloom was lifted by a pint of Butcombe Ale and a glass of the local white wine, Sharpham.

Unfortunately Sunday lunch was a mediocre affair as the lack of a sous-chef meant that there was a limited choice on the menu. Tipsy (being of the pesci-veg persuasion) chose a beer battered bass fillet whereas Marcus just went for the home cooked beef – it was Sunday after all. The accompanying veggies were unusual to say the least (bright yellow cauliflower cheese) but the puddings and coffee more than made up for it.

A quick gust of fresh sea air down on the amazing shingle bank at Slapton beach woke us up a bit. This is the scene of the famous D-Day debacle, when during WWII in the run-up to the Allied invasion of France to drive out the Nazis, many servicemen were drowned in a terrible accident. An old American battle tank at Torcross commemorates this tragic incident.

After booking in to the Maitland B&B in Dartmouth we went for a soggy walk around this picturesque, historic naval town and after refreshment at some more pubs and a change of clothes we set off once more, for cocktails at the Castle Hotel. Dartmouth is a busy drinking town but on a Sunday many of the restaurants are shut, however Tipsy had a destination in mind – Mitch Tonk’s Rockfish café.

To those who don’t know, Mitch was famous for his Fishworks chain of fish restaurants and fishmongers. What even we didn’t know, but found out from the very friendly lady who served breakfast the next morning, was that Mitch hails from Weston-Super-Mare. A local lad! Rockfish, it has to be said, was fantastic – the whitebait as a starter was particularly brilliant. Tipsy’s calamari with aioli was the best she’d had outside of Spain and the chips were divine. Claire, the manageress couldn’t have been more welcoming and even though the venue was unseasonably quiet (because of the awful weather) it felt like a fish and chip experience from our childhood. Who said nostalgia is dead?! Even the young couple sat next to us were impressed and, it transpired, they were buyers from Marks & Spencers – Marcus couldn’t resist badgering the poor things about M&S’s new initiative to market street food…