Hythe Bay Seafood Restaurant, Deal

I recently spent a couple of days with the girls and my Mum at her caravan in Deal, on the Kent coast.

As this is a fairly new purchase for my Mum, we are still exploring the town and local restaurant scene, however one that keeps drawing us back is the Hythe Bay Seafood Restaurant. My Mum has been to this one in Deal one three times now and Glen and I enjoyed a fantastic fish and chips in the Dover outpost of the small independent chain back in March with the girls – you can see below how appetising it looked, and after a day in the cold and wet Betteshanger Park followed by a beach stroll in Dymchurch it really hit the spot.

Fish & Chips at Hythe Bay Seafood Restaurant, Dover

In June however, we enjoyed a meal at the Deal branch of Hythe Bay. We know they source their fish locally and it has always been good each time.

We visited early on a Friday evening, which as those with children will appreciate, is an easier time to eat and be served without too much fuss before the witching hour begins.

Mum and I shared a fritto misto di mare between us – basically a selection of fried seafood including whitebait, cockles, calamari and prawns in a deliciously light batter and served with a garlic aioli. One of our favourites and reminded us of our recent trip to Kefalonia where we had a similar dish often.

Whilst we enjoyed our starter, the girls meal arrived – cod goujons with chips and peas. One children’s meal is sufficient to share for children of their age (3.5 and 1) and they really enjoyed their meal too. A far cry from pub-grub fish fingers, these are delicious and fresh fish goujons, and I would have happily eat them myself.

Although we were in a seafood restaurant, Mum couldn’t resist one of the specials on the menu – calves liver and bacon, she’s a stickler for the old school classics and she enjoyed it immensely. It came with creamy mash and a red wine jus and she said if there were any complaints it would be that the liver was over-cooked a little to her taste, and there could have been more of the red wine jus, but she ate it happily.

Calves Liver & Bacon, Hythe Bay Seafood Restaurant

I opted for half a lobster cooked with a garlic butter and served with chips and salad. The lobster meat was cooked perfectly; sweet and tender and complemented greatly by the garlic butter which acted as a great dip for the accompanying chips. A rather decadent meal for a modest price of around £15.

Lobster in Garlic Butter with Chips & Salad, Hythe Bay Seafood Restaurant

The girls’ meal came with two scoops of ice cream, which the restaurant staff were more than accommodating enough to put into two bowls so we had two very happy little girls who enjoyed a great two course meal.

Ice Cream @ Hythe Bay Seafood Restaurant, Deal

Bea enjoying her ice cream at Hythe Bay Seafood Restaurant

Mum and I had a bottle of the Chillean Sauvignon Blanc, which was a lovely light and crisp wine with the meal and really complemented the lobster.  

The full meal was around £70 for the four of us with drinks and two courses a piece, which was well worth it.

I’m sure we’ll be getting to know the staff at The Hythe Bay Seafood Restaurant in Deal more as the season wears on. It’s a great restaurant, with friendly and knowledgeable staff. The décor is very much seaside chic on the upscale side, but with comfortable and reasoning price points. A great location for family meals.

Hythe Bay Seafood Restaurant is situated on 41-45 Beach Street in Deal and is open 10am-9:30pm seven days a week.

Rick Stein's Seafood Restaurant, Padstow, Cornwall

During our family stay in Padstow, Cornwall recently, the women of the group enjoyed a rare treat, a meal out unaccompanied by the men or our children, a treat we had to book back in January to secure the table, at Rick Stein's revered Seafood Restaurant.

On entering the restaurant we were impressed by the modern decor and welcoming staff on the front desk - the restaurant has a hotel attached too, so the initial service was slick.

We were seated at a table in the main part of the restaurant which is circular with the bar in the centre of the space as a key focal point.

It was Friday evening and the place was buzzing with fellow diners of all types of groups, from family and friends like ours to couples. The atmosphere was good, lively but not overly noisy.

We were brought over an amuse bouche and offered the wine menu which was vast. We asked for some help from the waiter in selecting a bottle that would appeal to the table, with all our varying palates, and he was a little unhelpful and dismissive if truth be told. He did then fetch the sommelier who was able to help, but it wasn't a great start to our meal on a service level.

Claire, my sister-in-law and I both opted to start with the shellfish soup, which was rich, silky, thick and decadent and absolutely packed full of flavour, just delicious. It came with a selection of little toasted croutons, a thick and garlicy aioli and a taramasalata; absolutely gorgeous as a starter and we devoured every mouthful.

Shellfish soup at Rick Stein's Seafood Restaurant

Tina (Mum-in-law) and Charlotte (sister-in-law) both had the scallops which were served with a crisp, fried Serrano ham and a green salad with just a drizzle of sherry vinegar dressing over the scallops. The dish was enjoyed by both, and the classic combination of sweet, succulent scallops mixed with a salty ham looked very pretty on the plate too.

Scallops and Serrano ham at Rick Stein's Seafood Restaurant

For mains, I chose the braised brill which came with a generous shaving of Wiltshire black truffles in an emulsion of mushrooms, slivers of potato and truffle oil. It was genuinely like poetry on a plate, it just worked so beautifully together and I was sad when the dish came to an end. Delicious.

Braised brill with Wiltshire Black Truffle at Rick Stein's Seafood Restaurant

Tina chose the locally caught ray fillet, which was pan-fried and served ‘au poivre’ or with a homemade creamy béarnaise sauce, simple but stunning 

Ray with Bearnaise at Rick Stein's Seafood Restaurant

Claire and Charlotte opted for the pan-fried filled of stone bass which came with the self-styled ‘symphony of alliums’, or with some Cornish white crab meat, char-grilled spring onions, caramelised leek puree, pickled baby onions and a chive oil. The dish looked uber artistic when it came out and the ladies really enjoyed it.

Stone Bass at Rick Stein's Seafood Restaurant 

We enjoyed some minted Cornish new potatoes and glazed baby carrots from a local farm that were beautifully hued and flavoured and really complemented our meals.

Dessert was impressive too – I couldn’t resist the sound of the chocolate fondant, which was perfectly gooey on the inside with a delicious crumbly texture on the outside and a rich, dense chocolate flavour, but was elevated hugely by the vanilla milk sauce, salted caramel that was literally dreamy and the crunchy caramelised peanuts. Sensational.

Chocolate fondant at Rick Stein's Seafood Restaurant

Charlotte opted for the apple mousse with salted caramel ice cream and crumble and it came and was like a jelly sphere surrounding the apple mousse, with the hint of crumble all around – a bit of a deconstructed crumble, but executed cleverly and very prettily on the plate. Another great dish.

Apple Mousse Crumble at Rick Stein's Seafood Restaurant

In terms of food, we found the Rick Stein Seafood Restaurant utterly faultless, every dish delivered on style and flavour and we left satisfied. The service was less attentive than we’d have liked, which was a little disappointing, but not enough that we wouldn’t return. In fact I’d return in a heartbeat for the brill and truffles. The meal for the four of us was around £260.00 (£65.00 a head) with a bottle of wine, so wasn’t extortionate, but fair in relation to the quality of the food.

Rick Stein’s Seafood Restaurant has been up and running since 1975 and is the jewel in Rick Stein’s crown of many Padstow establishments, with good reason. They pride themselves on using great, locally sourced, excellent quality fish and seafood and they certainly know how to deliver – hat’s off to Stephanie Delourme, the head chef and his team. If you’re visiting Padstow, or even Cornwall it’s 100% worth a visit – just make sure you book in advance.