Sole Bay Fish Company
Southwold, Suffolk
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‘Get there early, before midday’ advises the fishmonger behind the slab at the Sole Bay Fish Company. Heed his words if you’ve neglected to book a restaurant berth at this much-loved Blackshore spot – especially on a sunny holiday weekend when the outside walk-in tables are snapped up hungrily. Either way, it's a simple lunchtime proposition whether you’re inside the former fisherman’s shack, outside by the harbour or heading to the beach: it's all about seasonal seafood (including classic fish and chips), much of it brought in on the owners’ boats, cooked without fuss, and served promptly. The short drinks list is mostly cold and fish-friendly, and there’s a rotating offer of local Adnams brews, pleasingly available on draught. Seafood platters, heavy with prawns, cockles and whelks, are anchored deliciously by the main attraction of half a garlicky butter-slicked lobster, a dressed crab or sultry smoked fish. Oysters are sleek, briny and bright, or battered if you prefer that crisp richness. Gloriously fat crevettes have an edge of 'char' that balances their satisfying sweetness, and a fillet of bass is fleetingly shown a hot pan to emerge with that pitch-perfect combination of smooth white flesh and crisp skin. Chips? Of course, so too jars of pickles – wallies, eggs, onions – for a dose of chip-shop nostalgia. And dessert? Who needs it when Southwold can deliver completely on the ice-cream front? Anyway, you could probably do with a bit of a walk by now.
