East Beach Cafe

ebc

On Approaching E.B.C you may not exactly recognise it as your standard English beach side fish and chip and hut and that is because it is anything but standard. From the outside you could be forgiven for thinking it looks like a bizarre, large, brown, irregular shape which mildly represents a wave. Designed by architect Thomas Heatherwick, the building has won over 20 national and international awards for its design and architecture. E.B.C regularly appears in different versions of the top ten beach restaurants in the UK, beating many in the more traditionally popular spots in Devon and Cornwall. This old fish and chip hut has been spectacularly transformed. Inside I kind of had the feeling of being in a cave, but a large bright, white cave with wonderful sea views.

The menu does that lovely thing of strongly nodding towards traditions like fish and chips and burgers but punctuating the classics with some slightly more adventurous dishes like a seafood risotto or pearl barley risotto. The food is uncomplicated, with a promise of the fish being caught locally and all other produce where possible from the immediate surrounding area.

So I chose something on the less traditional side and by chance my  amour chose the super traditional option. I had pan fried sardines with seared beetroot tomatoes and olives  and he had traditional beer battered fish and chips accompanied with pea puree and tartar sauce. My sardines were delicious, the fresh beetroot tomato sauce was full of flavour, setting the sardines off perfectly. I was offered a bite of the fish and chips to which I obliged, honestly  incredible the freshest fish in the lightest non greasy batter physically possible, a good portion of peas, with a great dollop of tartar. You know normally after you eat fried food, that sleepy, really full feeling comes over you, not with this fish and chips, the best fish and chips I have tasted in forever. Luckily the portion was rather large so there was no excuse for me not to dig in. I really enjoyed my sardines but the fish and chips were truly next level.

Desserts follow the same idea as the mains from a traditional sticky toffee pudding to an apple and pear tartin. As well as a large display of fresh cakes and biscuits. We shared a caramel slice, a dreamy end to our trip to the seaside!