… I do like to be beside the seaaaaaaa !
On Monday morning I woke up to the sound of waves crashing on the shore. Obviously this was hugely disturbing to me as I live in London. But wait… no I don’t ! Well, not that particular Monday.
Just under two hours in the car (most of it getting in and out of London) and you’re on the Kentish Coast, in the little town of Whitstable. And if you’re very lucky, you’ll know about and be staying at The Oyster Shack (also known as The Beacon House and The Artists’ Beach House) on Tankerton Beach. This property’s extraordinary location is probably the most envied on the entire coast as it’s literally 5 metres from the beach. Happy people stroll past walking their dogs, breathing sea air or getting some exercise… but other than that, it (and the house next door) is on its own.
It’s one of those ‘lived in’ houses… utterly unpretentious. There’s a proper kitchen with enough space for 8 cooks to make a mess. It is also properly stocked so that the Head Chef doesn’t have a nervous breakdown when faced with 50 oysters and no means to shuck. The oven cooked 2 damn good roast chickens and 8 whole trout too.
Pardon as I skid back to the oysters. The house is about a 10 minute walk from the fish market along the beach and the harbour. It’s filled with fresh fish daily and more oysters than you could consume in a weekend. I know, I tried.
More about Whitstable tomorrow… I’m hungry…
