The very reasonably price Mackerel fishing trips on Lyme (£8) were too good an opportunity to turn down!  In Lyme, different numbers of boats operate each day, depending on season, day and weather.  Blackboards and signs at the entrance to the Cobb (harbour wall) give information about various fishing trips, including Bassing trips, all day fishing trips and the ever popular Mackerel/sight seeing trips.  We wandered down to the end of the Cobb one sunny day to await the next boat trip.  The Frances Jane is a delightful little boat, operated by Doug and Amanda (both of whom are also diving instructors).  The boat is a converted Crabber from Cornwall, built in 1952 with a mahogany hull and was easily the prettiest boat in the harbour.

We chugged out into the bay, with beautiful views on show in the calm sunshine.  Using slithers of Mackerel as bait Amanda handed out the lines (long lines on a hand spool, with a large weight to take the line down and a bright coloured bead marking the leader line with the baited hook on the end).  Once the spool is tied onto the railings (to avoid mishaps) its a case of waiting till you feel the tug on the line before winding in the line and checking if there’s a shiny silver green/blue/black mackerel on the end.  Our haul wasn’t huge, apparently due to the hot weather and increasingly choppy seas.  The views were fantastic and the time was up before we knew it.  We’d both caught “one for the pot” and headed back to shore.

We popped into The Old Watch House fish monger at the start of the Cobb and bought a couple of Herring to supplement the Mackerel and pick up some ice packs to keep the fish cool while we walked back to the campsite.  I love the marbled silver green/blue/black pattern Mackerel have and the non slymey, not scaley feel of the fish (like you have with Trout for instance).  We gutted/cleaned the fish and opened the vino! 

I got the BBQ going and we polished off a dressed crab which we bought in The Old Watch House.  In the evening sunshine, the fish looked great.  The Old Watch House didn’t have any Sardines, but instead I bought Herring (essentially just large sardines).  Herring is more sustainable than Sardines, although I’m not sure if this is purely because Sardines are so much more popular.

We were a little low on provisions, so it was just the fish, with some black pepper corns crushed between 2 bricks.  We gave them about 3 minutes on either side, before serving up with crusty bread and salad.   We cooked the Herring in exactly the same way.  The fish skin went beautifully crisp on the barbecue and the smells during cooking were great.

Although the bones came out of the fresh fish very easily, lots of people are put of Mackerel because of the many small bones.  My tip is to always eat fresh crusty bread with small fish – so you don’t notice any little bones remaining.  All in all, the fish made a great dinner.  It left us wondering why we don’t eat fish more often?

The only downside of eating Mackerel and living in London is that inevitably you will be reminded of the tube game “Mackerel” which goes along the line of “there’s only one underground station on the whole of the network which doesn’t contain any of the letters of the word Mackerel – which one?” and then every time you see a tube map while waiting for a train, you’ll be staring and staring and cursing Dr Kate for ever telling you about the game in the first place.  Even worse, you’ll spend hours studying the map, feel let down when you realise the answer and then 2 years later, go fishing for Mackerel in Dorset and remember that you’ve forgotten which underground station it was and have to do it all again!  For the answer and many other random London Underground facts, click here.

The Good Food Store

Located on Broad Street (the main street) this shop had a delicious selection of free range meat, including sausages and bacon for our campsite breakfast, duck eggs (30p each), cheeses, fruit/veg and bread, cakes and savouries baked in store daily.

The Old Watch House

There were some lovely shops to pick up provisions whilst in Lyme Regis.  The Old Watch House fish monger is a beautiful little wet fish shop, selling local fish, the majority of which comes from Dorset, Devon and Cornwall.  A really nice touch, in addition to free ice packs to keep you purchase cold, was indicating which fish were “sustainable” on the price  blackboard.    

There was no smell of fish as you approached and went into the shop, indicating the produce was very fresh.  The fish monger said the only way to more fresh is to catch it yourself.  There were plenty of crabs crawling around on the sand at the bottom of The Cobb (the old harbour wall) but we opted for a dressed Lyme Regis crab at £4.95. 

The Lyme Bay Sandwich Company

This little shop, at the end of the seafront served a delightful array of fresh sandwiches, old fashioned lemonade, gingerbeer, posh crisps and best of all, pies and pasties.  The pies and pasties are all made by Chunk of Devon.  They looked delicious and I was please to find the meat was all free range. 

A small newspaper cutting on the wall showed that the pasties were in fact award winning having recently won the best pasty award at the Melton Mobray pie competition!  The lady behind the counter in the shop said they were very pleased that a pasty made in Devon had beaten off all of its Cornish competitors!  Reading further, it was great to see that the pasty comapny is to be features in a Channel 4 television series starring Sir Gerry Robinson named Gerry’s Big Descision which will air on Channel 4 on Thursday 9nd July 2009 at 2100. 

In the series, Gerry (one of Britain’s most sucessful business men) intervenes in failing businesses before deciding whether to invest and revive them.  I don’t want to spoil the show, but the recent success of these pasties suggests he’s worked his magic well on this occasion!  The steak pasty was undoubtedly a great pasty and indeed, five minutes later I was back in the shop buying my second pasty.  It seems that the Lyme Regis Seagulls are partial to these award winning pasties too, as one swooped down over my shoulder and carried my first pasty off just two or three bites into it!  Be warned!

Town Mill Cheese Monger

Housed in an old water mill in the centre of Lyme, lies the Town Mill Cheese Monger.  The cheese monger and his wife told us that 2 months ago, this building was disused and falling into disrepair.  The water mill has been converted to generate electricity, but it also still drives the mill stones to mill flour in the adjacent building. 

The selection of cheeses was great, with the majority being local.  We were able to sample which ever ones we wanted and opted for a Cornish Yarg (Cow’s milk,  infused and wrapped with wild garlic leaves), delicious Montgommery Cheddar and some Quickes Smoked Cheddar.  All three cheeses were local british cheeses. 

We also bought delicious biscuits – Miller’s Stones.  These were a lovely buttery digestive style biscuit, but less coarse.  To go with the cheese, we bought a fig fruit puree “English fruits for cheese” by the Fine Cheese Co.  The owners were wonderfully friendly and we wish them success with their new cheese shop.  We think it will fit in well to the food culture present in Lyme.

River Cottage local produce store and canteen (Axminster)

I’m not sure whether Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage started a trend towards independent, ethical, local food in Dorset, or whether Hugh chose Dorset because if had just such a tradition.  However, no trip to Dorset is complete without at least thinking about River Cottage.  We got the number 31 bus from Lyme to Axminster and popped in for a cup of tea.  The front of the shop has local produce, fresh fruit/veg and a lovely array of savouries.  We opted for trout quiche and a chunky pork pie to take away.  A rather delicious Eccles cake was simply crying out to be purchased as well – which although along way from it’s ancestral home in Salford, was probably the richest, crumbliest most delicious Eccles cake I’ve ever had.

The canteen at the back served drinks, light snacks and also main meals in the evening.  You can see into the kitchens and I recognised the chef off the TV shows.  There’s a lovely garden at the back.  We could see small deliveries of fresh ingredients arriving all the time, including some great looking fruit, veg and herbs. 

Beer

Those who know me or have read some of my blogs are aware that I’ve got a few breweries of which I am a big fan.  These are Cains of Liverpool (try the Dr Duncan’s or Thomas Rigby’s pubs in Liverpool), Bath Ales (try the Hare on the Hill in Bristol), Okell’s (Isle of Man) and La Morte Subite (Family brewery in Brussels, bar of the same name). 

Now in Dorset, I’ve discovered pretenders to challenge my choice of favourite beer.  The Otter Brewery (Based in Devon) do a great selection of beers and ales.  Widely available in the southwest, they are varied and popular.  However, never have I seen such enthusiasm from bar staff as I did for Palmers of Bridport, officially my new favourite brewery.  Each time I ordered, a favourable comment about the beer was passed by the waitor, bar tender or another patron!  Evidently very popular, I first opted for a delicious Indian Pale Ale.  Extremely quaffable in the sunshine.  I also tried the Copper Ale and the Palmer’s 200.  My favourite was easily the 200.  This special brew was created to mark the 200th anniversary of Palmers brewing in Bridport.  For every pint sold, 5p is donated to the Dorset Air Ambulance (with over £10,000 donated last year).  Evidently I am not alone in my preference for the 200, as the 200th anniversary of Palmers Brewery was in 1994!  This popular brew has been in production for over 15 years ever since!  Palmers is available in many of the local pubs and by the bottle in Threshers on Broad Street in Lyme.  They also make Ginger Beer and Whisky. 

Restaurants

Fish and Chips – Now we ate out on three of the four nights we stayed.  On the first night we had some great fish and chips at By They Bay which overlooks the beach.  The fish and chips were the best we’ve had in a long time.  The batter was very light and crips, with a hint of nutmeg to make it a bit different.  Served with proper cut chips, crushed minted peas and tartar sauce.

Italian – The second time we went out, we were caught out.  It was Monday and we found to our cost that nearly everything closes on a Sunday in Lyme Regis.  The one place we found was Antonio’s Trattoria, an intimate, lively, traditional Italian.  The menu was limited to classic italian fayre, including various pasta, pizzas and steaks etc.  Antonio was obviously very popular with his Patrons and knew his regulars by name.  We were watching the pennies as we only had a little cash with us and he doesn’t take cards.  When he realised this, Antonio told us not to worry, to order what we want and if we were short, to drop the money through the letter box in the next few days.  We both opted for a very tasty tagliatelli made with local Lime Regis crab.  The food is all cooked by Anotio’s wife and his daughter was waiting on tables.  We also shared a garlic bread and tirimasu, with a glass of house red and a beer.  The bill came to £34.  We thought this was a little on the pricey side, but as the place was packed with regulars, we we obviously in the minority.  Would recommend this place for the friendy traditional feel and especially if you want to eat out on a Monday.  Located just opposite the Tourist Information centre.

Bar Food – We left it late to eat on our final night and were turned away from a couple of places at 2030 on the grounds it was too late.  Many places stopped serving food at 2100, but wouldn’t seat people from earlier.  There are several bars serving food along the front, including one offereing a delicious (if not retro) ploughmans with local cheese and chutnel.  We had a great free-range steak from Wiltshire in another.  It was cooked brilliantly and served with a fresh wild mushroom sauce, onion rings, chips and salad.  We hadn’t been expecting much and were consequently really pleased.  Service was a bit lacking however.  I felt this was down to the comination of young staff and the manager serving drinks behind the bar and being unaware of the restaurant goings on. 

However, what made our night at this place was the rather Fawlty Tower-esque escapade where as we tried to pay, the distracted staff started chasing a rather fat hamster around the bar and restaurant.  After catching the reluctant rodent in a pint glass, it was returned to the owner who apparently lived in the flat upstairs.  We can confirm that it was a hamster but that there were no hotel inspectors, spanish waitors or sickly cats in the building(!)