Billions of Blistering Blue Barnacles

Viv and I were looking for dining inspiration in Canterbury a short while ago and thought of the Tin Tin restaurant in St. Dunstan's Street just around the corner in fact.  We couldn't remember the name of the restaurant just the pictures of Tin Tin they had all around the restaurant.  It was Belgian themed of couse so had loads of different mussels and Belgian beers.

It was gone.

This made us scratch heads a bit for in its place was another restaurant called Chapman's which was a fish restaurant pure and simple.  It was also full so we walked on, then decided we should stroll in and have a drink at the bar whilst a table freed up.

It smelled nice inside anyway.

Also a table freed up quickly so our bottle of white wine accompanied us fairly quickly to the table.

The menu was small and fish focused.  My eyes of course lit up at the prospect of more Maldon oysters with a whole plaice to follow.  Viv chose beetroot marinated salmon as an appetizer with the seafood platter to follow.

And boy was it all just yummy too!

So what happened to Tin Tin then, who are Chapman's and most importantly what happened to all the Tin Tin pictures?

Apparently the Tin Tin restaurant got into financial trouble and couldn't pay their bills and being a Belgian mussel shop a large part of the outstanding was to their fish providers, namely Chapman's of Sevenoaks -- a big fish distributor.

So rather than get paid in cold hard cash, Chapman's took the restaurant.  How willingly they took it was not disclosed but suffice to say this is their only restaurant -- I nearly said their 'sole' restaurant before realising how bad a pun that would have been!

As for the Tin Tin pictures, sadly they have all gone.  Many went to a local kindergarten where one hopes they are appreciated in the full and proper way.  A couple went to the waitress we asked who says they are in her young daughter's bedroom and a much revered part too.  That's nice.  Captain Haddock would be pleased.

Chapman's Seafood Bar and Brasserie
89-90 St. Dunstan's Street
Canterbury
Kent

Tel: 01227-780749
http://www.chapmanscanterbury.co.uk

No "Sweary Scots"

We just happened to be in Folkestone around lunchtime and found we had nothing to do for the rest of the day so immediately thought about lunch.  So asking around and receiving the recommendation of "Rocksalt" which apparently was down by the fishing port, we decided to give it a go.

The recommendation came with a bio of the chef who was some kind of celebrity chef although not Gordon Ramsay so we presumed it would be sleek, slick, new and pretty expensive.  Right on all counts!

This is what the Guardian has to say about the restaurant:

Bankrolled, like so much recent regeneration here, by Roger de Haan, ex-boss of the Saga group, Rocksalt has serious culinary pedigree: it's run by Mark Sargeant, one-time head chef at Claridge's, who, like Jason Atherton, Marcus Wareing and Angela Hartnett, has jumped ship from the SS Ramsay. But, like the sweary Scot, "Sarge" seems also to have had his fill of sweaty kitchens, and is leaving the actual cooking to others.

A sleek, dark timber and glass wonder bang on the old harbour front, Rocksalt is a state-of-the-art pillbox that's a world away from the whelk stalls and tackle shops next door. Inside, it's no less impressive, with the entire seaward side given over to a panoramic glass wall, and the rest done up in the power browns and greens of the moment. It's all so "now" that the room seems custom-built for wedged-up wallet-wavers down from London and the Garden of England's commuter belt.

When we arrived around 12.30 pm the tide in the harbour was out and as we sipped our pre-lunch vodka Martinis (pretty good actually) we watched a fisherman in wellies tramping across the mud with an oar dragging a small skiff to the start of the water where he floated the boat, hopped into it and paddled out to one of those little fishing boats that crammed into the small harbour.  So this really was a fishing port, and a working one at that!

Now I'm a sucker for oysters and Rocksalt had 2 varieties, one from Guernsey the other from Maldon in Essex.  Being an Essex boy myself I of course had to have some of both: the Guernseys were chubby whilst the Maldons were smaller and more flavourful.

Now onto the dry white wine and Lemon Sole for me and Plaice with Razor Clams for Viv.  Both were very nice indeed.  Viv was moved to say that if we lived in Folkestone she could become their best customer.  Praise indeed.

So if you're in Folkestone and like new and trendy, try Rocksalt.  It was pretty darn good.

Rocksalt
4-5 Fish Market
Folkestone
Kent CT19 6AA

Tel: 01303 212070
http://www.rocksaltfolkestone.co.uk

Sandwich Boards and Rain

We would never have gone to Deesons if it hadn't been raining or if I had been watching where I was walking.  But fortunately the rain was hammering down as we walked along one of Canterbury's small cobble stoned side streets and I had my hooded rain coat in full working order with the hood pulled down as far as I could when I tripped over something and banged my shin.

It was a sandwich board.  A smaller than usual one, shin height in fact, with what looked like a chalk drawing of a pig on it under the banner "We only use Kentish, home grown pork".

A Bunker pig -- very nice indeed!

This knowledge at that particular moment provided no joy as the damn thing hurt and made quite a clatter as it bounced along the road immediately after impact but later on when we were wondering where we could go for dinner I remembered it well.  Actually it was the picture of the pig that I remembered most.

Deesons is proud of the fact they grow their own produce which then goes into their menu every day.  The website has a neat video about the 'Bunker', their own small holding outside Canterbury (check the link -- http://www.deesonsrestaurant.co.uk/our-produce.php).

The menu isn't large but good and interesting.  I had the seafood platter because I hadn't eaten whitebait for ages, Viv had the seared scallops but both of us of course just had to have the Bunker Pork -- a scrumptuous combination of belly, loin, pig's cheek and pulled pork bubble & squeak cake.

This was a veritable pork smorgasbord.

Very nice indeed.

Deeson's British Restaurant
25-27 Sun Street
Canterbury
Kent CT1 2HX

Tel: 01227 767854
http://www.deesonsrestaurant.co.uk