With summer now in full swing, weekends are all about escaping the city and heading for the coast to relax, unwind and indulge. Arriving hot-on-the-claws of the Whitstable Oyster Festival, the Dorset Seafood Festival offers a torrent of tentacles to sink your teeth into. Grabbing my flip flops and shades, I got stuck in.
Office Breaks Lobster
Now in its seventh year, the Dorset Seafood Festival is one of the UK’s largest food festivals with 40 different species of local seafood on offer. Crawling its way round Weymouth’s historic harbourside, the stalls are crammed with mouth-watering sea-themed street food. Ranging from traditional fish n chips through to tandoori king prawn skewers and seafood and mango stir-fry, there’s a dish to suit every whim.
Launching myself into the teeming throng, it’s hard to know where to start. As exotic wafts of paella and sweet chilli sauce mingle, my stomach groans in the heady excitement of the temptations to come. To get the party started, who could resist a mackerel bap? Comfortingly filling but lacking the wow-factor, it provides a satisfactory starter to get me warmed up for the next catch.
Office Breaks Dorset Seafood Festival
With a lust for exotic flavours, the bright yellow paella grabs my attention. Bursting with paprika, saffron and chorizo, the Spanish staple has my taste buds tingling in a frenzy of foodie euphoria. Crammed with freshly-plucked mussells, it provides just the right balance between spicy and salty. Feeling more adventurous, the crustaceans are calling and this monster crab provides just the thrill I’m seeking.
Office Breaks Killer crab
As street food challenges go, I soon find out that I’ve bitten more than I can chew and a mallet is called in. Once beaten into submission, we’re instructed on the intracacies of how to extract the meat. Tearing the legs off first, we start with the easily-accessible body meat.
Office Breaks Crab lessons
Once inside the shell, the salty meat is tender and delicious but armed only with the tines of a plastic fork, the legs prove a monumental challenge.
Feeling a little thirsty after all this briny fare, I refuel with a refreshing glass of Pimms before moving on to the next stall. At roughly £4.00 a go, there’s still a bit of cash left in the kitty for further sampling. Next up is the king prawn and scallop skewer. Served up sizzling from the barbecue, I realise with horror that there only three left and four people ahead of me. With the same sinking feeling of being beaten to the last seat on the tube,I head off in search of comfort elsewhere (Arrive early to avoid stocks running low.)
No trip to a seafood festival could be complete without slurping back an oyster or two. Keen to address this slippery character’s image problem, I’m informed with a wink that what it lacks in substance, it makes up for in other ways.
Unconvinced, I grab one of the shells, drench it in tabasco before squeezing my eyes shut and letting it slither down. Slightly chewier than expected, the fiery Tabasco and salty mixture is surprisingly refreshing but fails to induce any feelings of friskiness – much to the stallholder’s disappointment.
Office Breaks Weymouth Harbour
Feeling relaxed and sated on my train home to London, I reflect on the amazing variety of seafood that’s right here on our doorstep and only wish that my office could be transported to the Dorset coast. I could just about relinquish my Pret posh cheese and pickle addiction for a daily dose of quality crustaceans.
The Dorset Seafood Festival will take place on the 11th and 12th July 2015.
Entry: FREE
What’s your favourite summer food festival?