Crab & Winkle Seafood Restaurant

South Quay, The Harbour, WHITSTABLE, CT5 1AB

Up on the first floor above the fish market on Whitstable harbour, the Seafood Restaurant has a great sense of connection with its stock in trade, namely the prime piscine produce that appears on your plate and is landed fresh each day by the fishing boats below. The name is a nod to one of the world's first steam passenger railways - the 'Crab and Winkle Line' that from 1830 brought tourists in from Canterbury, its route resurrected nowadays as a walking and biking trail. Seats on the terrace are at a premium for the harbour views, or go inside where there are wooden booths and walls hung with local artists' work to give the wooden building a light and bright Mediterranean flavour. The kitchen rightly keeps it simple, serving up platters of oysters, winkles, cockles, whelks, prawns and hot-smoked salmon to get things going, ahead of a whole brown crab served with home-made olive and pepper bread and lemon mayonnaise salad or Dover sole with parsley beurre noisette and dauphinoise potatoes.

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We choose Beer Battered Fish and Chips. I was expecting something great. It was quite obvious no beer was involved because the batter was flat and thin. When you started on the fish it was very dry and its supposed to be fresh !! Glad it was on offer at £9.95 because I would have been even more disappointed if it had been the full price of £13.95 plus the cost of the Mushy Peas £2.95 !! Sorry but its not somewhere I could recommend as its probably the worst Fish and Chips I have ever had.

Reviewer: Annie, Swanley
Visited: 22 September 2010

97 of 194 people found this review helpful.
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Lovely restaurant - our food was delicious, service was friendly and relaxed, and the view of the sun setting over the harbour was gorgeous. As it was so hot, my husband and I had smaller-than-usual appetites so shared 3 courses, a half-bottle of wine and a brandy- the bill came in at a very reasonable £42. Highly recommended for a romantic meal.

Reviewer: AFM, Birmingham
Visited: 26 June 2010

101 of 200 people found this review helpful.
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Poorly trained staff, bad service and overpriced food contributed to a very bad lunch experience. The owner then blamed us for daring to complain after our lunch and day in Whitstable was ruined.

Reviewer: ROCKEY16, THORNTON HEATH
Visited: 15 May 2010

101 of 205 people found this review helpful.
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