Flotsam & Jetsam

It is an amazing ‘beach shack’ take-out restaurant. It’s a pop-up in Broadstairs, on the coast of Kent, right on the beach. You are closer to France than London in this part of the UK.

I have never seen such delicious and adventurous food being prepared for the beach. Everything is fried; don’t even ask for anything to be grilled. But what a cracker-jack selection of delights! Zucchini blossoms. Cod cheeks. Smoked halibut. Lobster. Clams. Mussels. Frito misto vegetables. And the sauces! There are about twenty homemade sauces to choose from; I went for the justly famous habañero squid ink.

Spot the Londoners: as we traipsed across the hot-sand beach with our delicate paper cones filled to the brim with briney delights, open to the air and elements, suddenly a black storm descended upon us. Seagulls. The evil bastards. Pecking at our french fries and us. Many shouted: ‘Cover your food, you pillock!’ It was worth running the ornithological gauntlet on the trip back. What amazing beach food. Best ever.

Sauce nirvana at Flotsam & Jetsam.

What the seagulls seem to salivate over.