Northumberland: seafood-lover’s heaven

Northumberland seafood is some of the best available. And I ate lots of it when I spent a week’s holiday there earlier this month.

In this post, I share the highlights from eating out in this seafood-lover’s heaven – and include a heartfelt thanks to the fishing community who made it all possible.

BACK FOR MORE NORTHUMBERLAND SEAFOOD

I’ve been going to Northumberland for holidays for almost fifteen years. As I wrote in my 2018 blog post, ‘I love its big, beautiful coastline, huge beaches, famous castles, charming towns, wildlife and, of course, its food’.

My planned visit of 2020 had gone out the window though. The pandemic had struck, followed by lockdowns. But in October 2022 I was back. And of all my times in Northumberland, I think this year I ate the widest variety and the best Northumberland seafood ever.

AMBLE

For my latest visit, I stayed in the town of Amble where the River Coquet meets the North Sea.

I’d only been there once before. Looking back at old holiday photos, I couldn’t quite believe that it was almost exactly ten years to the day.

Back in 2012 I’d spent just a few hours in Amble. But even I could see the changes that had taken place since.

It’s still a working fishing town, but efforts to improve the local economy with tourism are obvious. For example, in the harbour village you’ll find retail pods with independent businesses selling everything from cheese, sausages and Lindisfarne mead to gifts and accessories for your dog. There’s also the Northumberland Seafood Centre which aims to source from local fishermen and introduce consumers to a wider range of Northumberland seafood.

As I’d come down with a nasty cold a few days before going on holiday, I wasn’t up to travelling about as much as I usually would. This meant most of my eating was done in Amble. Thankfully, my cold didn’t affect my appetite and I discovered plenty of places to enjoy fantastic seafood.

THE FISH SHACK, AMBLE

My first discovery in Amble was Fish Shack, right on the harbourside. As it was a lovely, bright afternoon, partner ID and I decided to sit outside for our late lunch. It’s a great place to take in the views of the estuary and out to Warkworth.

This close to the border, I think Scotland counts as local, doesn’t it? Anyway, I enjoyed a pint of Thistly Cross cloudy Scottish cider to accompany my lunch.

As you’d expect from a place specializing in seafood, Fish Shack has a daily specials board as well as a regular menu. If you’re reading this, then I guess you’re a seafood lover too. But if others in your party aren’t then not to worry. As with all my eating out recommendations in this post, there are non-seafood choices too.

I went for sardines which were super-fresh. In fact, the best I’ve eaten in Britain.

They came doused in lovely mustard butter which still let the taste of the fish shine through. Alongside was a fresh salad and slice of toast.

ID also had the sardines, and we shared a couple of side dishes.

The onion rings were excellent: big and very crispy. Chips came skin-on, triple cooked and were lovely too.

We so enjoyed the meal that we were back at Fish Shack a couple of days later – just after seeing a pod of dolphins in the harbour!

SECOND VISIT

To start, I had beer-battered monkfish ‘scampi’.

These were generously sized chunks of succulent fresh fish in perfectly crispy batter. The monkfish was served with a very punchy, rich, thick, and delicious tartar sauce. Again, there was a decent portion of fresh salad alongside.

For my main course, there followed an expertly seared, perfectly cooked hake fillet. It sat on a delightfully tomatoey cassoulet of mixed beans plus sweet clams in their shells.

I was so glad I ordered a side of bread to mop up all the tasty sauce!

THE OLD BOATHOUSE, AMBLE

Owned by the same people as Fish Shack, I had more fantastic, memorable Northumbrian seafood at The Old Boat House.

My starter was one of juicy scallops, their little corals still attached. Done just how I like them, with a browned, crusty outside and just cooked inside, they sat on earthy celeriac puree alongside a chunk of good quality black pudding.

My main course was one of those dishes that, when brought out, causes other diners’ heads to turn. ‘Is that all for you?’, one asked, aghast. ‘I hope so!’, I replied.

What got everyone’s attention was a long wooden board containing a HUGE dish of HUGE langoustines, two doorsteps of bread, plus a bowl of chips.

The dozen or so locally landed langoustines were beautifully sweet and came in a garlic and chilli butter. I was given the tools to crack them open and scrape out every little morsel of meat. I did so, tucking a napkin down my collar to catch the worst of the flying bits! But it was worth it.

After that, it was time to mop up all the garlicky, chilli-hot, buttery juices with the bread. Oh, and the skin-on chips tasted pretty good too.

The Old Boat House is in a fantastic spot and the staff were lovely. They were particularly amused with the outraged expression on my dog’s face when we were eating, and he wasn’t. They even gave him some chicken!

Although it’s not dog friendly inside, there’s lots of seating outside – some partly and some wholly covered.

Another great venue for sampling the very best of Northumberland seafood.

HARBOUR FISH BAR, AMBLE

If you go to the seaside for a holiday without eating fish and chips at least once, have you really had a seaside holiday? I think not.

Most days of this holiday, we ate a large lunch in a restaurant with just a snack in the evening. But I definitely wanted a takeaway seaside chippy tea one night. On the Wednesday, I managed to resist all temptations during the day, so I’d have room for it.

Amble has several fish and chip shops, and residents are incredibly lucky if they’re all as good as The Harbour Fish Bar.

My large cod was fantastic. Even after the journey back to our rented house, it was still juicy within its light and very crispy coating. Proper beef dripping chips were excellent, and the mushy peas tasted like good quality.

THE JOLLY FISHERMAN, CRASTER

As I’ve mentioned, due to a cold I didn’t get about as much as I normally would on holiday. But I especially love Northumberland as there’s so many great beaches to walk with the dog. So, I still couldn’t resist going back to a few old favourites like Embleton Bay with its views of Dunstanburgh Castle.

After a glorious walk, we headed to nearby Craster for lunch at another favourite: The Jolly Fisherman.

Just over the road from L Robson & Sons (makers of probably the most famous Northumberland seafood: Craster kippers), it’s always brilliant there. It’s also very popular, so we’d booked ahead to ensure a table in the cosy, dog friendly bar.

When in Craster, you can’t not have kippers and/or crab. So, to start, I had a delicious kipper Scotch egg. Subtly flavoured with a jammy yolk, it came with a crispy cheese straw, salad, and very good truffle mayonnaise.

If you want to try a range of Northumberland seafood, you could do worse than the Jolly fish board. I’d eaten it before so knew how good it would be.

It came with a heap of brown and white crab meat, prawns in Marie rose sauce, salmon pate, kipper pate, smoked salmon, and sweet-cured herring. Alongside was salad, good bread, and butter.

THE POTTED LOBSTER, BAMBURGH

Although I’ve been to Bamburgh many times, I ate at The Potted Lobster for the first time this holiday.

At a restaurant with this name, how could I not start my lunch with potted lobster?

Actually, there wasn’t just local lobster in that stuffed-to-the-gills jar. Set in butter, there was also brown shrimp and crab, plus smoked salmon which gave the whole thing lovely smoky notes.

To spread it on, there was plenty of good quality bread, toasted.

From the huge range of seafood on the specials board, I chose a whole lemon sole to follow.

Beautifully cooked, the fish was covered in a generous amount of punchy shrimp, parsley, and caper butter. Showing the same largesse, on the side was a big bowl of perfectly cooked mixed green veg. On the plate was a fondant potato that, for my taste, could have done with more browning. But it was still nicely soft and buttery.

A HEARTFELT THANKS

Sitting in a sunny restaurant or cosy pub, tucking into fantastic seafood, it’s easy to forget the sheer hard (and dangerous) work that made it all possible.

But on the last day of my holiday, it was brought home to me when I went to the Alliance Fish shop. Right on the quayside in Amble, here you can buy direct from local fishing boats.

The fish and shellfish are brought in the night before, prepped, then go straight on the counter. You can’t get fresher than that, and there’s even a board up, showing which boats it came from.

The lovely woman who served us didn’t want to be photographed. But she spoke passionately about her family and community, including the difficulties they face.

It was very humbling, after enjoying some of the best seafood I’ve eaten, to think about the real people behind it all.

So, just as I regularly urge support for local farms here in the Moorlands, please do the same for British seafood whenever you can. And to the men and women at sea and on land who feed us, please accept a heartfelt thanks from me.

Besides kippers, we brought home some incredible mackerel from Alliance Fish.

When it’s absolutely fresh like this, I think it’s one of the best fish there is. We ate them simply grilled for dinner that night.

Eaten with my fingers, sprinkled with salt and a squeeze of lemon, they were truly the finest mackerel I’ve had.

Although this post is about Northumberland seafood, I can’t leave out a couple of non-seafood recommendations.

LILLY’S LANDING

On our last day, after visiting Alliance Fish, we had breakfast at Lilly’s Landing before heading home.

Although it had a modern presentation, it included everything I wanted to satisfy my craving for a traditional cooked breakfast.

The bacon was lovely and crispy. Two fat, peppery sausages tasted to me like good quality ones. Eggs were perfectly poached and, just out of view in the photo, there was a big juicy mushroom and a properly cooked tomato half.

I even got to pat myself on the back by starting the day with some greens in the form of watercress.

ARTISAN CHEESE

Among the retail pods at Amble harbour village is the Cheese Pod. From their range of local cheeses, I chose an old favourite: Oak Smoked Cuddy’s Cave from Doddington Dairy.

Back home, its robust, smoky flavour was perfect alongside another artisan cheese: creamy Staffordshire Cheese handmade in my village by the Staffordshire Cheese Company.

I used both cheeses in a photoshoot for my Seeded Scottish Oatcakes recipe. Of course, I had to eat them afterwards and they went wonderfully well with the toasty, almost nutty flavoured oatcakes.

VISIT NORTHUMBERLAND

I’m constantly surprised at how many people in Britain haven’t been to this beautiful part of the country.

Whether you’re interested in the wildlife, its history, or just walking the beautiful coastline, I think you’ll love it. And if you’re a seafood fan, you’re in for even more of a treat!

READ MORE ABOUT VISITING NORTHUMBERLAND HERE

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