Whistlestop Whitstable

 As a youngster I grew up in Kent.  On the rare occasion we had a Sunday out to the beach it was often to places like Hastings, or Broadstairs but never Whitstable.   So it was with some excitement that as a much older kid, the wife and I had booked an overnight stay with two friends to visit Whitstable. 

I had perhaps one reservation and that was that I had heard plenty of stories before my visit about how Whitstable had become a ‘destination’ to visit and was apparently quite a ‘trendy’ and ‘hip’ place. That always worries me but having never been, I had no previous experience to compare against so would just take it as I found it.

We’d booked an overnight stay at Warehouse Cottages which were brilliantly located right in town, on the beach front and come with their own off-street parking.  Accommodation was laid out over two floors and made up of two separate en-suite rooms.  Both rooms overlooked the beach with the 2nd floor room having a balcony.  We arrived mid morning and check-in was at a local hotel, slightly odd but worked very well.  Being so central we set off walking around to find somewhere to eat that evening.  We’d had plenty of suggestions from scouring  google before we went but it’s always nice to see a place, see what it looks like and where it is.  We settled on a restaurant called Samphire.  So with dinner booked we carried on walking and taking in the sights.

There was filming taking place on the day we arrived so that made for an ‘exciting’ spectacle to watch as we wandered about.  We tried to google what was being filmed and who might be in it but wasn’t entirely sure.  Having sat with a cup of tea and watched a few ‘takes’ for a scene I hadn’t realised how boring it could be being an ‘extra’ in a movie or whatever they were filming.  Doing the same thing over and over….mind you, that’s no different to most other jobs I guess.

After chatting to some film extras we headed off in search of the local street art.  I’m a huge fan of street art and had done my research beforehand so knew there were some nice pieces by local artist Catman.  I had a list of pieces and locations so we incorporated finding and seeing those into our walk.   Having worked up an appetite we happened to walk past Wheelers, the oldest restaurant in Whitstable.  Specialising in all things seafood and fish related, we grabbed ourself four chairs at the ‘bar’ area (the restaurant was full) in the main shop and looked forward to eating ‘tapas’ style.  It was perhaps a bad idea to sit right in front of the food display as it was just too easy to see things and order them.   What I loved about Wheelers aside from the variety and the freshness of everything  on offer was the lovely mix between traditional seafood and more modern spins on traditional seafood.  For example there was a dirty fries dish with crab and chillis.  Coronation crab.  A sausage roll made with pork and fish.  Smoked haddock Mac and cheese croquette and crab Bhaji.  We had most of these dishes and also 6 deep fried oysters in Guinness. You can’t come to Whitstable and not try oysters.  I’m not a fan of the traditional raw oyster so these cooked versions were a much better option.  The food served here is very good indeed.

Food at Wheelers

Suitably filled we continued to tick off my list of street art and wander the lovely streets of Whitstable, picking up an ice cream at Bears Ice Cream Imaginarium on the way.  What a great place for ice cream.  They had a variety of unique hand made ice cream flavours to choose from.  Not that far along the road we stumbled upon an amazing 80s clothes store called Empire that took some of my hard earned pension !  I spent a magic 30 mins or so here with my friend of similar age. Having grown up in the 80s we found ourselves reminiscing about all the clothes we used to wear as teenagers, amazed that we could still buy them now as much older and bigger kids.  I just love how something like a clothes shop or a particular brand had whisked us off down memory lane - magic.  With aching feet we retired to our rooms where we sat on the balcony overlooking the beach and recuperated before our evening meal.

Catman Street Art

Samphire restaurant was a couple of minutes walk from our accommodation.  What a great little find this was.  Really good menu and wine list.  Service was very attentive and staff really knowledgeable about the menu.  Coming out of the restaurant we noticed this terrific ‘glow’ above the town and realised it was something to do with the filming we saw during the day.  There  didn’t seem to be much if any filming going on, but the lights that were on were so bright it was like daylight at 10.30pm.  It made for some interesting late night pictures as it cast a very different light over boats in the harbour and the nearby old Fishermans huts.

Samphire Restaurant

The following morning we walked a short distance along the beach to The Forge for a spot of breakfast.  A lovely spot right on the sea wall and a lovely bacon roll and coffee in the early morning sun.  After that a final stroll about the shops before we headed back home.

Although only a short stop here it was thoroughly enjoyable.  I found Whitstable to be a lovely destination for a short break.  There were plenty of walks along the coast we didn’t get time for such as to Seasalter and Tankerton, but the town was lovely with its variety of independent shops, wealth of great eating spots and cafes.  Our accommodation was perfect.  Clean and very comfortable and in a great location right in the heart of things and with that great beach view and for us the all important parking space.  

As for the ‘hip and trendy’ aspect.  I’m not sure I saw too much evidence of that.  For sure there was a lovely bakery, some trendy coffee bars but these aren’t uncommon for many a high street these days.  But there was still very much a traditional feel around with places like Wheelers, traditional fish and chip shops and the many small places selling oysters and other seafood which Whitstable is well known for.  

So if you like great food, a traditional seaside location, street art, unique ice creams and maybe even some 80s clothing, get yourself to Whitstable, you won’t be disappointed.

Films lights making some interesting light late at night