Rye Scallop Festival

I know I go on about scallops a lot, but they are just about my favourite thing to eat. Every year there is a week long scallop festival in Rye, East Sussex, and each year we go for lunch at least once during the week. Those of you who know Rye will already be aware that there are a number of really good places to eat in the town, and over the last few years we have tried quite a few of them.

A couple of years ago we had lunch in The George Hotel on the High Street, one of our favourite pubs in the country. They offer local real ales in a very traditional feeling setting, on a cold wet day there are few better places to be than sat in front of the roaring open fire in a wing-backed leather armchair eating warmer dishes from the special lunchtime menu like chorizo and lentil stew in the bar of the George. The scallop dishes were very tasty, but the scallops themselves seemed small and a bit disappointing. Shame, because over all this place is worth the journey on its own.

For the last couple of festivals we have made a point of visiting The Landgate Bistro specifically to have the scallop starter. You get three huge scallops, each presented a different way and served with a different fortified wine. You get one of each of - scallop wrapped in home-cured bacon served with a sherry and shallot sauce, scallop marinated in lime sauce and coriander, honey glazed scallop with roasted pepper sauce, a glass of ruby port, a tawny port and a measure of Madeira. Occasionally they do a mystery dish, the object being to guess the 8 ingredients. They give you scallops, salt & pepper to get your list going, but that's all! The Landgate Bistro has been named as the best restaurant in Rye for the second year running by the Good Food Guide and once you have eaten there it is easy to see why. It's a small, intimate place, a little off the beaten track, serving consistently good quality food at reasonable prices.

This year we will be trying Webbe's The Fish Café (which comes very highly recommended) for he first time. For the festival this year they will be offering a seven (yes, seven!!!) course scallop tasting menu for £39 a head...I can't wait! Webbe's is exactly the sort of place I should like, it ticks all my boxes. The owners opened their first restaurant based on the principles of using fresh, local ingredients, striving for perfection in menu design and presentation, and creating the sort of restaurant that they themselves would enjoy visiting. They now own three places, including one right on the front at Hastings that uses fish landed from the boats right there next to the restaurant. Doesn't get any fresher than that!

Our Rye Scallop Festival Festival 2012 will start at Webbe's on the first weekend and end at The Langate on the last. If we could get down there during the week then we would, and if you can then I urge you to go. Try something new, or at least somewhere new, you might find a new favourite!