Hix Hix Hurrah!

I have been a very naughty girl! I thought I had blogged about our wonderful meal and cookery demo at Hix’s Oyster & Fish House… but alas, with Venice and a stinking cold fugging my brain, I clearly had not. So let me tell you about it now.
Firstly, the vista from the restaurant, looking out over the harbour at Lyme Regis, is stunning. I could sit for hours just sipping wine, eating oysters and contemplating… nothing. Heavenly.

Secondly, this meal was on the house. They had to cancel a demo we'd booked in December and this was a compensatory gift — an incredibly generous one and, I do think, a rare one in this day and age, so kudos. And, as I mentioned a few weeks ago, what a great team running things. Truly. I'm not just kissing the proverbial here.
Über-charming manager Jonathan and the team welcomed us with a Hix’s Fix, served in a saucy coupe that’s a perfect 34B! Bubbly, with a fat cherry soaked in eau de vie from Julian Temperley of Somerset Cider Brandy fame (a product with which Freddie has had a long-standing affair!). Dang! When you get to that cherry, you are really set up for the evening! Hic (x)! A dish of soused gurnard (yey! for the sustainable! Only a mother could love it — ugly but delicious — gurnard!) and some fresh, warm bread…

Down to the business of eating – and I could bang on a bit here, so I'm just going to have to keep it brief — I started with the Lyme Bay fish soup with Temperley cider brandy, a rich, unctuous soup that just said Atlantic breeze, and Freddie had the creamy and oh! so sinful oyster stew. Followed by, pour moi, a classic skate wing with capers and for Freddie a Flintstone-sized chunk of huss crowned with brown shrimps and roes in a rich buttery sauce. Then pud— cheddar for me and crème brulée for him, accompanied by a large snifter of the Temperly Shipwreck, a single barrel, aged apple brandy. Aged,i ncidentally, in barrels of French oak which came off the ship that ran aground off Branscombe a few years ago. Stunning. Oh, and I had a large mouthful of a fellow diner's Baked Alaska, that brought the 70’s back in a flash!
As we staggered our way down the hill to the beautiful Alexandra Hotel under a starry Dorset sky, life seemed bloody good. But — there was more!

The next morning, with ever so slightly sore heads, we weaved our way back to the restaurant for a four course demo and lunch! Eight of us plus Mark and the fragrant Fran began with cups of mulled cider, enlivened by an extra slug of – yes — Temperley Cider Brandy, and as many briney Portand Pearls as we could suck from their craggy shells. Then downstairs to sit at the long zinc bar and watch the man himself, and head chef Seldon Curry, perform some relaxed and quite special culinary wizardry. Sensibly for punters, all the dishes prepared in the order you would do at home: the aforementioned oyster and bacon stew served with Hix’s own Oyster Stout; whole red mullet, served woodcock style — with their livers, olives and anchovies; lobster and chicken pie — heavenly, but a pie to far for me; and then a quivering and almost sensual buttermilk pudding with a rhubarb compote… another 34B reference, chaps? Each course was accompanied by ale or wine, and we finished with a bulb of Kingston Black from… Temperley! Apple-y amber nirvana.

So much fun, so entertaining, and so, so recommended. Hix’s Oyster and Fish House. Lyme Regis. Book NOW!
Kay Plunkett Hogge