East Beach Cafe in Littlehampton - Buckets, spades and Chardonnays

The day was Monday 4^th March.  The place was East Beach Cafe and the weather was just a little bit good...

A perfect day really for pretending to dig up some sand and produce some ropey looking sand castles, but then I quickly realise that we are in Littlehampton and the beach is that of the stoney kind; one that does not permit such dreamy activity.  That said, the childlike elements I found myself leaning towards quickly became more ‘food led’.  After meeting the lovely Siobhan and her staff at the restaurant, we were sent to our table and handed menus – and there it was, laden with invisible words saying ‘eat me’ and ‘scoff me, I am delicious’.  It was Grilled Dover Sole, caper & shrimp butter and sautéed kale.  Nothing has been easier for me than to order this immediately and if not sooner – so I did.

After a very good feed washed down with water (yes that’s water...I was training in a couple of hours and I needed to focus entirely!) I stepped outside to take some photos because this place truly is in a wonderful location right on the sea front and then I wandered back in to setup for what I was drafted in to do, which was to give the staff a bit of Ellis of Richmond treatment – wine training!

It was very relaxed there anyway which is always great because wine tasting and menu matching needs to right environment and so when the Siabhon and her team of 3 other ladies meandered through the tables to sit down in front of me, I already knew what I was in for...or so I thought.  The ladies here are a real punchy, enthusiastic bunch with a passion for what they do.  They know their menus well and really, all they needed was a steer in the right direction in terms of using their knowledge of their food menu and then linking that up with the key wines on their list.  That’s exactly what we did.  The wines we tasted through were as follows and in this order:

Prosecco Borgo del Col Alto

Tulbagh Chenin Blanc 2012

Pinot Grigio Ca Luca 2011

Azabache Blanco Rioja 2009

Whitehaven dry Riesling 2010
Il Paradosso Nero d’Avola Rosato 2011
Negroamaro Allegri 2011
Azabache Tempranillo

Geoff Merrill Pimpala Road Shiraz 2010

This was the main bulk of their fairly short, but concise and diverse list that encompassed a real ‘mixture’ of wines to tantalise the taste-buds and get those menu matching juices flowing!  We were using the leftover aromas from the kitchen as a way of ‘wishing’ we had turned this into a fully fledged food and wine session, however the chef had gone home for the day  and so the fragrant wafts of delicate freshly caught fish and fennel amongst plenty of other enticing smells, did assist us in working out whether or not the Whitehaven Dry Riesling would pair well with the roast pollock fillet, Jerusalem artichoke, roast beetroot and parsley oil – ooh I think that may work that one...and they concurred.
After 2 hours the end was nigh and the sun began to set over East Beach Cafe but one thing was signed, sealed and delivered:

Great people with some decent know how = happy customers!

East Beach Cafe - for proper fun in the sun!