Feast your way around England’s Coast

With local ales and ciders, artisan bakeries and butchers, food festivals and vineyards, there’s never been a better time to source local produce on the coast.

Cumbria’s reputation as a food lover’s destination is indisputable; the county has more Michelin-starred restaurants than any other county. 

From Herdwick hogget to Morecambe Bay and Solway shrimps, its farmers markets, damson orchards, breweries and cheesemakers attract some of the UK’s most talented chefs. 

In the 18th century, Whitehaven was a bustling harbour, trading molasses and spices used in local specialities including traditional Cumberland sausage. They’re not as spicy as they once were but boast Protected Geographical Status and are the star of the Muncaster Sausage Festival! 

Also worth checking out are Cartmel Sticky Toffee Pudding and Cumberland Rum Nicky, which is stuffed with dates, treacly brown sugar and comes laced with ginger and rum. 

Northumberland boasts delicious Craster kippers, oak smoked by family-run businesses for multiple generations, caught fresh from the North Sea. The county is also home to Howick Hall, Earl Grey’s family seat on the northeast coast, credited with the bergamot-infused and world-famous Earl Grey Tea. 

Buy fresh eggs at Northumberland’s farmer’s markets, dine on exquisite seafood, sip on Mead fit for monks on Lindisfarne Island, indulge in local dairy-farm ice-cream and taste local tipples from craft breweries and gin distilleries. And don’t miss a singin’ hinny with your tea, sweet scone-type griddle cakes. 

Fishing boats sail from Amble and Seahouses every day, many of the eateries in the area serve fresh and locally-sourced seafood maximising flavour and minimising food miles. 

Gastronomes should also head to the Seaham Food Festival, 5-6 August 2023, on the Durham Coast. Enjoy cookery demos from a star-studded line-up of celebrity chefs plus a packed programme of family entertainment. 

Seaham also boasts Lickety Split; no visit to the seaside would be complete without an ice cream and in Seaham you can visit an award-wining ice cream parlour that also serves up a scoop of vintage fun. 

Indulge in a stay at sumptuous Seaham Hall which boasts not one but two award-winning restaurants. Passionate about local produce, The Dining Room offers seasonal menus featuring local ingredients. Alternatively, tuck into delicious pan-Asian dishes in a theatrical setting at Ozone. 

Yorkshire’s famous fish and chips rival that of any in the country, opt for locally caught haddock, pollock, cod or hake, check out the Fish Box at Robins Hood’s Bay and at Whitby. 

But it’s not just fish and chips here, you’ll also find dressed crab and decadent lobster on the menu of a number of restaurants and good pubs. 

The Runswick Bay Catch restaurant features a seasonally-changing menu, local fish is supplied from Redcar but lamb is from the North York Moors, duck from Nidderdale alongside locally reared pork and beef. 

If you’re in Scarborough, visit Embers restaurant run by passionate local chef Dan Hargreaves, he specialises in Yorkshire produce using a wood-fired oven and hand-picked ingredients, don’t miss the local craft ales and Yorkshire cheese board. 

Visit food festivals, tour breweries and gin distilleries, from Michelin-starred bistros to oyster shacks, the coast is stashed with gastronomic experiences.

Cromer Crab from Norfolk is in demand around the world, famous for its delicate flavour, but Brancaster mussels, Binham Blue Cheese and locally produced gin are also a feature of the county’s delicatessens and markets. 

Aldeburgh Food Festival in Suffolk is a must for foodies but the county’s seafood alone makes the coast worth a visit, seasonal catches include skake wing year round, sea bass early spring and flatfish in summer including Dover sole, turbot and brill.  

There’s also no shortage of breweries not least Adnams of Southwold, but also the Greene King Brewery. 

Oysters have been grown off Mersea Island in Essex since Roman times and are still in abundance, harvested between May to September. The county also boasts a history of wine-making since Roman times and now features more than 20 vineyards across the county. But for the perfect afternoon tea, where else but Tiptree, internationally famous for its jams and preserves. 

Priding itself as the garden of England, White Cliffs Country believes it should be labelled the garden of Kent and it’s easy to see why. Real Deal Roasters sell their coffee beans at Deal's popular Saturday Market (Saturday morning, Union Square car park) where you'll find lots of other lovely local produce. Kent’s hop fields have made their local beer famous for hundreds of years, and a Kentish apple makes an excellent cider. Enjoy a pint or two in many traditional or boutique pubs, as well as at the growing number of micro-breweries, such as Breakwater Brewery in Dover.

The 2022 BBC Radio 4 Food Programme's prestigious Food and Farming 'Food Producer' award winner The Black Pig sells naturally reared, free range, locally sourced meat and specialises in nose-to-tail eating. Find artisan fudge at The Fudge Man, Dover Castle or a glass or two on a tour of the Barnsole Vineyard near Sandwich!

To discover how beers are made, take a brewery tour at the wonderfully-named Powder Monkey Brewery in Gosport. Housed in a historic 1800s former gunpowder store, you’ll learn the story of the Powder Monkey Brewery. Discover the ingredients that make up the beers and the different aspects of the brewing process, and, best of all, you get to sample the different styles of beer. Just be sure to pre-book your tour. 

From farmyards and dairies to vineyards, artisan bakeries and handmade luxurious chocolates, local food and ingredients are celebrated all over the county of Sussex. The county is also blessed with some outstanding cheeses, from High Weald Dairy’s Brighton Blue to Goodwood’s Charlton to Sussex Charmer, similar to parmesan. 

West Sussex’s position on the south coast also provides the perfect conditions for wine production, it claims to have more vineyards than any other county. From Upperton and Nutbourne in the heart of the South Downs to Bolney, Ridgeview and Albourne Estates near the High Weald, you’re sure to find a bottle to your taste. 

The rolling hills of Dorset make it home to some of the best local produce in the country, from seafood to dairy, homemade cakes to fruit and veg. 

Try Buckshaw Sheep cheeses, including Blew, White and Feta, Dorset Blue Vinney, Smoked Woolsery and Win Green cheese, there’s even a halloumi. 

From breweries, ciders and gins to vineyards, bakeries. chocolatiers and cereal producers, Dorset rivals anywhere in the south west for fresh local produce.  It also boasts plenty of festivals, including Christchurch Food Festival, Weymouth Seafood Festival, Dorset Chilli Festival and much more. 

Rightly famed for its seafood, Devon crab, lobster, mackerel, plaice, and scallops are just a few of the varieties harvested in the area, highly prized by restaurateurs across the country.   

Dartmouth brims with great food and drink outlets and offers excellent local seafood at many restaurants and pubs. Visit the monthly farmer’s market and renowned Dartmouth Food Festival in October. 

Nearby Brixham boasts the largest fish market by value anywhere in the UK, with a record £60,800 recorded in 2022. Trawlers spend up to seven days at sea to provide the market with more than 40 different species of fish, including scallops, hake, bass, Turbot and plaice. 

As a result, the county draws numerous celebrity chefs including Hugh Fearnly-Whittingstall, Michael Caines and Mitch Tonks, who bases his micro-restaurant chain Rockfish right on the Quayside at Brixham.