A light supper

What happened before.

After checking in at the Number One in Deal, Teresa took us to a nearby restaurant for a light supper. I had already eaten on the train and Mats had devoured a large portion of fish and chips for lunch. We therefore weren’t very hungry, but we didn’t want to go to sleep on an empty stomach either.

‘The Court Yard Oyster Bar and Restaurant’ was located two short blocks up the road from our B and B. It was still raining and rather chilly; something I soon realized as I was only wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt and sleeveless safari jacket. So I was pretty cold by the time we arrived at the restaurant, which turned out to be very nice and trendy: THE-place-to-be apparently! There weren’t many patrons though – probably because this was Tuesday and almost nine (people eat a lot earlier in the UK than they do in France or Belgium, where it is not unusual to head out for a restaurant at 9.30 p.m. or even later).

The Court Yard Oyster bar and Restaurant
when we left on that Tuesday evening.

The restaurant is located in a former coach house, which has been beautifully renovated. Weather permitting the glass roof slides open and you can wine and dine al fresco. On that Tuesday night the roof was closed. Nevertheless the large room eyed light and airy. I loved it. The waiter brought the menu cards, and Teresa said that she would just have a glass of white wine, as she had already had supper with her husband. Both Mats and I were extremely thirsty after our trip and ordered lager; a pint for Mats, half for me. I was slightly surprised when the waiter mentioned that the only draft lager they sold was a Bitberger, which is a German beer. What had happened to the good old Carling Black Label I used to enjoy so much in the seventies??

The bright and airy dining area of the Court Yard.

The conversation was very lively, with most sentences starting by: “Do you remember ...?” We talked so much that we even forgot to look at the menu card. The poor waiter had to come back three times before he finally could take our order. I had the ‘Deal fish soup’ and Mats chose a chicken and bacon salad. The soup was delicious, although it didn’t look like the fish soup they serve in France and Belgium. It was a clear broth with large chunks of salmon, cod, lobster and ... monkfish (the only fish I don’t like, because its structure reminds me of cotton wool). It also contained bite-size pieces of carrot, potato and turnip. Teresa left us as soon as the food was served. Mats and I had another lager with our meal and kept on chatting all through supper.

A delicious Deal Fish Soup with large chunks of fish
and bite-size pieces of vegetables.

It was quarter to eleven by the time we went back to our B and B. This time we walked along the seafront, because I wanted to know 'whether the sea was still there'. And then of course, it was. The pier was brightly lit and it made a very pretty picture. I shot a photo of it, but it turned out really blurry ... probably because I was shaking so much with cold. I therefore won’t post it, but I promise you’ll soon get to see the pier in all its daytime glory, because the first thing I did the next morning after breakfast was to return to the seafront for a long walk.