Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
be tempted to swim off the Chesil: Currents here are extremely dangerous, and at
least 50 major shipwrecks have occurred just offshore, with many thousands of
souls drowned.
Adjacent to the Chesil's eastern end lies Weymouth, a busy resort first popular-
ized by King George III and home to this coast's best sandy beach, with a shallow
shelf ideal for young bathers. Weymouth will host sailing events for the 2012 Olym-
pic and Paralympic Games, with the action taking place off Portland Harbour, in
Weymouth Bay; see www.london2012.com . If you're arriving around the period
July 28 to August 11, 2012, book your hotel well ahead of time.
Where to Eat
NEAR LYME REGIS
Wild Garlic Exposed brick, chunky wooden tables, and a daily menu on the
chalkboard give this eatery owned by TV Masterchef winner Mat Follas a studied
“refined rustic” look. Food is heavily influenced by the tastes and aromas of West
Dorset, by Follas's love of foraging, and by the proximity to the sea—there's a fish of
the day on every menu. Dishes are generally simple, and rely on the finest, freshest
ingredients producing big flavors—think brill ceviche for starters, followed by Barns-
ley (lamb) chops served with coarse pesto and crushed new potatoes, and rounded
off with an Eton mess.
4 The Square, Beaminster. &   01308/861446. www.thewildgarlic.co.uk. MC, V. Reservations recom-
mended. Main courses £16-£22. Wed-Sat 9:30am-3pm and 7-11pm.
NEAR WEYMOUTH
Crab House Café Seafood shacks don't come any tastier, any fresher, or
any more ethical than this oyster farm turned eatery on the eastern edge of Chesil
Beach. The menu makes extensive use of their own shellfish, and brought-in fish is
sourced from three fleets within 40 miles of the restaurant. House specialties include
whole crab however you like it—brought to the table with tools and a bucket—and
whatever's landed today, which may include unusual (and sustainable) species like
gurnard or flounder. Sides and garnishes are organic or biodynamically farmed, and
7
Shopping in Lyme Regis
Lyme's tumbledown Broad Street is
little changed since Jane Austen set
Persuasion here in 1816. (The topic was
posthumously published.) You'll doubt-
less find a thumbed copy at Sanctuary,
65 Broad St. ( &   01297/445815 ), an
eccentric but superb secondhand book-
store with a warrenlike basement and
stock that ranges from 1931 Kelly's
Directory of Dorsetshire to used pulp
fiction, and everything in-between.
Almost opposite, Lucy Ann , 4a
Broad St. ( &   01297/443968; www.
lucyann.co.uk), sells funky, handmade
jewelry at reasonable prices, made on-
site using semiprecious stones. Lyme's
former mill now hosts interesting inde-
pendent shops, among them the Town
Mill Brewery, Mill Lane ( &   01297/
444354; www.townmillbrewery.com),
a modern microbrewery that brews
and sells on the premises. The Town
Mill Cheesemonger , Mill Lane
( &   01297/442626; www.townmill
cheese.co.uk), one of the Southwest's
best cheese vendors, is the place to
pick up the local specialty, Dorset
Blue Vinney.
 
Search WWH ::




Custom Search