The first night of a holiday can often turn out to be something of a curse, food-wise. You’re tired, flustered, unprepared and just, well, hungry. This can lead into long walks around town, perusing menu after menu with a sinking feeling of despair.
Not so for us, on our first night in South Devon.
We had arrived at our little cottage, dropped our bags and checked out the stack of pamphlets left for us regarding food and attractions. I had kept seeing The Winking Prawn’s name appear on lists and in brochures (it’s not exactly a name you’ll forget in a hurry), but we made no real plans of where we would end up.
Instead, we drove into Salcombe, exclaiming with delight when we got our first glimpse of the coast (and nearly driving the car into a wall while trying to snap a photo) and parked up ready for an inevitable menu strut.
What we discovered was that Salcombe is actually pretty sleepy in the evenings and only a handful of pubs and bistros open for dinner. So off we set in search of The Winking Prawn, with dread in our stomachs as we walked along the coastal path and couldn’t see it after 20 minutes.
Located in the small bay of North Sands, The Winking Prawn sits alone, practically kissing the sand on the beach, and as soon as we saw it we knew it was the perfect destination for our first night at the seaside. It’s decked out in a beach house-style, painted white and strung inside with bunting and pastel decorations (a la the Bake Off tent). Despite it being a busy Saturday night and them only serving food until 8.30pm, we managed to bag a table kick off our holiday in style.
Scott started off with a locally-made Hunt’s cider (dry and slightly sour, which was why I didn’t order it for myself) and I opted for the Prawn Juice beer, made exclusively for the restaurant by a local brewery. I’m not usually a big beer fan, but this was like a pilsner and was really refreshing after the walk down.
We decided to share the stack of crab meat, prawns and smoked salmon for starter, as we were dying to get our hands on some local seafood as soon as possible. The stack had obviously been pre-prepared and chilled, which takes nothing away from the dish, but it was almost so cold you couldn’t taste the seafood itself (however I *could* tell how fresh it was). I felt like the lemon and dill creme fraiche on the top was pretty useless, because it tasted a bit like bland cream cheese and didn’t really bring anything to the dish at all, but overall it was a decent way to get our first taste of local crab.
Next up, I went for the cassoulet of six scallops with white beans, chorizo and bacon. The dish was deep and rich and the scallops were wonderfully fresh and perfectly cooked. The smokiness of the chorizo and bacon complemented the salty sea-taste of the scallops and the beans added a nice creamy texture.
Scott opted for the sea bream fillets with chilli, spring onion, sweet pepper, soy and ginger salsa. I can honestly say I’ve never tasted anything like it (in a good way). The fish was perfectly tender, while the sauce was Asian-like in its slight zing and spice, but didn’t overpower the fish in the slightest. I’d been put off ordering it myself as I hadn’t been able to picture exactly what the dish would comprise of, but wouldn’t hesitate to order that for myself next time.
The main courses all come served with a side of vegetables or salad and a bucket of fries. The amount of vegetables was a little overwhelming and almost necessary in my case (where my dish was so filling in itself), but I can see why you would need the side dishes if you had ordered a plain grilled fillet of fish. The only letdown of the meal was the fries. Ours were greasy and over-cooked and really didn’t bring anything to the meal. A shame, really, as the ones we saw being delivered to other tables seemed fresher, crispier and not drowning in grease. Oh well, you can’t win ’em all.
- North Sands, Salcombe, Devon TQ8 8LD
- Open daily 8.45am – 10.30pm (last dinner orders at 8.30pm)
- http://winkingprawngroup.co.uk/winking-prawn/
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