The Blue Bell Emsworth

Further to yesterday's post I've been on a bit of a quest lately to find some decent eateries. Friends of ours live in the beautiful small town of Emsworth and we frequent it as often as we can. Remarkably for such a small town, Emsworth has nine pubs all of which have character, history and personality, as Samuel Pepys said 'Pubs are the heart of Britain.'

                                                      Two locals enjoying the ambience

One of the pubs, The Blue Bell, a former favourite haunt of the local fishermen, sits nearest to the foreshore where the fishing and sailing boats moor up. Outside is a chalk board claiming 'The best fish and chips'.......being sceptical I had in the past wondered, best fish and chips where? In Emsworth, Hampshire, the UK, the world?

I am a bit of a connoisseur when it comes to fish and chips and for many years would travel to The Blue Dolphin fish bar in Hastings Old Town where they served the freshest of fish with hand cut chips. The fish bar was one half takeaway with queues snaking all the way up the street, the other half a tiny, fuggy, vinegary cafe where the wait for a table was always a long one!

Upon moving to the coast, (Lee On Solent is ten minutes drive from my home) I was shocked to find that there were no seaside traditional fish and chip shops. Synonymous with seaside holidays, no day trip would have been complete without piping hot, salty fish and chips wrapped in newspaper.

Well as it happened, my friend Linda decided to try the fish and chips in the Blue Bell only last week, probably, like me, it wouldn't be her first choice of pub grub, (who hasn't experienced at best the oven baked fish and oven chips, at worst the microwaved fish and chips!) Thank heavens she did! I was in need of ameliorating the recent horrendous experience of being served a piece of flaccid, frozen/microwaved fish in a 'country pub'.

Linda assured me that the Blue Bell truly did serve the best fish and chips, so we set a date for Saturday night. Of course come the day, the tables were all fully booked, the Blue Bell fish and chips is well known locally! However, we managed to persuade a very kind couple who had finished eating to let us have their table just in the nick of time to order food.

The fact that the Blue Bell was buzzing with locals is testament to how much of a focal point within the community this lovely pub is. And what makes this a stand alone pub is that Giles is not only the proprietor but also the chef. A local food enthusiast, Giles sources his meat from H H Treagust and sons, his fish from Johnson's fish enterprises, and pork from a Funtington farm. Giles doesn't just pay lip service to fine dining, he has taken the 'If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well' to another level and it's paid off!

We decided to start with the garlic and chilli prawns, sweet juicy prawns in an oil which sang with a chorus of layered chill and garlic flavours, it was utterly transcendent.

With great anticipation I awaited my fish and chips..........

                           Behold! Gorgeous fish in a light crispy batter with hand cut chips

     The best fish and chips! If not in the world then certainly the best I've had in ages!

Of course there were other options on the menu and Glenn opted for the equally delicious scallops with pancetta

The Blue Bell has soul, the energy and passion of Giles and his staff is palpable, the food exceptional, the location wonderful! So good was my experience I can safely say I'm on the road to recovery after my awful experiences at the hands of commercialised pubs and their dire food.

                                                                                Cheers xxxxxxx

'Happiness consists in frequent repetition of pleasure.'
- Arthur Schopenhauer

Love Donna xxxxxx