Birdies: Whitstable, UK
For our second night in Whitstable, we made dinner reservations at Birdies - a very cute French restaurant an easy walk away from our cottage. Located in the center of town, we had passed it a few times during our daytime wandering and were really excited to finally be able to see if the food matched the ambiance (which was perfectly lovely!).
The restaurant has a definite old school charm with it's hand written blackboard menus and cosy decor. It's also quite small with only twelve or so tables which further helped to create the warm and calming environment.
The menu offers up a mix of land and sea options, but the seafood is definitely where this restaurant shines. I managed to order non-seafood dishes for both my starter and main so, although they were very tasty, I then had to spend the rest of the meal looking longingly at Matt's excellent choices.
My starter was a beetroot and goats cheese salad with a simple vinaigrette. Although this was not the most adventurous choice, I was still very pleased. I particularly liked how generous they were with the goats cheese - I couldn't finish it! A perfect little starter that satisfied my craving for veggie goodness after a day of naughty treats (french fries are my ultimate weakness!).
Matt's starter on the other hand was essentially a deliciously decadent tour of the classics. There were oysters, mussels, salmon, prawns and a big ol' langoustine on top (because, why not right?). He was an extremely happy boy and I was very jealous.
For our mains, I chose the beef wellington which came with a side of mixed vegetables. Although it was very tasty, I found it wasn't very photogenic so I focused my camera efforts on Matt's incredible bouillabaisse. This dish is a particular favorite of Matt's so I was very relieved when he pronounced it fantastic. I was a bit surprised by the lack of liquid (I have seen it previously as more of a soup) but apparently this just made the fish stand out more. Again, they were very generous with the ingredients as he worked his way through several types of fish, mussels and prawns.
I highly recommend Birdies if you're in Whitstable but definitely recommend making a reservation as they were very busy while we were there!
