When I’m at the Oyster & Fish House in Lyme Regis, I love it when customers ask where the oysters are from. I just point across Lyme Bay on a clear day towards Portland and say, ‘Just over there.’ Even if it’s not clear, I still point at the sea mist and wait for their reaction!
After a long absence, oyster farming on the Fleet lagoon, which lies behind Chesil Beach and runs between Abbotsbury and Wyke Regis, started up again around 30 years ago and Nigel Bloxham took over the oyster farm in 2005. Nigel trained as a chef and has a total passion for the fruits of the sea. When he took over the oyster beds, Nigel inherited a wooden beach café, which he has sympathetically revamped with pink frilly umbrellas outside and straw hats dotted around for when the sun is out. Nigel’s Crab House Café has become a local destination for simple seafood dining. Nigel and I look at each other’s establishments as an enhancement for the area, rather then local competition. He supplies us with oysters and we eat and drink in each other’s establishments, exchanging fishy stories over a drink or two.
