Whilst in Deal Thomas and I were keen to sample some of the foodie delights they have to offer and on the recommendation of Neil (the owner of the B&B) we lunched at The Bohemian opposite the pier. When we arrived and head out back to the pretty terrace area I must admit I was a little underwhelmed by the appearance of the place. It looks much like a generic bar and had it not been recommended to us I would have most likely voted for having a drink and heading off to eat elsewhere.
Things got worse when the ladies on the table next to us received their gluttonous portions of fries topped with cheese, bacon bits and sour cream. I was pleasantly surprised however, by the quality of the food that we ordered. I was still fairly full from breakfast and ordered the Bohemian Greek salad.
This was good, certainly better than it looks in this picture, there was a nice size portion with a generous amount of feta (my favourite) and both green and black olives, the black ones were particularly tasty. This was much better than I had anticipated.
Thomas' selection was also well received, he'd come to the coast hoping to have the opportunity to sample plenty of fresh fish and seafood, here he tried the mackerel.
This was nicely done, served on top of a char grilled slice of thick granary bread, with some roasted cherry tomatoes, leaves of crisp baby gem lettuce and sliced sauteed onion. The fish was tasty and worked well when sampled in combination with all the other ingredients. Thomas' one gripe was that it would have benefited from some form of spread or sauce on the bread which was a tad dry being such a thick slice.
Being on a holiday, of sorts, we opted for a third dish to share, scallops with asparagus and fresh peas which was quite brilliant. The scallops were perfectly cooked, barely touching the heat leaving them perfectly sealed on the outside whilst retaining their delicate and pure flavour and texture in the middle. There's little worse than an overcooked scallop in my opinion and they got these just right.
The asparagus was nicely charred, retaining a bite and the peas were fresh and crunchy, I love summer vegetables and these were great companions for the scallops, it was slightly disappointing that there were only 3, 1 and a half each but what was there was good.
In conclusion I should not judge a book by its cover and should thank my lucky stars that I'm not a cheesy chips kind of gal, well, I say that......
The Bohemian
47 Beach Street
CT14 6HY
6.5/10
3 comments:
Which part of Kent is this in? I ask because I was in Ashford for a forlorn 8 weeks and that place has to be the greatest culinary desserts known to man kind. At least the food here looks pretty decent esp the scallops
Deal is on the East Kent coast. Head for Dover and keep going for about 7 miles. There are loads of great eating places in Deal. The first two weeks of July are a great time to visit - the Deal Festival of Music is on with appearances by The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, John Williams and John Etheridge, London Advent Chorale and Germaine Greer, amongst others. Great place.
Genuiness - I agree. in my experiences Ashford has little to offer foodwise, I've been there shopping on a couple of occasions but never heard of or seen any decent eateries (though I am open to being proved wrong)
Anonymous - wow, John Williams certainly would be interesting to see at a music festival, good one Deal for getting him to come along. Germaine Greer too is always pretty thought provoking, I once saw her speak at a conference in Central London. It sounds like July is a good month to be in Deal.
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