A week of Kent: Broadstairs
After our morning in Whitstable, we headed over to Broadstairs for an afternoon by the seaside. Following the excellent advice of @circeplum, we headed to Oscar Road Café for the freshest and most enormous doorstop crab sandwich I’ve encountered. (It was actually a difficult choice between that and the bucket of prawns and lobster rolls.)
Set back on a side street away from the bustle of the seafront, the café itself was completely charming with bunting and vintage-style décor. They also offered a small selection of retro-inspired gifts. We found a perfectly sunny spot under a tree in the back garden, where we quietly sipped ginger beer and experienced a little Enid Blyton moment.
The homemade cakes (especially the moreish Victoria Sponge) looked particularly enticing under their vintage glass cloches, but I was particularly keen to check out the legendary Morelli’s, which @IndiaKnight had tweeted about earlier this year.
The icecream parlour and cappuccino bar opened for business in Broadstairs in 1932 and was the first in the UK to offer over 20 flavours of icecream. It was refurbished in 1959, and it’s still resplendent in all its original formica glory, with Lloyd Loom chairs and a soda fountain now stuffed with kitsch plastic flowers.
Having been advised that no visit to Morelli’s was complete without a Knickerbocker Glory, I duly ordered at the bar and was served what can only be described as a sundae spectacle, topped with whipped cream, cherry, Flake bar, a novel teddy bear wafer and a French flag – all in a wonderful old-fashioned hand-blown glass.
As if that (and the location) wasn’t enough, the icecream was pretty damn delicious, too. (Londoners can visit the Morelli’s outpost at Harrods, which offers an innovative bespoke icecream service.)
Outside Morelli’s, the vibrant delights of the Broadstairs seaside awaited. All that was missing was a Punch and Judy show and a couple of donkeys. (And I wouldn’t have batted an eyelid if either showed up.)
O
scar Road Café
15 Oscar Road
Broadstairs, Kent CT10 1QJ
Tel. 01843 872442
Opening hours:
Thursday to Friday 10.30am-5pm
Saturday 10.30am-5.30pm
Sunday 11.30am-5.30pm
Morelli’s
14 Victoria Parade
Broadstairs, Kent CT10 1Q
