Wow, Wow and Wow is all I can say about Saturday night’s Seafood Boil at Marshwood Manor.
It was a total success that was an enjoyable experience from start to finish.
The sounds of “oooo’s” and the “arhhhhs” coming from the Hay Barn into the kitchen, when each bucket of seafood was tipped out onto the tables, was very pleasing to hear indeed!
The evening kicked off in the cosy fire-lit bar for cocktails and popcorn! It was lovely to meet the guests and give them all a quick heads up for what was about to come, because you see, this was no ordinary dining experience that you may expect from your average restaurant night out, uh uh, no, this was (literally) a hands-on experience with minimal fuss serving bloody good food!
Sharing baskets filled with the freshest locally grown crudités dipped into delicious homemade anchoiade, followed by a squash carpaccio with feta & pumpkin seeds and shortly after, arrived those amazing fried dough-balls of rosemary & cayenne hush-puppies (you must try these at home, DM for recipe!) then, just when you thought your eyes were bigger than your belly, you get to pick & peel seafood from a turned-out bucket, full of fishy delights, corn on the cob, hunk of potato & distinctive handmade spicy sausage – wow, this is my kinda dining!
I absolutely love the theatre of it all – just wish I was a guest! No need for a knife & fork, although some did and some couldn’t quite get their heads round the idea of no plates either!
To finish off, we gave you a spoon and a bowl to help yourself and pass around the drunken plums, steeped in booze with autumnal and festive aromas & flavour, served with a churn full of cremé fraiche!
This fun kind of hands-on, sharing dining, brings strangers together, leaving as friends and I love this. Its like a big family Sunday lunch gathering but without the roast..and all that washing up!
I have loved every single minute working on this seafood boil with Romla, owner of Marshwood Manor. We met five years ago on one of my crab cracking workshops – we kept in touch with the notion of doing ‘something’ together. I can’t tell you, how absolutely delighted I am to have shared this experience with you all, thank you Romla for this opportunity and hosting our first Seafood Boil at your stunning Manor House x
