Estbeck House – Seafood supper in Sandsend

I’ve been wanting to visit Estbeck House for a while, having heard about its great seafood offering on the Yorkshire Coast. Now the kids are grown up and don’t come up with is anymore for our regular visits to Staithes, I booked a table for a Friday evening.

The restaurant has good credentials, being the first restaurant on the Yorkshire Coast to receive Two AA Rosette Awards.

The menu changes depending on what the sea and moorland on their doorstep produces. But with its position close to the small bridge at Sandsend between Staithes & Whitby seafood features heavily.

The restaurant is situated in a fine Georgian building and offers rooms as well.

When we arrived we were taken into a small bar area by our friendly hostess and I had a local Gooseberry gin and my wife a small glass of white as whilst we perused the menu.

It was a difficult choice, with plenty of dishes which I was keen to try. We ordered before being taken up the stairs to a cosy room lit sympathetically with interesting lamps.

We were treated to a small cup of cauliflower and apple soup as a pre starter which was flavoursome and warming.

The starters came and my wife had chosen the Shetland king scallops, they were served with a pea puree as well as a sprinkle of dried seaweed. She was suitably impressed.

I had plumped for the Whitby Lobster Bisque. As well as being rich and flavoursome, the bisque also contained a large amount of shredded lobster but was delicious.

For mains, there had been a choice of various fish, skate wing, hake, cod and halibut all with the option of sauces from lemon cream sauce, creamy lobster sauce and seaweed and parsley butter. Whilst I cam close to ordering the skate wing I decided on Estbeck House’s signature dish – there Seafood Pie.

When this arrived I knew I had made the correct decision. Lobster, cod and crayfish tails were served in a stack and topped with thinly sliced, seared scallops. This was served with steamed seasonal vegetables in a lemon and mint dressing and parmentier potatoes.

It was tasty and delicious. The combination of seafood worked really well – a real feast.

My wife went for the Baked Whitby Crab, this looked fabulous and got a big thumbs up. The whole crab was baked with celery, fennel, smoked paprika and topped with breadcrumbs. It was served with samphire and chunky chips, although not many of the chips were touched as it was so filling.

The choice of deserts was interesting. A choice of 12 micro classic puddings where tou were recommended to order 2 or 3 per person. My wife passed but I went for crème brulee, syrup sponge pudding and honeycomb ice cream. Everyone was perfect.

After dinner we finished off our bottle of Sauvignon blanc before retiring to The Hart Inn next door for a nightcap before our taxi.

This was a lovely evening and I am sure we will be back.