Chilling at the Waterfront

Saturday was a lovely day. I got to see my 3rd Musketeer, my Dessert Partner in Crime, my little Rachael again! She was down in Brighton for the weekend, and that meant we needed to go for some food in the sun (obviously...). Rachael's been to Brighton a few times, but somehow, had never been to the Marina before. Which I felt pretty guilty for not having shown her, her being a sailor girl at heart! So, this time, despite rumbling tums and getting pretty Hangry along the way (so hungry that you're verging on angry... yes, that's a real thing...) we forged ahead, and made the half hour trek to the restaurants and bars on the Waterfront (apparently the largest Marina in Europe... I didn't know that). When we got there, we settled for the nearest establishment with outdoor tables available, which happened to be the American Diner, Coast to Coast. The three of us (Justine, Rachael and I) settled quickly in the sun, whacked on some shades, pretended it was summer, and I whipped out the camera.

Justine and Rachael made some wise drinks choices - Justine plumped for the homemade pink lemonade (hands down the BEST homemade lemonade I have EVER tasted), and Rachael the chocolate honeycomb milkshake. I went for the peanut butter milkshake, which was disappointingly bland, but hey, creamy and full of ice cream nonetheless.

Starters consisted of whitebait with tomato sauce for dipping, and battered spicy calamari with sea salt, black pepper, and chilli flakes, served with a chargrilled lemon and tartare sauce. These should have been out of this world (especially right by the waters edge!), but were dishearteningly average. My main course of BBQ chicken nachos echoed the "dishearteningly average" sentiment - I look pretty darned happy in the photos, but I think that was mainly down to having some warm sun on my shoulders rather than anything to do with the food. The BBQ sauce was watery, the chicken plasticy, and the guacamole bland. It really annoys me when a restaurant messes up something as simple as nachos. Especially when it deems itself an American diner! But Rachael and Justine were happy with their Goats Cheese & Onion and Pulled Pork Wraps though. Perhaps I just went for all the wrong choices on this one. Still. Maybe I'll research some really simple and amazing recipes for some dishes like this to share with you at some point.

The day ended with a lovely little wander and some beautiful shots of the docks and sunset, anyhow. We settled in for some tea and coffee outside a random bar (whilst we pretended we were rich and owned some of the fancy yachts), and watched the sky turn from blue to pink. Doesn't a little bit of sunshine just make all the difference to your weekend?! I can't wait for more to come, it's time for summerrrr! :o)