Fantastic Mackerel Baps in Weymouth


 With the sun finally out and having gone a little stir crazy in the recent weather a trip out was needed, with a food destination of course!

The plan was to go to Weymouth and have brunch at The Phoenix Bakery as featured on River Cottage. The lure of artisan bread and cakes was very tempting. Sadly when we arrived this forlorn loaf greeted us from the window and the place looked very moved out of. We checked with the deli across the road and was told they had closed at Christmas. Sadly the Olympic 'legacy' didn't seem to last very long. There is nothing on the website to indicate it had closed and the forlorn loaf looked good so maybe it will rise again?

 So with the original plan scuppered where to eat? Various predictable chains did not appeal and the independent restaurants gave the impression of design over content.
Getting ever hungrier we headed out of the main part of the town to the harbour area which I must say is much more visually appealing. The only place we had spotted was Stanley's cafe which looking now at the Trip Advisor reviews would probably have been a good choice, maybe next visit?

So almost reaching that fast food desperation point we came across the Marlboro fish and chip shop, located almost under the Town Bridge. The deli across from the Phoenix had mentioned it, but as they had also recommended Wetherspoons, so I wasn't completely convinced. How wrong I was! Would this tempt me to eat at Wetherspoons ....
Anyway from the inside and out it is totally old school and in my opinion much better for it. Made me reminiscent of getting free scratchings when you went to the chippy during school lunch hour. Scratchings which were the broken off bits of batter may now be illegal to sell and are probably less than healthy, but the crunchy bit of the batter is part of the joy of fish and chips.

Having some great chippies locally TJ's and Chez Fred my current favourites we fancied something different.
Yet again Mr Whittingstall loomed large as part of his Fish Fight and so the only choice was the Mackerel Bap. We both went for horseradish as the sauce and the good news was we had to wait as these are cooked to order.

As it turned out every other chippy we walked past afterwards were also selling the Mackerel Bap, but this seemed the most authentic and there was a picture on the wall of the owner with Hugh.

By this point hunger had taken over rational decision making so we ordered chips with our baps and I also noticed the home made fish cake local and with chilli and ginger it would have been rude to say no.


So what was everything like? Well as you can see from the picture on the left the baps were mammoth and delicious! Hot and crunchy batter, that lovely fresh mackerel flavour perfectly complemented by the horseradish and a really fresh bap.

One of these on their own was more than enough to fill you up and the price £3 each! Get down there quick before the owner realises what bargain they are.


So on to the crab cake (right). Again delicious. It looked in the main brown crab meat and my only request would be more chilli and ginger and maybe a little more crab to potato, but very enjoyable.
The chips were proper and even crinkle cut. With lots of salt and vinegar. Although by this point after the bap and crab cake which I ate my self, we were both very full. So what beverage to wash down this culinary delight? Nothing but Shandy could do.

It has been ages since I've had a can, but feeling nostalgic it went perfectly with all that richness. I think everything came to around £10/11 pounds. 
Very filling and tasty very highly recommended 9/10.

Make it part of your next visit to Weymouth. You can eat in but most people were going for take away sitting in the sun by the harbour.

Marlboro Restaurant
46 St Thomas Street, Weymouth,
Dorset, DT3 6LB.
Tel: 01305 785700.


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