Watch House Cafe

Summer is coming to the Watch House!

Watch House Café — Sun, 19 May 2013 13:23:01 +0000

We all have our fingers and toes crossed that it’s going to be a beautiful, sunny summer this year (don’t you think we all deserve a break?!) and have already started preparing for the busy summer months!

Bank holiday weekend was an eye opener for us, the sun came out and so did all of you! Sunday particularly was lovely, mixed in with a bit of local speed boat racing, it made for quite a day! We hope this will be a taster of what is yet to come…!

With all this in mind, preparations have started. New staff are being hired, (please email hr.hbc@btconnect.com if you’re interested in joining our team) new summer menus are being printed and the awning is being serviced to make the most of our retractable windows and roof!

Many of you have been asking about when we will start opening in the evenings this year so here goes… The cafe will open from 20th July through to September 8th 5 nights a week (Tuesday to Saturday) If we’re treated to glorious sunshine and warm evenings then we will start doing a few Friday and Saturday nights earlier in July and carry on doing Friday and Saturday evenings through out September. More information about our opening times this summer can be find on the link FUTURE OPENING TIMES which will always be up to date with our hours! You can also call us on 01308 459330 if you are unsure.

We are delighted to also tell you that Punch and Judy have already been booked and will be returning to the Watch House again this August 2013! Every Tuesday you will be treated to 3 viewings, all outside the watch house cafe on the beach. A perfect way to entertain the kids this summer! Take it that one step further and pop into the Watch House after the show for a kids pizza (or treat yourself to a glass of wine!)

A sunny day in West Bay is like no other, lets hope we see more of it this summer….

See you all soon! Becky, Tim and all the team @ Watch House Cafe

Open for Easter!!

Watch House Café — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 14:40:30 +0000

With this chilly spell forecast to carry on into Easter finding somewhere warm and cosy to enjoy your lunch is going to be imperative. Here at the Watch House we are going to be open 7 days a week from 9am until 4pm. We are serving hearty breakfasts from 9am-11:45am and lunch 12pm-3pm. Our wood oven will be roaring and the smell of freshly cooked pizzas will be enough to make anyone forget the outside temperature, we even allow your four legged friends in our awning area (which is where the fire is) to ensure that no one is left out in the cold. We do not take reservations, you just need to turn up and Becky and her front of house staff will do everything possible to find you a table, If it does happen to be a little busy when you arrive there are a number of options:- 1) Stand by the fire and have a chat to one of the chefs – there’s lots to learn by spending a few minutes here asking a few questions or just watching them work. 2) Take a browse through the ‘Hive Beach Cafe Cookbook’ there’s plenty of recipes suitable for every kind of cook. 3) Go for a stroll along the West Bay end of the Chesil Beach and take in the magnificent backdrop for ITV’s premier new murder drama ‘Broadchurch’. All will wet your appetite for what the Watch House Cafe team have to offer whether it be a slice of cake and a coffee or a full seafood platter and a bottle of Bollinger there’s always a warm reception here!

Tim and Becky

‘err, it was the newsagent that dunnit!!’ Quote Broadchurch

Watch House Café — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 10:03:07 +0000

For all those of our customers that are avid Broadchurch and Twitter fans things have just got a little better. Both the Watch House Cafe and sister Hive Beach Cafe are running promotions linked in with the successfull itv drama series, but to be in the know you will have to follow the Hive beach cafe twitter feed. This week we are giving away a free coffee during breakfast time if you say the magic quote!

The twitter feed will also keep you up to date on all the goings on in both the cafes coming into the summer season including events, promotions, fayres and shows. So watch this space!

Tim

West Bays ‘Broadchurch’ comes to ITV 4th March

Watch House Café — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 10:50:44 +0000

The long awaited release date of ITV premiere drama for 2013 ‘Broadchurch’ has now been announced as the 4th of March. The eight part series was largely filmed in West Bay with the writer (Chris Chibnall) even confessing to us that he may have written a fair proportion whilst sat in our very own cafe, many of the stars also popped in at some point during filming.

Broadchurch stars David Tennant (Doctor who) Auther Darvill (also doctor who) Olivia Coleman (peep show), Will Mellor (two pints of lager, White van man) as well as Jodie Whittaker, Andrew Buchan, Pauline Quirke and Susan Brown.

Broadchurch is based around a murder investigation of a young boy and the impacts it has on a small picturesque community. The trailer is available to veiw by clicking the link below.

broadchurch trailer

West Bay Road is closed but we are OPEN

Watch House Café — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 09:58:21 +0000

Although the road leading to West Bay from the crown roundabout is currently being re-surfaced and is closed at various points over the half term week we are very much still open for business. The road diversion will take you around the marsh barn way which only takes an few extra minutes and we still have plenty of parking. The road closures have affected our trade and mean we have been stightly quieter than normal, meaning its even easier for our customers to get a table. The good weather means we have a prime selection of fish available and we of course have our wood oven running so the awning area is nice and warm.

If you have any trouble finding your way down here feel free to give us a call (01308 459330) and we will happily direct you.

‘Christian around Britain’ visits West Bay

Watch House Café — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 09:58:16 +0000

On Monday evening I was reading an article posted by Paul at the Anchor Inn, Seatown. It was telling the story of a chap called Christian who was walking around the entire coastline of Britain, sleeping rough the whole way round for charity (help 4 hero’s). Pretty brave I thought considering what the elements have been throwing at us this last few months! But as with all this social media sites we are fed so much information about randomness it was not long before I had been moved onto something else.

The following morning we saw a sultry chap who appeared to be doing laps of West Bay in a very random fashion, it was absolutely freezing that morning and we thought that a bit odd, but nether less carried on getting ready for the day ahead. Suddenly I put 2 and 2 together and thought of this Chap ‘Christian’ and briefly mentioned it to another member of staff, Jim. He responded with “it does say something about Christian on his back pack” By now he was back outside our door so we opened it up as quickly as we could to get him in from the bitter northeasterly wind, rain, hail and snow. We said to him we had seen something about what he was doing online and with a cup of tea and hot breakfast he proceeded in telling us his story and what he is all about. I’ll let you read his story (by clicking on the link below) as he tells it much better than I do and I wouldn’t want to miss out any of the facts or interesting bits. But what I will tell you is that it is quite remarkable. Not only the feat of his challenge, what he has already accomplished and what is still to come but how it came about that he decided to undertake this colossal challenge.

Here at the Watch House we would like to give him the utmost respect and wish him luck and good fortune in the rest of his challenge. He is expecting it to take 3 years and he is only on day 280!! It is also a calling for all other establishments on his journey to keep an eye out for him and to help along his way where possible.

To view where Christian is currently and look back through his travels so far or donate visit http://www.facebook.com/christian.britain.3?fref=ts

Good Luck Christain

Tim, Becky and everyone at the Watch House

WE ARE CLOSED THIS WEEK!! (14th – 20th)

Watch House Café — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 03:00:40 +0000

The watch house will be closed for a week from Monday the 14^th January until 20^th January 2013 inclusive.

Its at this time of year we get our overalls on and paint brushes out and give the place a good lick of paint ready for the new year! Lucky for us, our builder and general handy man, Steve, is here to lend a hand and will be carrying out the work over the week.

For those of you that need your coffee fix, please remember that the Hive Beach Cafe in Burton Bradstock will be open for business the week that we are closed from 10am until 3pm, serving similar breakfast and lunch to us at the Watch House.

We’re all off skiing in Morzine for some well earned R and R! See you in a week,

Becky, Tim and the Watch House team X

Believe it or not!

Watch House Café — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 10:46:09 +0000

Mr Kimura and his £1.05m Tuna

As you may be aware at the Watch House Cafe we strive to bring you products that are as sustainable and responsibly fished as possible. We therefore made the decision with our sister cafe ‘the Hive’ not to supply any sort of tuna due to the irresponsible nature in which it is being fished, with the blue fin tuna being on the verge of extinction and is still being caught up in the same nets as the more plentiful and commercially used skip jack tuna.

However, the first fish markets of the year in Japan often create a buzz for the abnormally high prices which are paid for the first blue fin tuna to be landed. This year Kiyoshi Kimura paid an extortionate 155million yen (£1.05m) for a blue fin weighing in at 222kg. Put in context that would cost approximately £4500 per kg. Therefor a standard 200g portion of the fish would have a cost price of an amazing £900 for the restaurant. That’s one expensive bit of sushi.

for more details see

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20919306

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Watch House Café — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 11:51:26 +0000

With New Year’s Day fast approaching, we wanted to remind you that we will be OPEN for business from 10am until 2pm serving BBQ pork rolls and soup. We will also have some mulled wine and roasted chestnuts to warm you up after a stroll on the beach! The normal menu will not be running on this day only.

Currently on our menu, we have some cracking Lyme Bay Brill, served whole and lightly roasted in our wood fired oven (you cant beat it!) Torbay squid is proving to be a very popular dish and our seafood broth is always a winner on these colder days.

However, due to the rough weather fish stocks are limited so its worth getting here early to get the best pick of fish! Lunch runs from 12pm until 2:30.

Thank you for visiting us over the Christmas period, your support has been exceptional, even through the awful heavy rain and floods we have still seen you!

Hope you had a very merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

From Becky, Tim and the team at the Watch House Cafe.

The Turkey is safe this year!!

Watch House Café — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 09:24:02 +0000

Pigs across dorset are quaking in their….. hooves as news of the watch House’s boxing day and new years day menu spreads. We will be taking full advantage of our wood oven and will be slowly roasting pork (for about 12 hours) and then serving it alongside a tangy BBQ sauce made from the cooking juices and a few other chefs secret ingredients. We will be serving this in rolls or in a warm baguette with homemade apple and celeriac coleslaw. There will also be a hot soup available.

Becky and her front of house team will be creating the mulled wine to nurse any hangovers or just to warm those who have enjoyed a brisk walk. Our usual range of other hot and cold drinks will of course be available.

The cafe will be open from 10am untill 2pm on both boxing day and new years day. WE WILL NOT BE RUNNING OUR NORMAL MENU. so come on down and say hello.

becky and Tim