Crab House News
Unfortunately we are now fully booked for this event
The Crab House Café
Speciality Wine Tasting Evening
7pm Thursday 14th March
Prosecco Porte Leone with essence of Rhubarb on arrival
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4 courses
Each served with a pair of wine
Special selected to accompany the food
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Dessert and Dessert wine
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Only £55.00 pp
Limited Availability
A celebration of the wines of Domaine Robert Vic in The Languedoc in Southern France tutored by Jerome Vic . Each course will be served with a pair of Jerome's wines, examining varietal character, terroir, the culture of the region and the wine making philosophy of the family.
The evening will also be hosted by Nigel Bloxham Chef Proprietor of The Crab House Café
And an old friend Stanley Park, Stan has been in the food and wine trade for over 30years, he likes nothing better than to match thoughtfully made wines with fresh food all of which contribute to a convivial evening
The menu will be created on the day by Nigel and Head chef Adam Foster to the fresh fish, shellfish and local ingredients available to Nigel and his team of chefs. If you have any special dietary requirements please let us know in advance.
Bookings only limited availability
01305 788867
Hope to see you there from all the team at The Crab House café
Working with the community and local businesses
Here at the crab house cafe we believe strongly in supporting and working with local businesses and try our utmost to use and source local skills and produce. Here are some of the more exiting and interesting locals and there businesses that we are working with Aidan Chapman at “The phoenix bakery” is the newest addition to our bread suppliers along with the delicious bread we get from “sergeant bun bakery” another one of the local business we have been using for years.
After meeting Aidan and trying his bread we knew it was a must have. We are now serving Aidan’s bread warm before every meal.
The Phoenix Bakery supports healthy eating and delivers products that complement a healthy lifestyle. The sponge dough process of making bread allows low salt and yeast content to be used. The slow fermentation process required for the sponge dough process allows the wheat to fully absorb the water which is better for the digestive system.
Aidan Chapman
Aidan is a passionate baker who thrives off sharing his passion for baking. He was trained by Master Baker Steve Cooper at the Granary Bakery in Surrey before working at The Celtic Bakery in London. Whilst in London he was heavily influenced by the sour dough cultures and learnt techniques from the French, German and Italian baking methods that he experienced. He set up Leaker’s Bakers after relocating to Dorset in 2003 and The Town Mill Bakery in Lyme Regis.
If you want to learn more about phoenix visit their website http://www.phoenixbakery.co.uk/
Brewing our own Beer with Hunter's Brewery
We are currently working with Paul Walker of Hunter's Brewery to create our very own Crab House Beer which will have been developed to especially compliment seafood and shellfish - a one of its kind!
Hunter’s Brewery located in Ipplepen, Devon is a microbrewery therefore Paul only uses the finest grade A materials always striving to produce quality real ales. Just like us at The Crab House Café, Hunter’s Brewery’s ethos surrounds reducing food/ale miles and in supporting the local economy.
Paul Walker
Paul of Hunter's Brewery started out as a production engineer and then went into the sales industry, however, he found he was always away from home and corporate life was no longer for him.
He followed his dreams to start his own Brewery after a bad day at work!
Hunter's Brewery was born out of some old buildings on a local farm needing a complete make-over, and with help from family, friends and the community Paul was soon up and running.
If you would like to find out more about Hunter's Brewery please visit their website at
'Just Good Stuff' - Where we get our local veg and eggs
We try and grow as much of our own veg as possible, but being a busy restaurant year round this is never enough. Steve and Tess at Steeptonbill Farm have a similar ethos to us – they aim to develop a mixed livestock farm that results in healthy, happy animals, reducing food miles as much as possible to fit harmoniously into the rolling hills of North Dorset.
Steve and Tess supply us with their wonderful free-range eggs, all of which have yolks of a deep yellow colour with a superior flavour and quality, coming in a range of colours depending on the breed of chicken.
Steeptonbill Farm also provides us with our much needed extra veg, they use no artificial fertilizers on their land, just wheelbarrows of good home made compost – excellent!
Steve Gold and Tess Evans
Steve has had many years of horticultural experience. He started in a small way growing a great range of veg and selling at the produce auction at Wareham Market. Now Steve and Tess take great pride in providing a range of produce that they have either grown themselves or traded for locally with other small scale growers. They have been running a small stall at weekends on Portland for the past year and the locals return again and again because they really taste the difference compared to the supermarkets.
If you would like to learn more visit
Heritage prime Biodynamic farm
We have just bought half a side of biodynamic ox (see below for what biodynamic is) why we did this is because we feel that even though we are totally fish orientated we would also like to offer something different to those non fish eaters that really struggle when going to a fish restaurant. Even though it will still only be the one meat option a night we want them to go away be just as wowed. We will be butchering the animal ourselves with a local butcher as we have never butchered anything quite as big as this before! We are all very exited about getting are hands on the meat and learning more about why biodynamic is the way forward.
What is Biodynamic?
Biodynamic farming methods are all about understanding and, working with, the dynamics that affect the natural world that we observe.
Special preparations, derived from herbal and mineral sources, are used across the entire farm as well as in its composts and manures, with the objective of revitalising the soils and plants which sustain the farm's livestock and whose meat, in turn, we are to be nourished by.
Heritage Prime has pioneered this method right here in Dorset and, further expertise in managing herd health by means solely of homoeopathic remedies allows us to grow our beef animals to full maturity, entirely free of any pharmaceutical or chemical residues.
Our pure Aberdeen Angus bulls sire cows of the same breed and pure Beef shorthorns too, producing slow-growing young, reared in family groups on our chalk grasslands to the age of five years, all of these aspects combining to give meat that is nutritionally sound, of wonderful texture and complexity of flavour.
Chefs receipies
Saffron infused yogurt
Pinch of saffron
2tbsp hot water (add together to infuse)
180g yogurt or sour cream
1 finely chopped garlic clove
The zest of two lemons
3tbsp olive oil
1tsp sugar
Once the saffron colour has enhanced in the water, mix everything together. Leave in the fridge for two hours then mix again for a deeper colour- or use right away.
Pollock fillet with ham hock and whole grain mustard
(Serves 2)
4tsp whole grain mustard
1 ham hock (small)
Salt and pepper
Pear chutney or other fruity chutney
2x 200g fillet of Pollock or cod try to use the lion of a larger fish if possible
1 white onion finely sliced
First you need to boil the ham hock slowly for around 3 hours until the meat is perfectly tender, once this is done leave to cool and then flake the ham off the bone.
Take a baking tray and sprinkle the bottom with the sliced onion, not to much. Add a drizzle of oil this will prevent the fish from sticking to the bottom. Then place the two fillets on top of the onion and coat the tops with 2tsp of whole grain mustard each. Then cook for about 8 minuets at 180°c just so the fish is on the edge of being cooked then take out and add the ham hock and cook for a further 2mins then serve with the pear or other fruity chutney.
Any left over ham use the next day in a sandwich
Pickled apples
(Makes 6 x 450g jars)
1.8kg Apples
Juice of 1 lemon
Zest of 2 lemons
600ml white wine vinegar
450g sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1tbs of mixed pepper corns
8 cloves
Peel, core and quarter the apples. Place in a saucepan along with the juice of one lemon and toss well. Cover and cook on a low heat whilst you prepare the pickle.
Put the vinegar, sugar, spices, pepper corns and lemon zest into a saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring until all the sugar has dissolved. Simmer for 5 minutes then add the apples. Continue to cook until the apples are soft, this could take anywhere from 10 – 30 minutes depending on the variety and ripeness of the apples. Fill your jars with the apples leaving the liquid to simmer for a further few minutes and pour the boiling liquid over the apples making sure they are well covered. Seal the jar and leave for a couple of weeks to mellow.
Which good food Guide restaurant of the year award
Vote for us on line at www.which.co.uk/gfgfeedback
Voting starts on the 1st March till the 21st of April
Supporting charities close to our hearts here at the Crab House Café :
We have just started this week, after talking with the fantastic team at the Fishermen’s mission a fundraising campaign to raise the profile and funds for the mission. We have decided to raise funds by having a charity dish of the day, where every time someone purchases the selected dish, one full pound will be donated to the mission. To also help raise the profile of the charity we are giving out leaflets all about the organisation and have an additional donations box and gift aid envelopes for anyone that is interested. Why not check out some of the great work they are doing on their web site: http://www.fishermensmission.org.uk/ and see why we think it is such a valuable course.
Thank you for all your support and help.
All of the team at the Crab House Café.
Nigel Bloxham.
Chef proprietor
Having been involved in the wet fish industry for over thirty years, I have come to rely upon the fishermen for my livelihood. Over this time I have become personally involved with many of the fishermen that risk their lives on a daily basis for us to enjoy the bounty of the sea. Whilst tucked up in a nice cosy restaurant overlooking the coast we often forget about the tragedies that occur every year. Having a selected dish of the day ensures that we do our bit in supporting the charity in every aspect of their work, which is incredibly far reaching. A full pound will be donated, which I feel will make a huge difference for many, and I thank you for your support.
Jos Standerwick, Regional Fundraising Manager for the Fishermen’s Mission says “We’re delighted that the Crab House Café has chosen to support the Mission – the partnership we have with them is incredibly exciting and will certainly help many fishermen at their time of need”
The face of fishing himself: John Buchon, (As seen on the BBC television program Trawlermen) Drinking only the best Crab House Mussel Ale, whilst supporting the fisherman’s mission at the Dorset Seafood festival.
The Crab House Café and Fleet Oyster farm Has won a 3 star gold award for our Portland Pearl Oysters in the 2011 Great taste Awards
We also won a 2 star gold award for our Portland Royals Pacific Oysters. A Special Thanks must go to our oyster farmer David Scoot for all his hard work on our farm in the Fleet lagoon which Visible form our garden, 50 yards form farm to plate.
