The Modern Menu: from Adam Riley’s beach-front fish shack in Tynemouth. Is there an eating experience that feels more appropriate, that does a better job of connecting place and plate, than tucking into seafood on a beach? There’s something about the saline hit of an oyster or the straightforwardness of a whole-cooked crab that, when taken with sea air, sand underfoot, in sight of waves, the expanse of blue stretching beyond, feels preordained, correct. Or such is the feeling I have slumped on a deckchair at King Edward’s Bay in Tynemouth, not far from Newcastle. Directly in front of me is the North Sea and behind me is Riley’s Fish Shack – a simply equipped kitchen cooking delicious things with its bounty. The journey from sea to plate (or take-out box, in this case) feels so direct that, from my place on the beach, I fear I might be in its way.
“A connection to the sea has always been quite close, everywhere I’ve lived. It’s always been about the sea,” explains chef proprietor Adam Riley, who spent “all the years that shape you” on the Isle of Man.
Crab. Fish fingers. Mussels. Parcels. Pies - fish. Prawns. Salmon. Sea bass. Smoked haddock. Tilapia. Tuna. White fish, general.