Bosun’s Bite courtesy of Ian and Dave, Seasalter Sailing Club

The Bosun’s Bite at Rye Harbour

Rye Harbour isn’t that far away from Hastings – and is a lovely destination for an explore – and a bite to eat at The Bosun’s Bite, a down to earth, friendly café with good food, generous portions and always a welcome smile to greet you. HOT’s Zelly Restorick writes.

Sarah and Will have been the owners of The Bosun’s Bite for the past five years. Sarah, manager, occasional cook, bottle washer and general multi-tasker, genuinely wants to create a home from home experience for all her guests. I’ve only ever seen her with a beaming smile on her face; when she says to visitors to ‘take a seat and make yourself at home’, you can feel she really means it. She and her team provide good quality food at reasonable prices and want everyone to have the ‘wow’ factor when they see their plate of food arrive at their table. Whenever I visit, I always hear someone exclaim at the generosity of the portion. They do take-aways too for the passing-through visitor, as well as catering.

Sarah, (a second one), Jean and Mary are equally as friendly at the counter, serving drinks, hot food and home made cakes with Charlotte in the kitchen, somehow managing to juggle all the different food orders. A wide range of meal combinations are displayed on the board and written on paper bags pinned to the wall, including vegan sausages and vegetarian options.

Bird watchers, ramblers, families, solos, couples, friends are all welcome – and dogs too, which is great for visitors to Rye Harbour, where you can walk to the beach, pebbly, but sandy when the tide’s out, explore the nature reserve, stop off at the hide to watch the birds and enjoy some quiet meditative time, watch the tide rise and fall down at the harbour side and see the occasional boat stream by on the way out to sea or back to its mooring.

Rye Harbour is a good day out – and you can stop for a main meal, a snack, lunch, breakfast or just a cuppa at The Bosun’s Bite, whatever the weather, with seating inside and out. Year round, they rarely close, are open every day of the week and serve from around 9.30am to around 3pm, depending on who’s there. They’re not a café who chucks you out when the clock strikes. You can park on the street or in the donation welcome car park, although not outside the café, which is reserved for RNLI team members. Bikers and cyclists welcome. Enjoy!

Trip Advisor: The Bosun’s Bite, Rye Harbour.

Rye Harbour Nature Reserve.

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