Café of the Month

The Bosun’s Bite

Rye Harbour TN31 7TU

This month it’s the Bosun’s Bite at Rye Harbour.

Rye Harbour is NOT the quayside in Rye itself where every weekend and Bank Holiday scores of motorcyclists squeeze past the barriers to congregate in a parking area and drink bad coffee out of cardboard cups. Just pass by. OK, if you must pull in and do a couple of tight circles with your feet on the pegs before roaring off again.

You take the first left heading towards Winchelsea and, passing an unprepossessing industrial and warehousing area you come to the village of Rye Harbour. As you reach the turning circle at the bottom of the and the public loos, turn left then right towards the lifeboat station and you’ll find the Bosun’s Bite. There’s room for four of five bikes to park up, otherwise there’s a public car park a short way away.

This place is well-known for fresh bread and rolls, home-baked cakes and decent portions. Unfortunately if you elect to eat outside the no-nonsense proprietoress will insist that you use take-away containers, its one downside. It’s pretty popular and not very spacious, so not really a suitable stop off for a large group ride.

From Rye Harbour it’s a fifteen minute walk to the sea, and there’s a large nature reserve there with a number of bird hides. If you walk past the pub to the banks of the river Rother you can see seals at low tide. So a good spot for an outing with a small group.