Maybe a mouthful of tangy sea air is the world's best seasoning. Or maybe the beach is all about reveling in one sensory pleasure after another. In any case, my research suggests that we file our best beach food stories permanently in the old mental treasure chest, as deeply ingrained in the memory as sand in a dropped ice cream cone. (Check out some of the best of the seaside snarfing stories I collected, below.)
All of which is why I approached a new assignment for our sister site Concierge.com with a bit of trepidation: World's Best Beach Food? Who could possibly put together a list that didn't offend somebody? Who doesn't believe that the beachy fish taco of their treasured memory is the best fish taco ever eaten? Who doesn't have a recollection of one exquisite hot dog, served with a hearty helping of sun-baked beachy happiness? People are evangelistic about their beach food memories! They're scary!
So I'm a little afraid of the backlash. But I invite you to weigh in first: What's your best beach food memory?
My own: A mango bought from a roadside stand in Maui. By the time I peeled and ate it, sitting on a towel under a shady tree, the mango was hot and impossibly juicy. I had to jump right into the water as soon as I finished, just to rinse off the sticky stuff. But I never ate anything that tasted better on the beach, and I don't expect I ever will.
More great beach food memories from around the world:
Len: "I know it's unimaginative, but I have to go with my gut: hot dogs. Sandy, sandy hot dogs. Michigan State Park. Age 7."
Eileen: "Fish tacos, at a bar at the end of the main drag in Ocean Beach, San Diego, right near the beach. Many times between 1995-1999, when we lived there. Best fish tacos ever. With a cold beer on a hot day, taking a break from the sun."
Dave: "Grilled octopus, laced with plenty of lime juice, washed down with Presidente beer, Sayulita Mexico. What made it so good? Something about eating seafood right next to the sea, after spending all day in the sea."
Bryan: "Easy, my first chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich at Crane's Beach on Massachusetts' North Shore. It was probably the summer of 1980 or 1981. It's the kind of food my parents never bought for me except on a special occasion such as a trip to the beach. They come wrapped in plastic and the cookies are often stale, but nonetheless that first one blew my mind."
Kristen: "Grotto Pizza, Rehoboth, DE, 1994. I was 12, there with my best friend, and it was the first time we ever went to a restaurant alone. We still go back whenever we can!"
Eddie: "Cuban sandwich and a Margarita (or a Red Stripe), The Ocean Deck, Daytona Beach, FL. Sometime in the early/mid '90's. The Ocean Deck was a great bar/restaurant/club right on the beach. Their Cuban sandwich was awesome. Everything was always so fresh and the pickle was just perfect. I think the beverage was less significant, although I always chose something that made me feel 'vacationy.'"
Rachel: "Peanut butter on crackers after a long day on the beach. Hits the spot every time. Childhood. Block island. Every summer."
Preeta: "Lemon basil fish in the Maldives."
Patrick: "Grapes, Sleeping Bear Dunes, Glen Arbor, Michigan, 1989. I pretended they were fish eyes."
Jecca: "Fresh fish sandwich. Grenada. Just a piece of the day's catch, fried with a little salt and pepper, on a fresh piece of bread. Sitting at a picnic table on the beach, looking over a deserted bay."
Tanya: "Spicy saucy jerk chicken, fries fried in some delicious forbidden Caribbean oil, Red Stripe, Negril, Jamaica. Because it was the opposite of Coney Island. And did I mention the mysterious frying oil?"
Amy: "I have to say fish tacos and one hell of a margarita at Taco Surf, Sunset Beach, CA. Blame it on the sun and salty breeze."
Brian: "Totonnos pizza in Coney Island. I still try and stop by every few weeks."
Jamie: "San Diego fish tacos, thirded. (But I'm a North County guy.) Also fresh fruit on the beach cannot be beat. So refreshing on a hot day."
Adam: "As a young man on vacation in the Carribean (I can't remember if this was in Port au Spain, Trinidad, or Antigua) we had fresh shark right out of the ocean, grilled and then engulfed by a poofy, kaiser-type roll. The name bestowed upon this delicious sandwich by the locals: Jaws on Hops."
Danielle: "Boquerones at a chiringuito on the Costa del Sol."
Cheryl: "Conch fritters for me! I had them in the Bahamas...fresh out of the shell...dipped in batter and fried crispy...so good! Haven't had them at any other island or beach."
Denise: "Shrimp burgers at midnight in Trinidad waiting to spot nesting sea turtles, followed closely by freshly caught fried lobsters on a nontourist-infested beach in Jamaica."
Amanda: "All food tastes a little worse on the beach. Sand in everything basically sucks. That's why I try to just drink beer on the beach and read trashy novels."
Be sure to check out Concierge.com’s slideshow of the Best Beach Food Around the World
by Siobhan Adcock
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