Great escapes: Sea, salt and vinegar... it must be Yorkshire

If you fancy a weekend of fresh air and seafood, says Christopher Hirst, there's only one way to go ÿ north

Three weeks ago, I could be found anxiously herding two Parisian friends through the narrow streets of Whitby. "Vitement, vitement," I yelped, "or we'll be too late." Sadly, this proved to be the case. Though it was only 12:30pm, a long queue snaked down the stone staircase of the Magpie Café and along the pavement. I'd forgotten it was half-term. I reluctantly settled for a queue-free fishery. My French friends were impressed with the substitute haddock and chips, but it wasn't a patch on the Platonically ideal fry-up you get at the Magpie.

In this legendary gastronomic temple, all gleaming brass and mahogany-coloured tea, the standard haddock is so large that it lolls over the plate on both sides. Inside a gothic carapace of batter, the white flakes gleam with a milky freshness. Amazingly, when we passed the Magpie at 3.30pm, there was still a long queue. The trick is to lunch at midday, or go in the evening, when you can book and enjoy more sophisticated fishy treats.

Of course, there are other things to see in Whitby. There is, for example, Fortune's Kippers. Delicately perfuming the old town, this tarry smokehouse produces what Rick Stein describes as "probably the best kippers in the country". Who could resist a fragrant souvenir of Whitby at £1.80 a pair? I concede that there are one or two other sights in this pleasing, if crowded port. After puffing

up 199 steps, you can see St Mary's, with its box pews and three-tier pulpit like the church in Moby Dick, or the ruined abbey, where (in an earlier structure) leaders of the Western church agreed about the timing of Easter AD664. However, in my view, such spectacles are but fleeting diversions from the main point of visiting North Yorkshire, which is, of course, food.

If you are going for a visit, make sure you get somewhere with a decent kitchen. Better still, acquire a place of your own, as I did a few years ago.

Possibly because it lacks a Rick Stein, the Yorkshire coast has lagged behind Cornwall as a magnet for gastro-tourists. The quality of Yorkshire seafood is certainly on a par with that from the West Country. It can even provide enjoyable

entertainment. Sauntering round the harbour at Scarborough, 30 miles from Whitby, I once passed a happy hour watching a catch of flatfish being sorted into dabs, plaice, sole, turbot and halibut. For my money, this spectacle is considerably more beguiling than Scarborough's more popular divertissements, such as Roy "Chubby" Brown or the Krankies, and it's a sight cheaper.

If you want a piscine treat to take home, Ocean Pantry on the harbour pier is perhaps the best wet fish shop in the north of England. In July and August, you can buy local wild salmon at prices "slightly cheaper than farmed salmon". In my view, this alone merits a detour of several hundred miles.

Though Scarborough has many exceptional assets, including cliff lifts, Britain's last surviving resort orchestra (summer months only), Sir Alan Ayckbourn as resident bard and the best seaside view in Britain from the South Bay, it is not supremely well-endowed in the restaurant department. I was put on to my favourite eatery in the town by Gwyneth Paltrow. Not personally, you understand, but I read in the local paper that she had favoured an Italian restaurant called Tuscany while filming Possession. Talking to the owner, Angelo Ricotta, I discovered that Ms P had dined there five nights on the trot. "Lovely lady," said Mr Ricotta. "Speaks good Italian, really knows about seafood." She does indeed. Local sea-bass cooked in foil with a fresh tomato sauce was stunning.

Ten miles down the coast is Filey, a resort essentially unaltered since Charlotte Brontë used to holiday here. Its main asset is a six-mile crescent of golden sand. The town's restaurants are OK, but if the weather is nice you'd be mad to have anything other than fish and chips (locals always go for haddock). My chippy de choix is a place apparently called "Have it here or have it away". And they say Yorkshire folk have no sense of humour.

The greatest gastronomic treats to be had in Filey come with claws. A saint in white wellies passes her days picking over fresh-boiled crabs in the back room of Lovitt's fish shop. If you're feeling flush, lobsters are usually £6-£8 a pound though in summer you can sometimes get small lobsters for £2.50 apiece.

If locals want to eat out, they tend to drive inland. Best eating in the area is to be found at the Star Inn at Harome, near Helmsley. Andrew Pern, the chef-patron, has netted a slew of awards, including a Michelin star. However, I usually head for Pickering. My destination is the White Swan. This old coaching inn has a comfortable, elegant new dining room, where the food is stylish, sustaining and fairly reasonably priced, though that won't stop tykes from feeling faint when the bill arrives.

The Magpie Café, 14 Pier Road, Whitby, 01947 602058 (bookings after 5pm). Fortune's Kippers, 22 Henrietta Street, Whitby, 01947 601659. Ocean Pantry, West Pier, The Harbour, Scarborough, 01723 350400. Tuscany, 29 St Nicholas Street, Scarborough, 01723 372100. Lovitt's Fish Merchants, 7 Mitford Street, Filey, 01723 512370. The Star Inn, Harome, 01439 770397. White Swan, Pickering, 01751 472288.