Start the day with a kipper

Whitby has been smoking herring for centuries, and the smell that drifts along Henrietta Street first thing in the morning is the harbour's real welcome mat. The traditional method hasn't changed much: herring are split, lightly salted overnight, then hung in tall brick smokehouses over smouldering oak sawdust for around twelve to sixteen hours until they turn a deep bronze. Not cooked, just cured — which is why a proper Whitby kipper is softer and less aggressively salty than the vacuum-packed versions you find in supermarkets.

For breakfast, look for a café in the old town that offers kippers with buttered brown bread and a pot of tea rather than a full English. Order them grilled with a wedge of lemon if you want the smoke to sing; poached in milk if you prefer something gentler. Either way, go early. The smokehouses open their doors around eight and sell out of the day's best fish well before lunch, especially in summer and at weekends.

Before you leave, buy a pair to take home. Ask for them vacuum-sealed and keep them in the fridge for up to a week, or freeze them for a month. A kipper is one of the few food souvenirs from a British seaside town that genuinely travels well.

Crab sandwiches on the quayside

The other great Whitby flavour is crab, landed daily by boats that work the inshore grounds just off the coast. Brown crab is the local staple, and the best way to eat it is in the simplest possible form: white and dark meat piled generously between two slices of buttered granary bread. You'll find stalls and small takeaway counters along the quayside doing exactly this, usually with a squeeze of lemon, a pinch of black pepper and a handful of salad leaves that nobody really asked for.

A few things worth knowing:

• Ask for white meat if you prefer a sweeter, milder taste; brown meat if you want the richer, deeper flavour.
• Prices rise sharply in peak season — expect to pay a premium for a sandwich eaten within sight of the water, and accept it gladly.
• Fresh lobster is often available from the same counters, usually whole or in a roll. Ring ahead in winter, as supply is weather-dependent.
• Cockles, whelks and dressed crab are all good harbour-side snacks if you fancy a proper seaside picky plate.

In summer, small boats run mackerel fishing trips from the harbour. Feathered lures, an hour or two out on the swell, and you'll usually come back with enough for dinner. Some skippers will gut and bag your catch, and a few local cafés will cook it for you for a small fee if you ask nicely at a quiet time of day.

Fish and chips, and when to queue

No guide to Whitby would be complete without the obvious. The town's reputation for fish and chips is deserved, and the queues outside the best-known shops on the east side of the harbour are part of the ritual. Go at lunchtime or mid-afternoon to avoid the worst of it — between roughly 5pm and 7.30pm in high summer you can wait forty minutes.

Order haddock rather than cod if you want to eat like a local. Ask for scraps on top if you like the crispy bits, and mushy peas rather than garden. Eat them outside on the pier wall if the weather allows, watching the tide turn and the swing bridge shuffle open for a passing yacht. Watch your chips: the gulls here are fearless, organised and remarkably quick.

Ice cream, lemon buns and a sweet finish

Whitby takes its ice cream seriously, and several small producers make it in town using local milk and cream. Look for flavours that lean into Yorkshire: lemon curd, parkin, rhubarb, honeycomb, and a very good salted caramel. A single scoop in a proper cone eaten on the West Cliff while looking back at the abbey is one of the great cheap pleasures of the Yorkshire coast.

If you'd rather have something baked, Whitby lemon buns are a local speciality — a sweet, fruity bun topped with sugar and sometimes a little icing. They're best bought from a bakery in the old town in the morning, when they're still soft. Pair one with a flask of tea on the 199 steps and you've got the best-value afternoon tea in the county.

Practical know-how for a harbour food day

• Parking: West Cliff car parks fill by 10am on sunny weekends. Consider the park-and-ride in summer and walk down into town.
• Tides and weather: Check tide times before planning a pier-side picnic. The harbour mouth can be breezy even when the town is calm.
• Cash: Most places take cards now, but a few smaller stalls still prefer notes and coins.
• Crowds: Avoid Whitby Regatta in August and the two Goth Weekends in spring and autumn if you want a quiet table.
• Timing: Smokehouses early, crab at lunch, fish and chips before the evening rush, ice cream whenever the sun is out.

Making a break of it

Whitby rewards an overnight stay far more than a flying visit. Book a room in the old town for charm and steep cobbled streets, or on the West Cliff for sea views and easier parking. Two nights gives you room for a harbour food day, a longer walk along the Cleveland Way towards Saltwick Nab or Robin Hood's Bay, and a slow breakfast of kippers without watching the clock.

Come hungry, come early, and come prepared to eat outdoors with the wind in your hair. That, more than any single dish, is what a food lover's day in Whitby harbour tastes like.