Northumberland bound !

[willowan (EMLYN WILLIAMS)]

Afternoon folks,

The staycation 21is on !
Heading to Ellingham ( between Alnmouth and Bamburgh ) in June and hoping for some recs of places to go with GF dad.
According the evil lord TA two fish places to consider include The Jolly Fisherman (pub ) and the Craster Seafood Restaurant. Owner of the place we are staying has recommended The Sea and Soil in Amble, which looks posher but has mixed reviews…

Any thoughts or other recommendations ?

Just looking for decent seafood, bistro or pub teas that cater well for Gf folk.
If they had a selection of real ales ( for me ) that would be a bonus !
Thanks for any advice you can give…

[Harters (John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)]

Had a week in Seahouses in 2019 and ate pretty well considering.

Brasserie at the Victoria Hotel, Bamburgh - pub grub. nothing vile.

Insieme, Seahouses - bog standard Italian. decent enough

Potted Lobster, Bamburgh - excellent. majors on seafood. I wanted to bring it home so I could become a regular

St Aiden Bistro, Seahouses - much better than I expected. Modern brit leaning heavily towards seafood.

All casual places - jeans and polo absolutely fine. The search facility should find you should find the reviews I did. I see Ellingham is only 7 miles from Seahouses so all four are an easy drive. By the by, Seahouses has some “eat in” chippies. Very mixed quality - Lewis’s wasnt much cop, Neptunes was OK

[willowan (EMLYN WILLIAMS)]

Much appreciated John,
Potted Lobster booked for birthday lunch for my dad

Did look at St Aidans but TBH I’ve always felt a bit weird turning up at a B&B where I’m not staying for me tea - there is a place in Ullswater where you basically sit in their reception area for pre dinner drinks ( the WTF bar I think it was called…)- was it like that or okay on the FawltyTowersometer ?

On Neptunes - is Ok as 6/10 or a 7. What were the points deduction markers ? Hopefully not freshness given their location ?! Me dad likes the look as they do GF…so need to know what to avoid !

Thanks as ever,

E

[Harters (John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)]

St Aidans has a “proper” dining room, that feels like a small restaurant,so no worries on that score. We had a really nice evening. Have another look at it, mate.

Neptunes was a worthy 6. Fish was fine. Chips were particularly nice. Fried to a nice colour but still with that essential hint of floppiness that distinguishes the chips from fries.

[Harters (John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)]

There’s a pub in Craster that did bloody lovely crab sandwiches at lunchtime (earlier trip - no notes). Can’t recall its name for certain (Craster Arms ?) - almost opposite the smokehouse.

[willowan (EMLYN WILLIAMS)]

http://crasterarms.co.uk/

http://www.thejollyfishermancraster.co.uk/

?? ring any bells ?

[Harters (John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)]

From its location, the Jolly Fisherman at Craster must have been the place I was thinking of for the crab butties.

We have stayed in Beadnell years back, but nothing about the Craster Arms comes to mind.

[Harters (John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)]

In my rush to be positive, I forgot to mention the only failure of the week - the Mizen Head at Bamburgh.

[Bamburgh, Northumberland] Mizen Head

This proved to be our most disappointing meal of our week in the area. It wasn’t so much the quality of the food that was the issue, but the service and delays. It took ages for orders to be taken, ages for starters to come, finger tapping ages for main courses. So, issues with both the kitchen and front of house. Perhaps needless to say, we didn’t bother with dessert. As for the starters, when they finally arrived, they weren’t too bad. Kippers from down the road at Craster had been turned int…

[Harters (John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)]

No worries with the Mizen Head. And no surprises either. It closed.

[willowan (EMLYN WILLIAMS)]

Thanks John. Indian variant has mum and dad wondering f they want to go anywhere at all !

[Harters (John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)]

Are the parents now doubly jabbed? If so, and if I was them, I wouldnt overly worry about the variant. You’re going to an area of very few people so tramsmission risk is going to be low.

That comment holds good until/unless issues with the variant means life is going tits up again. In which case, we’ll be quick into another personal lockdown.