If you ever go to the Harbour View Restaurant in Seaton Sluice for fish and chips be sure not to eat anything before hand. We investigate giant fish bites, fantastic customer service and appreciative customers who travel the length and breadth of the country to sample the food on offer.
The first thing that strikes you when you walk into the restaurant is the attractive décor with a nautical theme. Professionally commissioned photographs of local seaside scenes blend perfectly with unusual table lamps in the shape of lobster nets and giant fish bones. Looking up, you’ll see oversized lampshades with interesting yacht designs on their insides and you can’t miss the Admiralty style chart wallpaper adorning the walls.
But the décor isn’t the reason why people queue for takeaway fish and chips or travel miles for a table in the restaurant; it’s pure and simply the quality, taste and size of the food portions that does it.
The success of this family business can be traced back more than 16 years when the then, new owner took over a small traditional fish and chip café in the picturesque village of Seaton Sluice. With a tangible passion for food, cleanliness and a desire to give the best possible service to their customers, footfall immediately increased and a major interior refurbishment took place that totally changed the character of the restaurant.
Popularity demanded the addition of more frying pans to help serve customers faster and new picnic tables outside the restaurant gave diners the choice to eat inside or to enjoy their piping hot fish and chips al fresco with a great view of the harbour and North Sea. The restaurant is also unique in that it is licensed to sell beers and wines and boasts an authentic Italian Ice Cream Parlour. For those with particular needs, there is also a disabled toilet and a baby changing room.
Restaurant Manager, Sarah Cranson has worked at The Harbour View for eight years.
“It’s a fantastic place to work, there’s a friendly atmosphere and our customers love the size and quality of the food. They particularly like the fish that is caught in the cold, deep seas off Iceland. It never ceases to amaze me the amount of people who queue up at peak times to eat our food but that’s because it’s a great experience to be here. We’ve become a destination and not just a place to eat.”
Indeed, on Good Friday, the queues for the takeaway stretched for 200m throughout the day with each customer waiting around 90 minutes to be served. Not one person complained about the length of the queue.
Other customers who go the extra mile to eat at Harbour View include a couple from Consett, County Durham who visit at least three times a week and a man who was travelling from London to Falkirk who stopped off to find out if the food review on Trip Adviser was as good as it said it was. His review speaks volumes:
“We stopped off on route to Falkirk, the fish was at least 17″ long and I had to have it folded back into the box as it was so huge. I couldn’t finish my chips. Every time I go up North I’m stopping off there, the staff are lovely too.”
Another customer who praises the restaurant highly is former Lindisfarne drummer Ray Laidlaw.
“I’ve eaten fish and chips all around the world but The Harbour View can’t be beaten. My wife and I love it here. Be warned though, don’t eat anything before hand as the portions are huge.”
Typically, the fish bites served are the size of large fish at other fish and chip outlets and a large Cod or Haddock regularly weighs in at a staggering 22 ounces uncooked weight.
So, when you sit down at The Harbour View Restaurant and say “I can’t eat anymore,” don’t say you were never warned.
The Harbour View Restaurant is located at:
1-3 Beresford Rd, Seaton Sluice, Whitley Bay NE26 4DR
Phone: 0191 237 2478
Monday to Wednesday 11.30 – 1.45pm
Thursday & Friday 11.30 – 1.45 and 4.15pm to 7pm
Saturday 11.30 till 5.30pm
Sunday Closed
