Fish & Chips from Colmans Seafood Temple : A Review

Colmans Seafood Temple is somewhere I have wanted to visit for ages. We were finally able to make the trip on a sunny Sunday in February when working on a different campaign with the Tyne Tunnel (who kindly organised/covered the cost of our meal). 

We love South Shields and probably visit 4/5 times a year. We have visited Colmans on Ocean Road a few times but I wasn't too sure where the Seafood Temple was located. When we visit Shields we tend to stick to the town centre/ walk down Ocean Road and the Pleasure Beach / Marine Park.

It turns out Colmans Seafood Temple is super easy to get to and very well located. If you face the sea at Ocean Beach Pleasure Park, turn right and walk along the seafront for 5 minutes, you will find it no bother. There is also ample parking in the car park next door (Sand Dancer Car Park - details here). 

The building is gorgeous. Upstairs features the main restaurant with beautiful panoramic sea views plus a lovely bar area where guests can wait for a table or enjoy a lighter bite to eat. I believe there is a smaller area downstairs which is dog-friendly too.

Here is a peek at the children's menu which is pretty good value at £5.95 for a main, ice cream and drink. A little disappointing to see that there are no vegetable side options available and no Vegetarian options as standard but I am sure if we had asked, they would have accommodated Heidi. There are veggie options on the main menu.

Whenever we visit a Fish & Chip restaurant, Heidi just orders chips and bread and butter so she was fine (she is not the kind of Vegetarian who is worried how her food is cooked at the moment - right now, she just doesn't eat meat/fish).

Our boys are aged 9 and 13. After receiving the smallest burger known to man when dining from the children's menu at Miller and Carter a few weeks ago (which was otherwise a brilliant meal), Harry refuses to dine from the children's menu which is fair enough - his time has come!

Jack is also tricky as he has a HUGE appetite (especially when it comes to Fish & Chips) and you never know how big a child's meal is going to be. So 50% of the time he orders from the adult menu too (as he did on this occasion).

So despite visiting with kids, nobody actually ordered from the children's menu. I did have a peek at what other children in the restaurant were ordering and the portions looked good.

The kids did make use of the activity sheets though.......

You cannot book a table at Colmans Seafood Temple until after 5pm. Before this, it is walk-in only and it does get busy. I would advise getting there for opening (11:30am) if you would like to be guaranteed a seat straight away. If there are not any tables, you can take a seat at the bar area while you wait and staff will aim to seat you as soon as they can.

When I spotted that Colmans make their own lemonade, I could not resist a glass. It is so good! I highly recommend giving it a try. They are also licensed and serve a selection of alcoholic beverages too.

We spotted oysters on the menu and could not resist. Priced at £2.20, they are available in a variety  of styles including traditional, ceviche and crispy. Steve and I ordered a couple and Jack decided to have a little taste too. This was the first time he had tried an oyster. He said it was ok but tasted a bit weird! Haha! Steve and I loved them and our only regret is that we had not ordered a platter rather than one each.

Service was friendly and a teeny bit on the slow side but you come to Colmans Seafood Temple for an experience rather than a quick bite to eat so we didn't mind about the wait too much. We were in and out in just over an hour so like I say, not extreme.

They do explain on their menu that everything is cooked to order and there may be a short wait during busy periods.

Both of our boys ordered traditional Cod & Chips from the main menu which at £11.95, is not a bad price for a restaurant meal. All seafood and fish served at Colmans is sustainable and traceable and they turn all of their waste into biodiesel and generate their own electricity using PV micro generation.

Colmans also actively supports the local fishing industry by using local day boats and seasonal produce to support the local fishing community. I think this alone is a reason to visit and pay a little bit extra.

The boys loved their Cod & Chips and it was clean plates all round!

I have mentioned a few times before that my go-to order at a chip shop is smokey sausage. Ah it is such a guilty pleasure of mine and takes me right back to being a child. I always find it frustrating when takeaways serve this option but their adjoining restaurants don't.  But then I also get that we are dining is a SEAFOOD restaurant and Smokey Sausage does not fall into that category.

My next go-to order is Scampi and Chips. Again, I feel like it is a throw-back to my childhood. I used to order this every year when we visited a small cafe in Scarborough and it felt like such a treat. The Scampi and Chips at Colmans is some of the best I have had - really good quality and plenty of it too.

Steve opted for something a little different and decided on the Pan Roast Hake with Mussel Broth and Straw Potatoes. One of the pricier dishes at £21.50 but one for you if you want to push the boat out. He loved it. Full of flavour, a pretty decent portion and beautifully presented too. We don't really cook hake at home so it is nice to try a dish like this when dining out.

Just a quick word on the chips, they aren't traditional chippy chips here. More like thick-cut triple cooked chips you would find in a gastropub. Just as delicious but something to be aware of if you are a traditionist.

No room for dessert on this occasion, we enjoyed a walk along the sea front and then popped into Scoop and Bean for an ice cream later in the day instead. 

Our total bill was just under £80 at Colman's plus £12.50 for ice creams and is probably the most expensive fish supper we have ever had. It is nice for a special occasion and I would save it for a birthday meal but it is definitely not somewhere we would visit every week. It was a lovely experience but did not feel like the best value for us (especially as if we had all ordered peas & bread and butter this would have been an additional £17.50).

It feels to me like there are a lot of similarities between Colmans Seafood Temple and Trenchers at Spanish City and if I had to pick between the two, Spanish City would probably win for me.

At Spanish City, you can book a table online for any time of day so there is no hanging around,  kids eat free between 3:30pm and 6:30pm Monday-Friday (t&cs apply) and the kids menu at Spanish City is a little more well thought out (although £1 more) with vegetable crudites as a starter, a side of veg/beans/peas included and a Vegetarian option on the children's menu as standard. The whole experience at Spanish City still retains an elegant feel and feels like a treat  (read our review of Fish & Chips at Spanish City here).

Have you dined at Colmans Seafood Temple? What did you think?

Find out more here:  http://colmansseafoodtemple.co.uk/

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