Blyth has a famous and often photographed row of colourful beach huts on its promenade and opposite them stands the vast but attractive Coastline fish and chip shop.
At either end of the large restaurant, which is perfect for retiring to on colder days, there is a Ciccarelli ice cream parlour and a shiny fish and chip takeaway counter, which my husband, son and I were using.
As a vegetarian used to settling for a bag of chips and carton of peas, I was delighted to see not only veggie burgers on the menu but also mozzarella sticks and fried halloumi – that white, slightly squeaky Greek cheese which has suddenly become very popular.
You can have it either fried as it comes or battered and fried – which I chose, longing to relive childhood memories of fish and chip suppers.
There is bottled water or pop on tap at the chippy with Fanta, Coke Zero, Diet Coke, Still Fanta, Sprite and Coca-Cola all coming in a recyclable cardboard cup. The plastic carrier bags for your meal are also recyclable and wooden, rather than plastic forks are the order of the day.
Our friendly server was keen to double check our order and ensured no slip ups. The sensible system is that you are given a number on your receipt and come forward when it is called.
Where to park & eat
We had parked easily next to Coastline in the renovated and free Mermaid car park on Blyth’s links. It has over 200 places and is just a few yards from the prom, where we headed with our order.
From one of its many seaside benches you can look along and beyond Blyth’s long sandy beach - north towards its port and offshore wind farm and south to St Mary’s Lighthouse at Whitley Bay.
The restaurant is also next to a large playground and grassy area, perfect for a kick-around. Before your fish and chips might be best!
Talking of the food ...
My three large slices of tender halloumi came coated in a very light and crisp batter, and as you can see from the (admittedly fuzzy) photo, it even looked a little fishy - not that that's at all important. The mozzarella sticks were breaded with a herby mix and very crisp and tasty, but the halloumi won hands down!
The lure of fish and chips had tempted our adult son along on this outing and his favourite of cod and chips did not disappoint. It came in a special Coastline box, showing that row of beach huts, whose distinctive colours are also used for the many planters outside the restaurant.
The meal included three pieces of cod, two of which fell apart beautifully, white and boneless, and one which was much chewier. For some reason the battered fish was greasier than my battered cheese, as could be seen by the drops gathering on the paper below it.
The chips were a three on our scientific chip colour chart, which is my preference, and came in large and crunchier smaller pieces. I fear they suffered, however, from the cooling effect of the wind blasting across the sunny prom. There was a good helping for one with no sharing.
The pots of peas were a bright green and a little salty but good. And my husband couldn’t resist a pineapple fritter, which I thought too greasy, but which he loved.
Later, we also indulged in ice creams – and I can recommend the Turkish Delight flavour, with bits of chocolate, just like the bars.
