Fish Cottage — Restaurant in England

A great restaurant that is missing a key ingredient. After seeing the Fish Cottage advertised online I was looking forward to trying it. I got booked in to guarantee a seat inside and when visiting Sandsend I attended my booking. I'll start off by saying that the Fish Cottage is filling a gap in the market which is providing quality fish products with a multitude of twists. You have so much available that break the norm from your usual fish and chips (which are available) but what stood out to me was the fish tacos. After having prawns for a starter I had the best fish tacos I've ever eaten here. You got two and a side of fries and it was a plentiful main. This is the same story with the starters, you won't leave here hungry. Ingredients are of a high quality so prices are justified in that respect.

The environment you're in is small but traditional but kept clean and modern, this is the same for outside and also inside to the toilets!

The one big part that let this experience down was the customer service, or should I say lack of. We was seated quick enough for our booking but had a couple members of staff serving us and they just didn't feel trained to work in a restaurant that had high standards like this. First of all we received two incorrect drinks, and when asked one was ordered incorrectly by the staff, but still this wasn't in stock so another was brought in substitute instead of being asked if that's what I wanted or if I fancied anything else. Then someone else in the party got the complete wrong drink. This was also just because the one ordered wasn't available so they thought to just bring and open a random one.. This was resolved after being questioned about, however at the end of the meal when paying I asked if the drink we had was the same price as what I ordered and was assured it was. For context they was charging me £6 for a 500ml bottle of Timothy Taylor Landlord in place of a Whitby Brewery Pale Ale.. not a fair exchange when paying that amount if you ask me.

Throughout the meal staff just didn't speak up at all and seemed confused and slow when clearing the table and asking questions, this shouldn't be the case when you're serving people. They could barely pick up the plates so staff training definitely needs addressing by the manager here!

If the customer service gets corrected, this will be a stead 5 star, but for that reason it slips to a 4 star. I would recommend the Fish Cottage for the food, but don't rush here for...

We visited here earlier in our weeks holiday and it WAS superb so this is a shame to be writing this but unfortunately our second visit was absolutely awful. We came with my kids both times first time we was welcomed second time felt like we was in the way and in a adults only place. When the food was ready my son went over to help his dad bring it over as I was waiting with our toddler. Unfortunately as he was carrying it he dropped the tray and his fish tacos spilt all over the floor, everyone just stared at him including staff no one ran out to help him and he was very upset, the man from behind the outdoor bar thing came out and I thought he was going to go over and offer us a replacement instead he shouted I need something to sweep the floor as this kids dropped food all over floor and kids shouldn't be carrying food around, which only made my son even more upset. We just ended up sharing the 2 portions or fish tacos instead of 3 but I was thinking surely they will be bringing one over as a good will gesture. NO they didnt and they was tasteless this second time and tiny bits of fish and over cooked the curry was very watery, everyone just kept staring at us. They staff seemed more bothered about people sat drinking wine and beer who weren't even eating either, are you a fish and chip restaurant or a nightclub? You say children friendly but are you really? I have worked in hospitality for 10 years now and currently run my own kitchen if any diner in the Bistro was to drop their food, drink whatever age without hesitation a free replacement would be offered its just the right moral thing to do. Such a shame as the first time the staff were all...

We've visited the Fish Cottage on a couple of occasions, but only for takeaway - today we booked a table as a treat for my birthday. Given it was a lovely sunny day, the restaurant was extremely busy, and we had to wait 15 minutes for our table to be free. The staff were very apologetic for the delay, and the service was generally very good even though they were plainly under pressure. Once we were seated I ordered a half lobster with crab fries (as an upgrade to the fries that come with the dish), and my better half ordered the king prawn tacos, which came with skin on fries. The food arrived fairly promptly and the first thing I noticed was that the lobster was freshly cooked - I've had it on a number of occasions disappointingly pre-cooked and cold - but not here. The quality of food is excellent and portion sizes are good - my crab fries were tasty and hot, the lobster hit the spot, and my wife's tacos were delicious. One thing to note is that the restaurant itself is small and can get extremely busy so don't expect a romantic candle lit dinner for 2! The main experience here is the food and the food is almost entirely from the sea - and so it should be being this close to fishing ports. The prices aren't bad - yes fish and seafood are expensive but the focus is the main course - there's no 3 courses here so that keeps the overall bill reasonable. We paid £68 including drinks - we spent more than this in a US fast food chain restaurant recently and the quality (obviously) fell massively short of the fish cottage. We'll definitely be back and if you like fish and seafood I'd recommend you...