The Beach Shack — Restaurant in England

Every summer without fail over the last 30 yrs we always go at least once down to steep hill cove for a crab sandwich at the beach shack. Many times we have spoken to the owner and really enjoyed our experience. This time was so different, we didn’t see the owner but possibly his son. After we sat down it took about 20 mins for our order to be taken and then we could only order drinks, then he said he would come back for our food order which took another 20 mins. He was arrogant and there was no interaction, he made us feel like we were a nuisance. We finally ordered sandwiches and when they came the bread and cheese was poor quality. We ordered cakes in advance due to the time it took for ordering food. My husband has carrot cake and my friend ordered a rock cake. She was excited to have one as it was one of her favourites. When the rock cake arrived it looked like an unrisen scone. When she cut into it, it was so dry and crumbly she lost half of it as it pinged off the plate. It was stale and unpleasant. I said never mind maybe they will offer you an alternative. My friend handed the rock cake to the waitress and she took the plate away. The young man came over to us and we thought it was to apologise, but no it was to tell us, how dare we complain and that they had made rock cakes for 16 yrs without a complaint, therefore it was not their fault. My friend was upset and we tried to have the rock cake removed from the bill but the waited said the cake wasn’t stale it was my friend didn’t like it and refused to remove it from the bill. We were all so upset, the boy was so rude. If you have any sense you will avoid this...

I can't rate food or atmosphere as I ended up telling them not to worry about it.. I initially asked for 2 coffees to take away (to sit on rocks) and was intending on having some lunch.. Thank you to the lady and young girl who tried to serve me in a friendly manner. You are unfortunately let down by the man with the beard who I'm presuming is your boss.. he was incredibly rude to me growling at the lady and girl not to serve me and to put frozen delivery away.. the staff deserve better management and respect.. bearded guy stood, I'm guessing doing paperwork.. Young lad hovering and , honestly? It wasn't a hot day so I'm sure one person could have made a couple of coffees... To be honest, I would have been happy to have waited if you hadn't of been so rude to me and your staff.. Not a great start to the season.. I hope you apologise to your staff and start treating them more respectfully ASAP! I'd be happy to help with customer service and management skills training. Kirsty (ex Landlady plus 20 years experience in...

I can't speak highly enough of this place ! If you visit or live on the Isle of Wight you must go here !.

Delicious food, the prawn sandwich is full of prawns !. We had hot drinks.

Service was amazing, we moved tables as it was windy and it was not problem with the waitress getting our order to us.

Amazing view of the sea while you eat.

Unless there's another way down, access may be difficult, we came down the step path and going up wasn't easy, so bear that in mind if you have mobility issues.

We parked at the gardens at the top (£5 all day) but I'm unsure if there's better parking for the beach shack, we had to walk the dog so the walk didn't bother us.

The beach shack is dog friendly.

The toilet is at the bottom of the steps to the left (not on the premises), its looked after my volunteers (I think) and they ask for a donation afterwards to help stop the council from closing it.

I would 100% go back, I have happy memories of the amazing food with the waves crashing surroundings..... would recommend...