The Smugglers at The Queens Head — Restaurant in North Tyneside

Where on holiday this week up at Whitley Bay and by chance decided to stop here for some lunch. This pub sits right on the coast and is only a short drive or walk from various beaches.

We entered the pub and was greeted by the lovely staff who explained we could sit wherever we liked and then handed us some menus. We did overhear the bar staff telling someone that there was a bar menu or restaurant menu, we where not offered this but I believe the bar menu is only for eating outside?

I opted for fish and chips as we where by the seaside I though it was only right 😁 the Mrs opted for chicken goujons and my little one went for the kids Cod bites.

Food took around 15 min to come, the pub wasn't overly busy but this place appears to cook to order which is great, plates and food where all hot which is exactly how you'd want the food serving. The fish and chips where amazing, came with peas and a pot of tartar sauce (pic attached). I was told the chicken and cod goujons where also very nice.

The pub was very well maintained and the decor was a nice seaside theme possibly newly decorated if not very well looked after. The staff where happy to help with anything and where always smiling.

My only issue and this still doesn't affect my rating is that there was a fair bit of broken glass in the car park, this was spread over a number of spaces and could cause issues either with cars or children walking across the car park.

We leave on Friday but are considering popping in again for lunch before we leave we enjoyed...

The worst Sunday dinner I have ever had!! We tried here with our in laws on a sunny Sunday afternoon just because all the chip shops were heaving, me and my husband always wanted to try here but what a disappointment!

Maybe they were having a bad day but the place wasn’t exactly busy and we ordered potato skins as a starter which came out burnt and then we ordered 2 lamb dinners, 1 chicken dinner and 1 scampi with chips. There was a table of 6 that came in after our table of 4 and yet they got their food way before us.

We waited an hour for the mains to come out after the starter, when they finally came out they were lukewarm, the lamb had to be sent back as it was undercooked and the roast dinners themselves were honestly just terrible. The only thing with flavour on the plate was the gravy! The stuffing was dry and overcooked, the only decent things on the plate were the chicken and the mash but the mash was lukewarm, the veggies weren’t cooked properly so they were crunchy but the worst part was the Yorkshire puddings which were as if they’d been made with a dumpling mix, they were heavy and disgusting and quite frankly inedible.

Honestly this was the worst roast dinner I’ve ever had and I’ve had a lot. We’d always wanted to try this place but based on this experience we won’t be back! It’s a shame because it’s a lovely building in a nice place but the food is actually disgusting! If you drive past this place then just keep going! We refused to pay in the end, that’s...

Decent pub, decent pint, great location. However, ordered 2 x chilli beef loaded nachos and they were poor. Sadly, didnt taste as good as they looked. Advertised on the menu as being topped with melted mozzarella but arrived covered in bright orange, low quality cheddar and not fully melted. The beef chilli was bland and with no heat. Expected better at over 8 quid a pop. Loaded fries were substantial and lovely but potatoe skins were cold when placed on the table. I don't take pleasure in writing less than favourable reviews for any local business but if you ordered a pizza for delivery and it arrived covered in cheddar cheese or red Leicester, it wouldn't taste as expected or as advertised so its same case here. All constructive and in my honest opinion. Didn't have the heart to complain as the staff were fine and it was busy so just left. Would go back but...