The Flock had gone to see Geordie Bird (Man Birds’ Mummy) and somehow survived the joy-sucking journey of Friday on the M1 and A1 car parks. After a good nights’ kip the Geordie Bird and Chickadee had swanned off to see another of the foreign speaking family members leaving His Nibs and I somewhat redundant. In such circumstances there is only one thing to do – go to the seaside and waste copious amounts of cash trying to win various bits of plastic tat; Whitley Bay is the perfect place to do just that.
It took a fair while for me to insert the last 2p into the slot, so I was a happy camper; The Boy Wonder had channelled his inner teen and shovelled £1 coin after £1 in the slots and quickly got through his budget.
In all honesty the weather wasn’t up to much; it was dry but that’s about all that can be said about it. Looking at the sky over in the distance wasn’t filling me with much confidence that better weather was on its way, so we decided to skip our usual walk on the beach and get a warm drink and a cheeky nibble inside us.
Normally we go into De Mios for a bite of lunch, but it was a bit early for lunch and we had booked to go out for dinner that evening so didn’t want to stuff ourselves. On previous forays to Whitley Bay The Man Bird and I have had several meals at Siam Bay, so we were surprised to see that it was no longer there; replaced by a venue called the Crab and Waltzer. As you know, I’m a bit of a nosey parker, so with my curiosity piqued we crossed the road and wandered in for a quick neb round.
The first thing that bamboozled us was the fact that they’ve moved the entry door to the other side! After a quick glance round to check no-one had seen our rookie blunder, we mooched around to the new entrance with our *ahem* street cred intact. Inside, there are lovely wooden floors and wooden tables of varying heights which just gives a bit of visual interest to the open space. The taller tables have low backed stools to perch on, rather than the normal chairs at the lower tables. Exposed brickwork is everywhere and its warm earthy red tones help to give the venue a more welcoming feel. Large driftwood beams hand from the ceiling and provided the perfect place from which to suspend teardrop shaped, honey toned light bulbs.
The real show stopper in the premises though is a bona fide fairground Waltzer Car; fabulous! It seats three comfortably and where the safety bar would be is a slick table. Personally, I would grab another couple of these and pop them in front of the windows that overlook the lawn and the sea beyond.
To me, the Crab and Waltzer feels like it needs to grow into itself; like a puppy that has rolls of wrinkly skin it needs to fill out. However, seeing as it only opened in June this year (2017) this is entirely to be expected. The staff are lovely; all the young girls were very polite and attentive, they really couldn’t do enough for us. When they got a spare moment after bringing us more coffee they were happy to stop and have a chat.
His Nibs and I just had scones to stave off our rumbling tummies; Cherry for him, Cheese for me. All the food is prepared on site and the scones were very generous in size and beautifully light textured. The rest of the menu is nice and varied; as well as favourites like scampi, salads and jacket potatoes, there are seaside stalwarts like Crab sandwiches. Children have their own little menu, and they have the most amazing seaside hut themed area complete with toys to have fun in.
The “huts” are painted in ice cream and sorbet pastel hues and bunting galore decorates the space. There are several tables and seats for parents to sit in and supervise their little folk whilst they gallivant around with their new-made buddies.
Whilst we were munching and slurping away several couples came in with their pooches and took seats, so it’s safe to say that the Crab and Waltzer is dog friendly – yay! :) It has the potential to not only be great in tourist season, but also to be a community hub all year round; something that should be more common in my opinion.
If you find yourselves in Whitley Bay, or if you’re lucky enough to live there, go along and sample the food. I can recommend both types of scones, and the coffee is really nice too :) Hopefully see you again next year guys!
