Good, honest pub grub at The Waterside Bar in Hunstanton a reasonable price and with a view of the sea

Our reviewer broke tradition on a recent trip to the coast and didn’t have fish and chips on The Green…

I was born on the Norfolk coast, and more often than not, I return when I get a free day at the weekend.

And like many, my wife and I have our virtually unspoken traditions when we go there. At Wells we walk up and down the beach road and then visit the chippie and eat our food on the wall opposite the shop.

At Snettisham, my birthplace, we walk to Heacham, have a coffee or an ice cream, and then walk back.

At Hunstanton, we again have a chip shop meal and, almost without exception, eat it on the beautiful, expansive green.

But what do creatures of habit do when it’s such a windy Sunday that they fear their chips will be blown away and, even though it’s late May, they have no jackets and feel nippy? Time to break tradition and eat indoors!

All the hundreds of times I’ve been to Hunstanton over the years (I was brought up calling it Hunston by the way and still do), I think I’ve only ever eaten in twice. Ten years ago or so at The Waterside Bar when it was raining and my young children were hungry, and a couple of years ago at The Golden Lion for a food review.

On this particular Sunday we decided on a return to the Waterside, which, at just before noon, was already getting busy. It’s a big, spacious place, with a traditional bar where you can eat or drink, a conservatory room and an outdoor eating area, and there was a good mixture of locals and tourists.

Food is served from 11am to 9pm and well-behaved dogs on leads are welcome. We had our elderly German Spitz Riley and our little Chihuahua Jessie with us, so that was good news.

After overhearing a conversation on the way in, we established that you order food at the bar. We found ourselves a seat in the conservatory and looked at the menus.

There was a good mix of what I’d call good, honest pub grub, and all at very reasonable prices. Unusually, no starters or desserts but I suppose this is very much a holiday town restaurant, where families are popping in for something to eat rather than ‘a meal out’ as an occasion.

There were pies, meat dishes, fish, pasta, steaks, burgers and salads, all around the £12-£13 mark, along with sandwiches around £6-£7, served with salad and crisps. There were also children’s dishes for £6.90.

Keeping with our Hunny tradition, Josi went for ‘Chef’s Pride’ line-caught cod (£13.90), which was fried in Waterside’s special batter, and I opted for the broccoli and cheese bake (£12.90), which came with a side salad and chips.

There was no drinks menu, but this is a pub too, so that was no problem, although you do have to order and pay for food and drinks at separate counters, which was a bit of a palaver.

Anyway, I returned to our table with a large glass of Pinot Grigio and a pint of orange juice and lemonade (total £11.70).

Josi said her large cod was fresh and tender, and I found my bake creamy and full of flavour. We both agreed the chips were good and our portions were of a good size.

The total bill came to £38.50 - not bad for a restaurant overlooking the sea in a busy coastal resort.

But we did fancy something sweet… so we went to the Candy Castle booth virtually next door, where Josi had a tub of vanilla ice cream and I had a salted caramel vegan tub - they were £4 each.

Nothing is cheap these days - our parking certainly wasn’t - but less than £50 for a good main course, small dessert and drinks wasn’t bad in our opinion. And who can beat Hunstanton?

Ratings (for Waterside Bar):

Food: Decent portions, fresh and tasty. ***

Drink: Our drinks were good and there was lots of choice. ****

Staff: Polite and efficient. ***

Decor: Some interesting posters on the walls. ***

Price: Not cheap but certainly not expensive, especially for the location. ***