Seabirds, Flamborough – Pub and Restaurant Review
Seabirds, Flamborough
Jacklyn Swiecicki reviews Seabirds, a local pub / restaurant located in Flamborough
Set in the quaint seaside town of Flamborough, Seabirds is a local pub/restaurant worthy of a visit. You won’t find any sticky coasters on the tables here, the décor is clean, simple and a great polished up version of a classic English pub.
Although most holidays-makers pass through Flamborough on their way to the shores of Scarborough; England’s oldest seaside resort in north-east Yorkshire, this town is peaceful and sweetly scattered with iconic English country homes.
In complementing the picturesque and characteristic geography of Flamborough, Seabirds is accordingly traditional and simplistic, and this is reflected in their typical pub menu choices: steak, chicken and seafood. Whilst the menu may appear to be quite limited, in particular the vegetarian options, I was more interested in the quality of the local produce and how standard pub dishes could either be perfected or disastrously ruined within the pub kitchen.
Starter options sounded tasty. Greek salad with feta (£6.25); a more exciting smoked mackerel with a horseradish cream (£5.95), and king scallops drizzled in garlic butter (£6.95). All seasonal dishes are changed daily according to local availability and how lucky the local fisherman has been that day.
I wrongly opted to skip the starter, despite the fact that my companions scallops made my nostrils linger over the robust scent of pungent garlic. Delicious. Instead I decided to prepare myself for a challenge that I alone was about to face. I was going to eat a 10oz rump steak – steak which I had not eaten for over 15 years!
Whilst other main dishes such as grilled lemon sole with parsley butter (£16.95); fresh halibut steak dressed in a cream and dill sauce (£16.25) and Whitby scampi (£7.95) all sounded more like my kind of meal, I wanted to try a pub staple: steak, and determine if I had really been missing out on a good slab of meat for all these years!
My rump steak was served alongside three grilled mushrooms, half a tomato, and two greasy and unpalatable onion rings. At £12.75, I was expecting my 10oz steak to be dressed up a little more. The cut of meat was undoubtedly fabulous, however I requested that my steak be cooked medium and it was definitely more than well-done. It is such a disappointment because I see many restaurants get the cooking time of their meat all wrong. For a pub, a pricey and busy one at that, you would expect a steak to be cooked to perfection, and yet this amazing piece of meat was not done justice. My companion’s salmon in Mornay sauce (£10.25) on the other hand, was tenderly moist and despite the massive presence of Mornay sauce on the plate, this sauce was sensational without being overwhelmingly cheesy.
Deserts all sounded great – they always do. Ginger and treacle sponge; warm chocolate fudge cake, or for a savoury bite, an appetizing cheese board to share. I couldn’t resist some cheese as I was hungry from offering the remainder of my steak to my companion. The cheese selection was nice, with an expected slice of Brie, Cheddar, a smoked cheese and sadly no Stilton (my favourite). Nonetheless, it was an enjoyable end to an okay meal.
Seabirds is a lovely little eatery and judging by the crowds; booking on weekends is essential, people seem to enjoy coming back here time and time again. The staff and atmosphere is inviting and although my steak was not memorable, my experience was.
Seabirds
01262 850242
Jacklyn Swiecicki
We dined at the seabirds on Monday the 1st August 2011 and I have to say for a meal that cost us almost £40.00 with only 1 pint of beer and a glass of wine we were very disappointed,
we had scallops to start which were under cooked and very bland the salmon and chicken with red wine gravy for main which were also very ordinary and bland!!
We tried to order another round of drinks which never arrived and when we cam to pay at the end we were asked if everything was ok and at this point we said that the scallops werent cooked and the waitress just laughed !!
We left the establishment very disappointed and will not be returning!!
Having read your comments it seems not only the staff require a course in customer service but also the management. Our experience of the seabirds is a liitle different but just as disappointing.
We booked for christmas lunch in august, was told we were the first ones “logged in the book”, only to receive the menu in october, promply returned it only to receive a phone call telling us it was fully booked!
To try and resolve the matter my husband rang the manager, only to receive a mouthful of abuse and having the phone slammed down on him. Needless to say we wont be returning either.
I was surprised to read the above reviews.
I have eaten a few times at the Seabirds, Flamborough, the staff were always friendly and the food excellent.
It is also worrying that Jan considers that most holidaymakers pass through Flamborough on there way to Scarborough, as they have had to go a long way out of their way to achieve this and would need to a boat!