10 Child-friendly places to take the kids for fish and chips this Good Friday

I just love going out for fish and chips with the kids on Good Friday and it's a tradition we've taken part in for as long as we can remember. Over the years, we've tried various places across the North East and all of the fish and chips mentioned in this post have been personally tried and tested by either us as a family or my friends. Let me know if you have any favourites we've missed that we should try.

If the weather is nice, we like to grab a takeaway and enjoy our fish and chips on the beach. If you'd like to do this, my top tip is to get to your chosen takeaway as soon as they open as queues on Good Friday really build up quite quickly! Personally, I prefer to book a restaurant these days as it stops us having to deal with bored kids in a queue and it's warmer too! We tend to take part in a National Trust Egg Hunt or a walk along the coast afterwards.

1 - Evan's Bistro, Whitley Bay

Evan's Bistro in Whitley Bay are hosting a special Good Friday event this year. Diners can enjoy a hand-battered Cod fillet served with homemade chips and tartar sauce for just £7.50. Children aren't forgotten either and fish goujons, chips and peas plus a drink and ice cream will set you back just £4.95. The restaurant has it's own children's snug filled with games and toys so it's perfect for families looking for a relaxed lunch or dinner after a walk along the coast. Find out more here and call 0191 252 6532 to book.

Fish and Chips - Evan's Bistro 

2 - Colman's Seafood Temple, South Shields 

Colman's Seafood Temple is the only place on this list I haven't visited personally. My good friend Katie Jane speaks very highly of this place though and is a frequent visitor. I trust Katie's judgement (check out Katie's review here) and we're planning on finally visiting Colman's Seafood Temple in South Shields in the Easter Holidays so I'll update this post with my own thoughts once I've visited. Prime Cod and chips will set you back £9.75 and children's meals are priced at £5.25 including a drink and ice cream. There's so much to do in South Shields after your meal from Ocean Beach Pleasure Park to Dunes Soft Play or a walk along the beach. Find out more here and call 0191 511 1349 to book.

Fish and Chips - Colman's Seafood Temple | Credit | Katie Jane Online 

3 - Black Horse Beamish

We booked the Black Horse Beamish pub for Fish and Chips a few years ago and were really impressed. The restaurant is light and airy, the staff attentive and the food was delicious too. There's a play park in the beer garden for the kids if the weather plays ball too. Fish and Chips are a little on the pricey side here at £14.95 for a full portion or £9.95 for a half portion but worth it for a treat. Children's meals are reasonable at £4.95 for a main, dessert and drink. Black Horse Beamish is well located for a trip to Tanfield Railway or Beamish Museum.  Find out more here and call 01207 232 569 to book.

Fish and Chips - Black Horse Beamish

4 - Marshalls, Tynemouth

Marshalls on Tynemouth Front Street is a bit of a North East institution and there are always queues on Good Friday but they are 1000% worth it. You can choose to dine in their traditional cafe or take out and enjoy overlooking Kind Edward's Bay. Find out more here.

Fish and Chips - Marshall's Tynemouth

5 - Pantrinis, Whitley Bay

Pantrinis in Whitley Bay is a fantastic option if you're looking for traditional fish and chips by the sea. Diners can eat in (recommended) or take-away. Meals are very reasonably priced too. Find out more here.

Fish and Chips - Pantrinis Whitley Bay

6 - Longsands Fish Kitchen, Tynemouth

Longsands Fish Kitchen in Tynemouth is award-winning and I can certainly see why. You can dine in (recommended) or take away. I adore their crispy squid and fish and chips with curry sauce - yum! Cod and chips will set you back just £9.95 when dining in and £5.95 for kids (with ice cream). Find out more here and call 0191 272 8552 to book.

Fish and Chips - Longsands Fish Kitchen

7 - Coastline, Blyth 

You can order traditional fish and chips or stonebaked pizzas from Coastline Blyth. It's another restaurant where you can choose to dine in as we did this winter or take away. Coastline is perfectly located for a walk along the prom and there are two big parks right outside and an ice cream parlour on site too - perfect for families. The Coastline Special with all the trimmings including a cup of tea is £11.50 and kids meals are £3.90 including chips and a drink.

Fish and Chips - Coastline Blyth 

8 - The Harbour Fish Bar, Amble 

The Harbour Fish Bar in Amble is one of our go-to places when staying in our family caravan at Cresswell. The fish and chips from here are always authentic and perfect to eat in the car overlooking the harbour (and to avoid those pesky seagulls). Find out more here. 

Fish and Chips - The Harbour Bar, Amble 

9 - The Little Fishy, Quayside Seaside  

The Little Fishy will be settled into their new summer home on the Quayside Seaside in time for Good Friday. This year's Quayside Seaside is going to feature a playground for children aged 3-7 years as well as buckets and spades, lots of sand and striped deckchairs for the grown-ups. It will be a perfect choice if the weather is warm and sunny. Fish is a little different here - sourced from North Shields Fish Quay, covered in Panko Breadcrumbs and fried in Rapeseed oil. Find out more here.

Fish and Chips - The Little Fishy

10 - Bells Fish and Chips Restaurant, Durham 

Bells Fish and Chips Restaurant in Durham City Centre has a real quality feel about it and is a lovely place to visit for a treat. Children are made to feel very welcome in the restaurant and we loved their kid's packs last year. You can choose to dine in or takeaway. Cod, chips, tartar sauce and bread and butter is less than a tenner and children's meals are £6.45 including ice cream. Find out more here and call 0191 3848974 to book.

Fish and Chips - Bells Fish Restaurant Durham

I'd love to hear where you'll be heading for Fish and Chips this Good Friday. 

What to do when it Rains in North East England

Living in the North East, you can always count on one thing - you're never too far from a rain shower. It doesn't matter what season it is, there's always going to be rain at some point.

A 3 hour lunch stop at Fountains Abbey with kids

Fountains Abbey is somewhere I have wanted to visit in forever and can definitely call itself one of the best family days out in North Yorkshire. It's conveniently located not far from the A1 near Lightwater Valley and Ripon and is only about a 1 hour 20-minute drive from home for us but despite many plans for us to visit, we just never got around to it or something would come up!

Fountains Abbey is halfway between our home and Darwin Forest in Derbyshire so during our recent trip there, it felt like the perfect stop-off for lunch on the way home. Fountains Abbey is free to visit if you're a National Trust member as we are and there is plentiful free parking on site.

With three starving kids, we headed straight to the on-site restaurant for lunch. I think Steve is the only person over the age of 30 who does not appreciate a National Trust Tearoom. He honestly hates them! He doesn't moan about much but if I mention lunch and National Trust in the same breath he will normally twist his face. Apparently, a lot of their food is 'samey', pre-made and overpriced. I guess he kind of has a point but I think the delicious homemade cakes more than make up for it. The restaurant at Fountains Abbey actually received Steve's seal of approval as he tucked into a proper Yorkshire Pork Pie. Jack and I enjoyed the homemade sausage rolls too and everyone else devoured a couple of sandwiches, homemade chocolate brownies and crisps. At £29 for the 5 of us, I didn't think it was too bad at all. If I was visiting in the summer though I'd definitely pack a picnic as there are so many picnic spots in the grounds.

After lunch we walked past a play park but decided to give this a miss today as it was just supposed to be a flying visit. We'll definitely pop in next time. Before long, the Abbey was in sight and it really took my breath away. It is HUGE and in really good condition considering it was built in the 12th century.

My pictures just don't do the abbey justice. We ventured inside and there are so many rooms and ruins to explore, we barely touched the surface. There's a beautiful riverside walk from the abbey too and the banks were lined with snowdrops.

We left the Abbey behind in search of the Water Gardens and by this point it had decided to rain. Booo! Jack pointed out lots of different types of trees and there's lots of wonderful nature to admire as you walk. The water gardens are so peaceful and lovely to walk around. I can't wait to revisit when the sky is blue and the flowers are in bloom.

From the water gardens, we continued up to the deer park. I had no idea there was a deer park here! I think Studley Gardens (& deer park) and Fountains Abbey are actually two different National Trust properties next to each other. The kids were getting pretty tired by this point but I was determined to continue on so we hiked up a hill and then walked around the deer park trying our very best to spot some deer. We weren't in luck today but maybe next time. The views of the country park were beautiful.

The walk got a little weird here as we had to exit the deer park via a gate and then walk along a path outside of the grounds and next to a main road to bring us back to Fountains Abbey car park. By this point the kids were wrecked but I was still feeling raring to go and loved all of the country air we'd enjoyed.

We spent around 40 minutes in the restaurant and a couple of hours walking around the estate - we still barely scratched the surface and really can't wait to re-visit this summer for the full day with a picnic.

Let me know if you've visited Fountains Abbey and if you've enjoyed a walk around the estate with kids. 

Pin Me For Later 

Darwin Forest Country Park | 3 Bed Haddon Classic Vogue Lodge with Hot Tub - Review

*This is a collaborative post

During our stay at Darwin Forest in the Peak District, I was really impressed with our Haddon Classic Vogue Lodge despite it being one of the cheaper accommodation options available (for real wow factor, check out 'The Glade' here). Our lodge was very well equipped and comfortable and perfect for a short weekend break with three kids. In today's post, I'm going to give you a little guided tour of our accommodation. 

We stayed in lodge 106 which is on the outskirts of the park and a lodge with the longest walk to the main entertainment complex. On a map it looked like it would be quite a walk but in reality it was less than 10 minutes and along one short path. Darwin Forest is a pretty small park and I think it doesn't really matter where you're located as everywhere will be close enough. 

The main living area in our Classic Vogue Lodge was open plan with two sofas, a TV (with freeview), music system and faux-fire in the corner. The furniture was all of good quality and I loved the big patio doors and large windows that let lots of light in. The lodges are super practical for forest life - I'm really not a fan of staying in lodges with carpets and kids as I'm always so worried about the mud they'll trail in - these lodges have that covered with wooden flooring throughout but are still nice and homely with their rugs and soft furnishings. 

We're on EE and could not receive any phone signal here, I wasn't planning on using Darwin Forest's WiFi if I'm honest but we found the connection to be pretty good - it's free for the duration of your stay and the kids could stream their YouTube videos and I could check Social Media without any problems. 

Credit - Darwin Forest

The kitchen/dining area was very well equipped too with every kind of pot and pan you could desire. We cooked most of our meals in the kitchen and found it to be like a home from home. There's a full-size integrated fridge freezer, a dishwasher and even a washing machine too. We were given a little welcome kit featuring tea and coffee and a cleaning kit containing enough dishwasher tablets for our stay, bin bags, cloths and a few other bits and bobs. Perfect! There's also a vacuum cleaner and ironing board too. I'm not a fan of cleaning (especially on holiday) but I hate staying somewhere that doesn't have it's own vacuum cleaner - I like to be able to take care of the places we're staying in. 

Our lodge had three bedrooms - beds were all made on arrival and were nice and comfy. I liked that there were plug sockets next to the bed and bedside lamps too. The heating in the lodges is via electric radiators and we stayed during a blizzard but were still nice and cosy - The only thing I would have liked was a blanket in the main living room for snuggling on the sofa.

Each bedroom featured lots of storage with drawers and a full-size wardrobe - a family of 6 could easily stay here for a week and have plenty of space.

The 3 Bed Haddon Classic Lodge has two bathrooms - a main family bathroom with bath and shower plus an en-suite shower and toilet for the master bedroom. We were provided with towels, loo rolls and toiletries and the bathrooms were spotless. One thing I will say is the showers are only electric showers and weren't too powerful - they did the job but don't expect a power shower in the morning.

There is plenty of space around each lodge at Darwin Forest and the hot tubs were subtly enclosed with a natural screen so there was lots of privacy too.

Our hot tub wasn't the hottest one I've ever been in or the fanciest but it did the job and the kids loved sitting out in the afternoons - even in the snow! Maintenance staff will check the hot tub twice daily for you too. In the evenings, Steve and I loved relaxing with a bottle of Champagne under the stars. It was so peaceful! If you are wondering whether to book a lodge with or without a hot tub, I'd definitely say go for it.

Cars can park right outside of lodges here (which I prefer) and although there may be a concern re: traffic, we really didn't find it an issue at all. We had a lovely decked area and then grass and woodland behind behind our lodge where the kids could safely play. Our decking was equipped with a table and chairs and I bet it's lovely in the warmer months. 

Sometimes when we stay in lodges I find storage to be a real issue but that absolutely wasn't the case here, as well as full size drawers in every bedroom and a full size fridge-freezer, there were also empty kitchen cupboards where we could store food (this is actually quite rare) and as we stepped in the door there was a huge triple cupboard where we could hang coats and store our wellies and shoes - super handy and practical. 

Our stay in a 3 bed Haddon Classic Vogue Lodge didn't feel overly luxurious and if you're looking for a luxury getaway I'd recommend booking a higher grade of accommodation. We found it to be perfect for our family though. Classic Vogue Lodges are comfortable, kitted out with everything you need for a self-catering break, are very clean and very practical with lots of storage options for families.

A Classic Vogue Lodge with Hot Tub is available to book from £409 (sleeps 4) to £449 (sleeps 6) and £589 (sleeps 8). If you're not too fussed about a hot tub, you'll receive a discount.

Find out more about Classic Vogue Lodges here.

Not only can you enjoy a fantastic, well-equipped lodge at Darwin forest but there's also plenty to see and do too. From free forest trails and outdoor adventure playgrounds to a cosy pub, restaurant and fantastic soft play to activities such as swimming, snorkelling and archery and even it's own spa. There's LOADS to do - read about our stay during bad weather and what we got up to here. 

Let me know if you like the look of these lodges. 

Pin Me For Later