Tag: minehead

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Small cod, well that was what I ordered

As I was just going to call the title of this blog, Small Cod I realised that people may think that this was a criticism, actually I ordered small cod and chips, so that is what I got.

We were on a day out to Minehead, travelling their on the excellent West Somerset Railway. I had planned to go somewhere for lunch, didn’t do too much planning, but had a few ideas.

Despite a lovely sunny morning, the clouds looked menacing, so the idea of fish and chips on the beach was looking like a no.

Walking up down The Avenue, there were a few choices, but in the end we went to The Cod Shop.

It would have been nice to sit outside, but it had started to rain, so we sat inside.

It was a really nice decor inside, there was a blue and white seaside theme throughout the restaurant. I thought it was really nice calming environment.

Took a table and looked over the menu. It was lunchtime, and I wasn’t overtly hungry (having just spent two hours sitting on a train) I went with the small cod special. This was a small cod, chips, a side, a dip, and a drink. I had mushy peas and mayonnaise with my cod. It wasn’t long before our food arrived.

The cod had a lovely crisp batter, and the fish was well cooked. The chips were a little underdone for me. The cod was a rather small portion, but that is what I ordered, why should I be surprised that the fish was on the small side. I did though enjoy the fish and chips.

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Eating at the diner

Butlins American Diner

Recently I was on holiday at Butlins in Minehead. One evening we went to the relatively new Diner. This is an American style diner complete with booths, signage and singers.

It was much bigger on the inside then it looked from the exterior, somewhat like the TARDIS. It was quite early and we had a choice of seats, in the end we chose a booth close to the juke box. Alas the jukebox was fake… I didn’t quite understand why there was a fake jukebox, well actually I did, it was there for aesthetic purposes and not so diners could choose some music. The diner had music, but we as diners had no choice. I also wonder if it was a cost saving measure, as I know a juke box can be expensive to run, both in terms of licensing but also in maintenance. I did wonder if they could go with a digital jukebox. I did make the suggestion to the staff that they should get a real jukebox.

As I was in an American style diner, I decided to go with a burger and had the Fonz. This was a prime 6oz beefburger topped with Monterey Jack cheese, crispy bacon, BBQ sauce and diced avocado. Stacked up with homemade onion rings.

Fonz Burger

Was I surprised when the meal arrived in what could only be called a cutlery draining basket! Why can’t we have plates? What is wrong with plates? I think these basket things are quite normal in US diners. However the burger was delicious. I was less impressed with the roll, which was a standard floured bap. It was supposed to be a glazed brioche bun, but they had run out!

The ‘slaw was really interesting, this was no standard cheap coleslaw. I really liked the small peppers that it had. Not sure for this convention of called coleslaw, slaw, is this an American thing?

I really enjoyed the burger and I did feel that they had captured what an American diner from the movies and television was like. Was it like a real authentic American diner? Probably not, but this was Minehead!