Sir Charlies in South Tyneside

Amazing setting, but the food didn't quite live up to it I'm afraid. The salt and pepper chips were just Fries with a tiny bit of seasoning, so just tasted like normal Fries. The cod burger was dry and there was hardly any katsu sauce on it. The salad was all dried out like it had been sat there for a while. Sounded really promising on the menu, but not well executed.

Beautiful building, cant fault that at all and the service was good. Food though... not so great, especially the vegan offerings. Staff were confused about which items were vegan, the vegan burger was served with coleslaw and the burger itself was like a blast from the best- a dry beany affair reminiscent of the bad old days of token veggie options. Non vegan items were also just OK.Would go back for drinks, not fussed about the food.

A real hidden gem. The food was really nice and not too expensive. The beach is also great, with little caves to explore that the kids love. My only gripe would be the lift...it isn't that big and is quite slow. At busy times it can take quite a long time.

Beautiful place with pleasant staff, approachable, relaxed atmosphere. We walked down the stairs and up the lift. We only had drinks. You have to pay and display for the parking. That's the only negative thing I can think of. The beach was clean and gobsmackingly beautiful to be respected. I would recommend.

Went to The Grotto with my husband yesterday, had high hopes of enjoying a delicious meal together. The smell of animals was really bad but thought we'd stay because the menu was tempting. We ordered a starter & a main each, I got creamy garlic prawns and hubby got spicy prawns and both were bland, watery sauce, definitely not freshly sourced from the sea as stated on the menu (probably shop bought). Our mains were just as disappointing so when asked if everything was OK with meals I told bar staff no and explained why but no feedback was given. Very over priced, poor quality food, very dirty and £2 parking charge to top it off.👎👎👎

Interesting place with a fine history. Accessed by a lift arriving in the grotto itself. The grotto is carved into the cliff itself and has a bar, restaurant and hotel. Friendly staff and good service too. Food is tasty and so nice. Worth a visit. However, there is a car park charge on the cliff top next to the lift

Went here today for my brother in laws birthday. We arrived a little late and some of the group had already ordered. My husband placed the order for us and our children and waited for the meal. The rest of the group had ordered about 10 minutes before us so when their food arrived we assumed that ours would not be too much longer (we had been told it was a 30 minute wait). However after multiple visits to the bar and distracting two very hungry 6 year olds we eventually got our food about 90 minutes after ordering. Unfortunately the food was not great; not much meat in the wrap, too many peppers and the fries were cold. I've never had to wait this long for food anywhere even in busy restaurants. There was no update from staff to inform us of any delays and we kept getting the same response when asking how long it would be. I think 90 minutes is far too long to wait for a wrap, a burger and 2 kids meals and at over £40 for the meal it wasn't cheap. I can only assume our order was misplaced as other tables who arrived after us got their food and left before ours even arrived. If we hadn't been here for a birthday I would have asked for a refund and gone somewhere else. I will definitely never come here again.

First time today my partner has been to the grotto after telling her its lovely for coffee. We ordered caramel latte and mint hot chocolate for my latte to look like a milky cup of tea which had no froth at all very disappointed..The size of the cups for £7.40 shocking when I can go to Costa or Starbucks and get a large for cheaper ... view was nice but drinks need to be looked at .Will not go back in a hurry staff need training on qc before customer receives.

The Grotto is a fantastically situated place, it's cosy inside and dog friendly.Unfortunately the day we visited, they were understaffed in the kitchen, leading to us waiting over an hour for our wraps and burgers (not difficult to prepare)we were told it was a 30 minute wait, but it was much longer.our kids were very disappointed and very hungry. The staff are friendly, they have a good range of hot and alcoholic drinks. But the food was poor.I will visit again, but not to eat.

Really expensive for the quality of food served. The Bier Moretti tap was pouring Carling (very different!)Whilst fish does have bones in on occasion, there seemed to be an exceptional amount. My partner‘s appeared to have a dinosaur bone in it!One of our party ordered mussels, over three quarters of the mussels were still closed.On top of this, service took forever!