The Beach Hut at Watergate Bay

Tucked away at the edge of Watergate Bay sits beachside bar & restaurant, The Beach Hut.

Owned by Watergate Bay Hotel, The Beach Hut is one of their three restaurants in the area, and sits nestled in the cliff between the hotel and Jamie Oliver’s fine dining restaurant, Fifteen. With all this plus a stunning beach and beautiful cliff walks all around, this little resort on the outskirts of Newquay is a pretty buzzing place to be!

The only times I’ve visited Watergate Bay myself is during Boardmasters Festival, where my friends and I would stumble down through the fields in a hungover stupor, and run into the sea to refresh ourselves in the August sunshine. For the rest of the year, though, I can imagine this place is fantastic for surfing, relaxing, and having a few relaxed drinks by the ocean.

Alex and I arrived and were seated out in the conservatory, just catching the last of the light as the sun went down over the horizon. Whilst I love this time of year, it’s so annoying that the sunsets are now before we eat dinner, so I keep missing them when we are out and it’s dark by the time we’re sat down!

We grabbed a couple of cocktails and settled in. During the lighter months, I can imagine it being beautifully warm and bright sat out here with an amazing view of the North coast sea. We both agreed this would be the perfect hangout spot for an evening of cocktails with friends – the drinks we had were delicious!

For starters, Alex ordered the mussels in a creamy wine sauce, while I went for the deep fried squid with garlic mayo. Oh my word – guys, if you head to The Beach Hut, you have to get this dish – it was amazing! Perfect, light batter on the squid rings, and the garlic mayo was epic. I had so much left I kept the pot to have with the chips for my main course.

For main course, Alex ordered the rump steak with chips, while I chose the chicken burger with avocado and bacon (my first meat burger in a LONG time, but it was very tasty!). We were both so full by this point (our starters were very generous portions!) that we debated whether we’d be able to fit dessert in, but we decided we couldn’t leave without trying the creme brulee as it is both of our favourite desserts.

I’m so glad we did – it was very yummy – but I’m also glad we shared because it was pretty big! I’d suggest if you visit, you probably won’t need a full three courses (unless you’re a hungry surfer who’s been out in the sea all day, perhaps?) as each dish is a really good size!

This last week has been an incredible one for sunsets – has anyone else seen all the photos of the North coast across Instagram and Twitter? This particular evening the sky was turning bright pinks and purples too, but was hidden behind a very moody set of clouds, so it was hard to get many clear pictures. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful setting for a delicious date night!