Scarborough Restaurants

No food says you are 'up North' better than fish and chips, and if you want to try the best of the best, it's worth slumming it a bit! Oasis cafe is on the North Bay and looks like a shack with benches outside, but it is home to Scarborough's best fish and chips... and I've not had better elsewhere, either. It's where I take all my friends when they visit!

For just over £3 you can sample locally-caught fish, cooked fresh to order, and eat it on a bench overlooking the sea front. In the summer that sounds great (the queue at the counter is worth braving... it's in an ideal location for a lunchtime snack if you're on the beach or have been surfing), but don't be put off in the winter as the views are just as fantastic (even better if you want to see some awesone storms!) and there are heatlamps around to stop your fingers freezing. Summer opening hours are 6am til late (usually around 10pm), but in December they start to close at around 5 or 6pm. They recently applied for planning permission to build an indoor area, so that could be built by next summer if they are lucky.

Favorite Dish: Gotta be the fish and chips! It's a really basic take-out / cafe but has something for most people. They do great chicken burgers too.

Delicious fresh homemade snacks, salads, and more substantials meals, served in calm surroundings. All cakes are made daily and are a must to go with the excellent coffees. Also check out the chocolate shop adjoining, same management and there long before the coffee shop.

Favorite Dish: Everything

So you have a very olde worlde pub in a great location ( an old 17th century watermill that is built in to the sea wall) - good residential area, a natural beauty spot outside and the Sea Life centre across from it. And this is the Old Scalby Mills - the building is outdated internally - the toilets needs total refurbishment. The bar area is cluttered. The tables are dirty. The young staff have no interest in serving their customers and it took 45 minutes from ordering a simple order for food for it to arrive at the table. There are only 12 tables and it should be easy to maintain good service with such few tables. Very congested at busy times. A real opportunity to have a first class pub / restaurant has been missed.

Favorite Dish: Oh the food - when it finally arrived it was very good. Only simple fayre - potatoes, toasted sandwiches, fish and chips, giant Yorkshire puddings etc. What a shame service , decor and general standards do not meet the standard of the food.

We used this pub/restaurant several times in 2006 and were pleased but our first visit of 2007 was a disappointment (from the fading and wearing paintwork on the exterior of the building to the stained seats inside) but we were tight for time and proceeded to order.
Incorrect starters were brought and the young staff ( I did not see anyone over 25) struggled to cope with a busy Sunday evening.
The main meals are OK but my meat had a lot of fat on it and my wife's steak was a poor cut.
Lots of vegetables and far too many potatoes to bulk the meals out.
Quite expensive although you do get Nectar points but noisy with a children's play area at the end of the restaurant.
We will not be going back.

Favorite Dish: If I had to say one thing that would be the deserts which are presumably made off site and frozen but they are very good although over priced.

This is Scarborough fish and chips at its very best.

The day trippers tourists will eat on the seafront at Winking Willy's, and the ones with more money than sense will go to the Golden Grid.

At Mother Hubbard's, you'll find real Scarborough folk, because it's at the top end of town, and it's easy to overlook.

Walk from the station (or the theatre - it's just the place to go after a matinée) towards the harbour for about 200 yards. Mother Hubbard's is through a door on the right and up some stairs, but be warned, if they've sold out of fresh fish, they close - there's nothing frozen at this place.

They generally offer two sizes of fish, but they often sell out of the larger one, and offer you two small ones late in the afternoon.

You might have to queue, but it will be worth it.

Once, and once only, the fat hadn't been hot enough, and my fish was disappointing, but in general, this place is ultra-reliable.

Local fish (you're in the north, so you're having haddock - none of that poncy southern cod stuff) served mainly by cheerful schoolgirls doing their pocket money jobs/.

Favorite Dish: Haddock, chips, bread and butter pudding and a pot of tea.

Scarborough once had a great Italian immigration and this shows in the Italian restaurants here which are better than average in Yorkshire. Tricolos was founded by the Jaconelli family, one family member was even a Mayor of Scarborough, and whilst it has since been sold to an English family, they keep the traditions going. The ambiance here is great even if you might not want to visit it too early on a weekend night as the noise levels can then be high when it is crowded with families. You do well to reserve but if you haven't, you will be placed in the bar and can order a drink whilst waiting for a table. A win win situation. There are daily specials as well as an a la carte based on Italian classics but also a bit of Italian fusion such as a wok pasta. The dessert list swerves a bit towards the English but is nevertheless very nice and does include tiramisu. Staff is terribly busy but always friendly and the owner often walks about checking that you're enjoying your visit. What impressed me most was that they had Messina beer from Sicily ;)

Favorite Dish: Most pasta dishes.

Fish and chips are good in Scarborough and very often local, even if not as famous as in nearby Whitby. The Southside harbour front has at least four chippies but the most famous place to try this is probably a restaurant in between them all. The Golden Grid has an excellent position overlooking the harbour and you can get not only several varieties of fish and chips but also impressive seafood platters and some less fishy food. If you visit Scarborough during a busy period, it might be good to book in advance as the place is listed in all sorts of British food guides and Lonely Planet. I personally found the batter a bit greasy but the fish itself as well as the chips were delicious and the staff friendly. Can't complain about the prices either.

Favorite Dish: An "all inclusive" which means fish and chips with bread (to make a yummy chip butty) and a pot of tea. How Yorkshire!

Very friendly, good food - fresh and very reasonably priced. Pizzas are about 12-14" thin and crispy. All freshly made. Pasta tastey I love the Penne Arabiata - spicy. They also do a specials board for something a bit different. Altogether Florios is a good place for just a couple or they cater very well for large parties.

Favorite Dish: Pizza - Inferno, £4.00 approx
Risotto - Florios, £5.00 approx
Pasta - Arabiata, £4.00 approx
Steak with Stilton Sauce, £8.00 approx