As the title to this post suggests, I have recently enjoyed a jaunt to none other then Butlins in Minehead! My sister has a little girl who is four and a half, so they usually go away in the UK for family holidays. This year as they were staying in a static caravan that was the same price regardless as to the number of people inside, they suggested my boyfriend James and I come along. It was 5 days and 4 nights of tongue-in-cheek fun. The caravan was clean and well equipped (and fully plumbed!) and far enough away from the actual chalet site to be quiet enough to sleep. There was a fishing lake on the other side of the caravan site and as such there were flocks of Canadian geese running across the road every time you attempted to drive up the track. Around our caravan however were plenty of ducks, who tried to get into the caravan after James started feeding them, and wild rabbits, who apparently do eat carrots. To say Minehead is a seaside town, the seafront itself was very short. Two fish and chip shops, an indoor market, one or two tat shops and an ice cream parlour. The stretch of beach is floor-less and the weather was ideal for kite flying.
I don't know about you, but for me when I head to the seaside I want one thing....seafood! I was very disappointed as it appears that Minehead no longer has an active fishing trade. There were no quirky little shellfish stalls, no local fishmongers and most of the cafes and takeaways boasted that they served Whitby Scampi. For those of you who are lousy at geography, Minehead is on the coast of Somerset, just underneath Wales. In fact on a clear day you can see Wales from the bay. Whitby however is on the coast of North Yorkshire, about halfway up the country on the east side. To my mind there is something not right about bragging you have fish from across the country when your property sits right on the seafront. But what this post is really about....fish and chips! First stop was Donnas. I am still cross about the lack of accurate grammar in their name. Connie had a children's box meal from here. She had chicken dinosaurs, which came with chips, a lolly, a toy and a box of juice. Not bad at all for 2.99 (again apologies for not knowing where the pound sign is!). My sister Felicity and brother in law Rikki also had fish and chips from here on the same day. They do a deal for a small fish and chips for 2.00. Fantastic value, but James and I were put off as the chips, whilst salty, soft and very more-ish were clearly frozen. I'd recommend the place if this doesn't bother you. I can't vouch for the fish but Rikki also went back a few days later for a jumbo hotdog. And it really was jumbo! It was also piled high with fried onions (which ended up on his shoes) and gallons of tomato sauce and mustard (which ended up on his shirt). I think the traveling vegetables and condiments show how good a hotdog is. Again I didn't taste it, but Rikki really enjoyed it! I'm unable to give Donnas a rating as I didn't have anything from there myself.
Next up was Seaview Takeaway. It cost James and I just over a tenner for cod and chips twice and a can of Fanta. The fish still had the skin on, which I'm not fond of. I think it makes the fish taste oil-spilly. But it was tender and well cooked and the batter was very crisp, nearly burned kind of crisp. That's a good thing in my book. I did enjoy the chips but they were nothing special. I was a bit cross as the salt and vinegar were behind the counter and were put on by the lady who served us. I think salt and vinegar is quite an individual taste, so to not be allowed to put it on myself spoiled the meal for me, giving Seaview Takeaway a 5/10. As usual I couldn't finish it all and the seagulls got their fill too.
Finally on Thursday we went to Jaws. This takeaway also had a table service restaurant. We ate on the picnic tables out front. They were shoehorned in and you kind of ended up sitting over one and a half tables as the benches were back to back. You ordered at the counter and they brought the food out to you, which was nice as you didn't end up standing in a huge queue at the counter waiting or get split up from the rest of the party as everyone else has gone to score a table. James has a large cod and chips, mine was a normal size and I had mushy peas. We also shared a bottle of Fanta, which accumulated to approx 12.00. This was definitely the best fish and chips we had that week. The batter was crispy and dry, the chips were freshly cut and cooked, soft and fluffy and a little bit crisp. The salt and vinegar were brought out to the table with your meal, so I got to add them as and when I wanted (you may be getting a vibe I'm a bit obsessive about salt and vinegar on fish and chips). The mushy peas were sweet and soft and just the right shade of green. I often find that mushy peas are a bit bland but these were perfect. The miracle that makes Jaws was that I ate all my fish! And I only left half a dozen chips! Which James gave a good home. For me it was the best fish and chips I've had outside of Whitby. But it wasn't all perfect. The place also serves pies and fried chicken which Felicity and Rikki enjoyed, but sauces (i.e. mayonnaise, tomato sauce etc) was 20p each! A bit of a rip off to me. Connie's meal wasn't up to much either. Whilst she enjoyed the nuggets (she's not a big chip fan) there was nothing else that came with the meal and whilst the menu said 'box of juice' when my sister asked what flavours they had, there was only fizzy drinks. Connie is only four and Felicity and I are fanatical about looking after our teeth, so Connie is too little for fizzy drinks. The only alternative was a bottle of water, so that's what she had. And shock horror, she didn't really want it. Felicity is still fuming about that! So that's a 7/10.
All other meals were eaten in the caravan, cooked by yours truly. We didn't eat anything in the Butlins campus as it all tends to be fast food that's massively overpriced. We did run around the tuppence slot machines a few times, played pool and went bowling. Butlins is a fab place for young kids and young teenagers, as it's a relatively safe environment and it has plenty of stuff going on that they like to do. However if you have older teenagers watch them like a hawk! There are many dark corners and it was whilst visiting Minehead Butlins with friends eleven years ago that my then seventeen year old sister met her now husband. This time around however it involved classic board games, cards, dvds and copious amounts of alcohol. A good time was had by all!
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