michellew's Qype profile

A proper old fashioned beach cafe and ice cream parlour!! Proper sundaes, along with hot chocolate in the winter and all the snacks and bucket and spades you need for a proper day at this gorgeous beach.

This store stocks a large range of homewares, fancy good and now food and toiletries. Prices are very competitive and the staff are friendly and helpful. Now Woolies has gone they seem to be carrying more variety, especially good for stocking fillers at Xmas and practical things like lightbulbs, plastic storage boxes etc.

An all encompassing leisure centre with a new multi million pound pool area. They cater for pretty much every indoor sport / activity including squash, badminton, tennis, trampolining etc with all the classes you’d expect.
They have 4 excellent gym areas, the Shokk (under 18s), private gym used for exercise on referral etc, the weightlifting and the lifestyle gym (state of the art equipment set over 2 floors- membership induction needed )
The pool area is a full size main pool plus a learner pool that has a suspended floor so the depth can be varied. A full range of swimming classes are available for adults as well as kids and of course Derwentside Simming Club is based here too for the more competitive or serious swimmer.
The only let down is the bar / cafe area - there is a small soft play area - only really suitable for under 6 yrs - which now looks very tired and dated although the food is good and reasonably priced.
The staff are all friendly and are happy to give advice on anything.

One of the cheapest Asdas I’ve found, BUT, they seem to be going the way of ASDA own brand - they get many wonderful items in, stick it on special offer then never restock it, theyve also cut down on a number of “name” brand items. Another bugbear is the ratio of girls to boys clothes on offer - boys wear clothes too! Once you get past the numerous rows of pink froth theres one aisle of boys stuff - not good enough I’m afraid especially as there’s really nowhere else in the town for clothes.
They are closing the jewellery counter and the cafe has been “renovated” but still not as good as it could be, although they are still very busy and the coffee machine seems to work more often now.
Worth visiting to shop and thats about it.

To be honest after hearing so much about htis place I was disappointed.
In the summer the queues are horrendous and with kids in tow we nearly gave up.
Hubby had the largest cod and chips they do - yes the fish did cover the large plate but it was a thin fillet so not meaty enough for him, the chips and sausage were nothing special and to be honest you can get better and cheaper on the seafront a few hundred yards downhill - I will say they make a decent cup of tea though and the food was hot when it eventually came although the cuppas were finished by then and no way was I standing in the queue again!
Sadly disappointed - may be better out of season when its quiter.

WOW wonderful food, authentic and lovely staff.
We had the chicken korma and chicken tikka - yes we’re very adventurous - and they were both perfect, naan bread was soft and fluffy, chapatis crisp and fresh and lovely fragrant pilau rice. Couldn’t fault it.
It can get busy in the summer months as Flamingoland and other caravan / campsites are quite close to this pretty town but it has quite a few tables and theres not usually much waiting. They also do take away which is handy if you’re on holiday and don’t want to cook.
Heartily recomend it to anyone although not the cheapest around it is perfect for a special treat.

Not exactly fine dining but you cant go wrong, the food is good and the service is good. Standard menu across all their restaurants I’ve been to around the country. Its in what I think looks like an old bank and they’ve kept a lot of original features and lovely high ceilings, rather fitting in this very old city.
The only problem is being a university city it does get full of students, who can be rather loud at times.
Staff are happy to help and nothing is too much bother although as said in other reviews service can be slow when busy - we try to get there early.
A nice treat now and then.

Ikea is a day out - a bit of a hike, but you soon learn the shortcuts and the promise of meatballs and chocolate mousse halfway round is a great incentive.
They offer good value furniture with a modern twist but is also very reasonable for the basics.
We swear by the large poly zip bags to store practically anything in dust and moisture free and now in a number of shapes and sizes.
Join the Ikea family before you go and you can get a free cuppa to revive you (Mon -Fri) along with various offers they send you and also instore.
My son used to love the indoor play area but sadly hes too old / tall now but still asks to go for the soft toys and the treats in the restaurant - always good value for money - we never use the cafe just the main restaurant as the boys are meat eaters.
Theres free refills on soft drinks / coffee etc and a good range for vegetarians too.
There is a shop selling swedish produce after you go through the tills - I heartily recoment the Glug Wine and the frozen mash ( I know but it is so quick and tasty), they also now do a frozen meatball & mash meal to take home for only £1.40.
Next to the shop is a bistro selling hot dogs, ice cream and drinks - all very good quality and very cheap.

An excellent pet shop specialising in reptiles and fish, although they also sell a range of small furries too.
Friendly knowledgeable staff, who work hard keeping the place clean and smell free.
They have a wide range of reptiles from snakes via lizards to snails, they also stock a wide range of tropical, cold and warm water marine fish along with everything you need to house and look after your pet.
They stock a good range of aquariums and terrariums (or vivariums) along with all the decorating, feeding and housekeeping things you could need.
They also offer a hospital service for fish at a small cost which includes any treatment needed - a brilliant service especially for novices who may not recognise the subtle differences in the diseases of fish.
They also offer a wide range of live rock and coral for your marine tank.
They also have a wide range of live, frozen and dried food for your reptiles or fish at very good prices - Wednesday is live food delivery day and seems quite popular.
A brilliant place just to call in with the kids or just to lust after the huge marine tank they have although it wouldn’t fit in my house sadly.

An excellent vets offering all the services you would expect plus a few more. The staff obviously care deeply for the animals and soon come to know the names of many of their patients.
The best service they offer in my opinion is the puppy club on Saturday mornings, an experience never forgotten for you or your dog. About 20 puppies of various sizes get together to socialize the dogs - to cut out aggression towards other dogs as they get older - so you can imagine how mad it sometimes gets and how many paper towels are used as they all get excited.
They tend to split into 2 groups of larger and smaller breeds in seperate rooms and have a free play time then usually some sort of talk / discussion about dag ownership, there was also a visit by a specialist dog trainer on one of our mornings.
The dogs love it, the owners love it and all the kids love it - children are encouraged to come along too and have great fun meeting all the different breeds and characters.
The only downside is cost - although the puppy sessions only cost about £2 per week, on top of all the other costs of a new puppy and the encouragement to buy accesories / food from the vets it can become an expensive business