The Sand Dancer, South Shields

May 20 2007 By The Sunday Sun

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Global warming. Some say it's a bad thing, but I'm not so sure if it allows you to take a walk along the beach at a time of year when you would normally expect it to be freezing . . . something that would have been unthinkable several years ago.

Mrs Eats and I - well, Mrs Eats in particular - are not the most active of sorts, I'll grant you, but we do like to get a bit of fresh air every now and again.

Too much time spent looking at the inside of the Eatsmobile and various of the region's eateries can be a bad thing . . . although not too bad.

And She Who Must be Fed is on a bit of a health kick at the moment, which is how we ended up down on the beach.

I wasn't too sure about the destination myself, but Mrs Eats said we could round our trip off with a visit to a beachside pub.

And so it was we ended up in the Sand Dancer pub in South Shields, South Tyneside.

It is part of a chain of pubs and is quite dark inside thus lacking in any of the real charm you could attach to an independent establishment, but it makes up for that with some stunning views out to sea.

I settled back with a pint of lager and Mrs Eats had a glass of white wine as we perused the menu.

It offered all the usual starters, but we decided to share a combo platter for our starter priced at £6.99.

It wasn't our usual fayre but we were in the mood for something different. To follow, however, it was back to the normal . . . roast chicken for Mrs Eats and the roast beef for me.

The service was efficient and courteous and our starter was with us in a matter of minutes, which was good as I needed warming up after our sea-front walk.

We had a large plate with several different items for us to share including chicken wings, garlic bread, breaded mushrooms.

I say share, but of course sharing anything with Mrs Eats including food is a highly dangerous pursuit. Thankfully we each had our own second course to tuck in to and I can report we were both left satisfied.

The meats were well cooked and of an adequate proportion.

There was a selection of seasonal vegetables which were well cooked and the all-important Yorkshire puddings were also up to standard.

I prefer to take my seaside walks in the height of summer but if there's a good meal at the end, then it more than makes up for that.

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