T had been a while since I had made the trip to one of the bustling seaside cafes under the Arches.

I have always enjoyed a meal there in the past and it was a lovely summer’s evening, so my wife and I thought we’d give it another go.

We arrived to meet a friend at about 6.30pm on a Sunday. The menu was varied, but what really sealed it was the table for three which had just become free right on the pavement.

All in all, it really is a lovely place to relax. The atmosphere along the strip of eateries is always good, particularly in the evenings it seems.

The starters arrived and I was straight away impressed with my prawn cocktail. It was invitingly old school. It came in a tall, sundae glass containing salad which propped up 20 to 30 juicy prawns, drenched in a deliciously creamy Thousand Island sauce, which I later mopped up with a thick slice of brown bread.

Too often nowadays you order this classic and are left disappointed. Restaurants mix it up with the formula and you can end up with some extravagant lettuce leaf topped with a couple of prawns. No thanks. My philosophy is if it’s not broke don’t fix it.

My wife’s dish consisted of seven or eight scampi tails, a good helping of salad and a mini bowl of tartare sauce. Naturally I sampled and the fishy treat was delicate and fresh, but not a patch on my prawn cocktail.

For my main course, I went for the medium cod, which was succulent and flavoursome while the batter was exceedingly crispy with a good amount of crunch. It was a hefty portion, and pleasingly the cod wasn’t overwhelmed with batter. The chips were OK, not as fluffy on the inside as I would have liked. There were piles of them which I struggled to finish.

My wife was complimentary about her lasagne. Softly cooked green pasta strips were to her liking along with an above average topping of cheese. It came with chips and a salad, like mine, which included homemade coleslaw and peppers.

Our friend seemed impressed with his three-egg omelette and salad which he assured us had hit the spot.

The desserts were a real indulgence, my Tennessee pie was a creamy, caramel cheesecake based delight sprinkled with dark choc pieces.

It was naughty, but extremely nice. The two blobs of Rossi vanilla ice cream which it came with would enhance any dessert.

My wife had two scoops of chocolate Rossi ice cream served with a rich chocolate sauce. She was chuffed with her simple choice as was our friend who went for the apple pie, again joined by a two vanilla scoops.

Some might argue the cafes are maybe a little over priced, but I thoroughly enjoyed my evening fish’n’chip session by the seaside. Oh, and did I mention the prawn cocktail stole the show?

What we ate Prawn Cocktail £4.75 Scampi tail salad £4.65 Medium cod £8.25 Lasagne £7.95 Ham omelette £7.40 Tennessee pie £4.50 Two scoops of ice cream £2.25 Apple pie with vanilla ice cream £4.50

Our verdict (Out of Five Atmosphere 5 Food 4 Decor 3 Value 3 Service 4 Disabled access Yes