A bit of background…

When I met my now husband in 2015, Clevedon was a bit of a mysterious place to me… I knew it was by the sea, and towards Weston-super-Mare, and that was pretty much it. But Chris was living there, and Wills and Theo went (and still go) to school there, so knowing ‘home’ for them always being Clevedon, Chris quickly got to work on selling it to me. Unfortunately the weather for my first visit wasn’t the best (it was March), but I will always remember taking a walk on the very windy pier – the only Grade 1 listed pier in England – and also of course, meeting Tabitha the cat!

 

Fast forward three and a bit years (where did that go?!), Chris and I are now married and for the time being the Georges (including Tabitha!) are living in Bristol, with the boys commuting back and forth to school, but I LOVE Clevedon. I love being beside the seaside and the sea air, how friendly everyone is, the sunsets 😍, the independent shops, restaurants and bars, the Sunday market, that it is so easy to get to (and get back to Wales from – don’t worry Mum) oh and you can even see Wales across the water on a clear day! So we are planning to move there in 2019 🤞

So if you made it through my ode to Clevedon (well done), you’ll have noticed I love a good sunset and while Bristol isn’t short of a nice sunset spot, we’ll often head over to Clevedon (it’s only a short hop from Bristol at around 25 mins in the car), to take a blanket to enjoy sunset on the beach and then go hunting for some food. One of our favourite places to eat on these trips has been the Tiffin at the Pier, particularly as when dining on the pier after 6pm the entrance fee to the pier itself is waived, and also because, I genuinely believe they do THE BEST fish and chips 🤤🤤🤤 (amongst other things, but more on that later).

 

The Giveaway

This is why I am SUPER excited to be teaming up with the folks at TiffinGroup to offer my Instagram followers the chance to win one of THREE gift cards – top prize is £30 and two runners up will receive a £10 card each.

To enter:

– Make sure you are following @lizzie.eats.explores and @tiffingroup on Instagram.
– In the comment section of my Instagram competition post (posted on 22/08/18) tag someone you think would also like to win!
– You can enter as many times as you like, with one tag per comment.
– Giftcards will be posted to winners free of charge, only UK entries will be accepted
– Competition is open until 7pm on the 06/09/18
– Winners chosen at random and announced on 07/09/18
– No cash alternatives offered.
– The gift card can only be redeemed at Tiffin at the Pier and is valid to use on food and drink. The amount does not need to be used all in one transaction.
– Admission times apply for the Pier, please see www.clevedonpier.co.uk for further information on Pier opening times.

About Tiffin at the Pier

TiffinGroup opened Tiffin at the Pier in 2016, it’s second business in Clevedon with owners Nick and Linda having founded the group in 2010 with their teahouse on the beach. You may not know but the beautiful glass restaurant is open all year round. From 10am each day there is a relaxed picnic style menu which you can eat inside, on the outside seating or all items are available to take with you and enjoy along the pier.

 

There is a great selection, including breakfast items (bacon and egg or veggie ciabatta anyone?), burgers (including a halloumi burger, and who doesn’t love halloumi… apart from me 🤦) a variety of seafood (including those fish and chips!!!), plus a variety of cakes and hot and cold drinks . We actually had our last lunch together here as an unmarried couple – see below! (NB: Those are prescription sunglasses folks which I’d be half blind without!! I don’t always wear sunglasses inside!)

 

From 6pm Tuesday to Saturday, the cutlery (and real plates!) come out and diners can enjoy an intimate candlelit dinner with beautiful views of the pier and if you’re lucky, a glimpse of a glorious sunset as the evening sky changes around your glass surroundings. The restaurant is styled as a seafood cafe, with the focus being on a smaller number of dishes than the daytime, with a variety of specials on offer and items predominantly  locally sourced. It’s also seasonal, and the autumn menu is due to launch in September, keep an eye here for more info.

 

In the summertime, you also have the bonus choice of visiting the Pagoda cafe at the far end of the Pier.  We recently visited the Pagoda for ice cream with the kids, there are a variety of flavours of Lovingtons on offer (keeping with the locally sourced theme – Lovingtons is made in Lovington, Somerset), this is also the same ice cream that is available in the restaurant. At the Pagoda it comes in individual tubs and the kids went for double chocolate and mint choc chip, they thought it was delicious (especially Theo as you may be able to tell). You can also purchase cakes, soft drinks, and even a glass of fizz or wine at the cafe.

 

The Pagoda has indoor and outdoor seating, and currently if you visit during #tiffintime (6pm to 8pm daily), you can purchase a bottle of wine for a bargainous £12 or a bottle of prosecco for only £15! This offer is due to end on the 2nd of September (but there are rumours it could be extended, keep your eye on their social channels for further info).

 

The Review

On our most recent visit to Tiffin at the Pier, we were blessed with an evening where the wind dropped so the doors were kept open and the sun was shining, so over the course of the night we were treated to a beautiful sky full of colour. It also felt very apt that the special on the menu that evening had personal significance to us – we’re such a pair of soppy old romantics – as it was St Ives Bay Mackerel with roasted Cotswolds Heritage tomatoes, fennel, horseradish and potato salad. We were engaged in St Ives, married in the Cotswolds and we actually had Heritage tomatoes for the starter of our wedding breakfast. We were was very tempted as I’m quite up for trying new fish, but we both prefer white fish and apparently mackarel is similar to sardines so we eventually decided to wimp out on that one! Next time….

We always try to have two different dishes so that we can share and have half each, unfortunately that limited us a little as Chris isn’t quite as adventurous as me on the seafood front (I was tempted by the mussels and the sea bream)… In the end we decided to order my favourite – the Bristol Ale Battered Cod, which comes with Maris Piper chunky chips, mushy peas and homemade tartare sauce. As our second dish we chose the Fresh Pappardelle Pasta Genovese with summer vegetables and a crispy egg. Before it arrived though, we were surprised with a tasty complimentary amuse-bouche crab tartlet with lemon mayo and balsamic raspberry – a lovely surprise which even Chris was happy to try, although I don’t think he’s going to actually order crab anytime soon.

When the fish came out, I’d honestly forgotten how good it was. In fact I actually said to Chris when eating ‘this is the best fish and chips I’ve ever had’ and as I’m writing this remembering, I’m wondering when on earth I can go back and have it again (and not share!!) The fish was perfectly crispy on the outside with not a soggy bit of batter in sight, and the fish inside was perfectly flakey and white. The chips hidden beneath my fish did not suffer for having had a piece of cod plonked on top – they too were perfectly crispy and chunky as promised. For me maris piper is the only way to go when it comes to chips, they were delicious. Prior to ordering I overheard a lady telling the waitress that the chips were so good she’d have eaten more if she could, despite the fact she was full – now I know what she meant! I usually ask for garden peas instead of mushy peas, but on this occasion I forgot, though I needn’t have worried – these werent the type of sloppy wet mush I usually envisage, they still had texture and flavour and even came in a fritter form! The ultimate finishing touch was the homemade tartare sauce – which tasted fresh and creamy but had the required zing to perfectly compliment the fish. I was genuinely sad handing over Chris his half of the dish despite looking forward to the pasta!

Thankfully while the pasta wasn’t quite at the dizzying heights of the fish, it was still really tasty – and plentiful! Both of us remarked that having shared a number of pasta dishes recently, this one contained markedly more pasta and veg than most we’ve had. ‘Seasonal veg’ can sometimes be quite limiting but the variety was a really lovely touch too, with olives, pak choi, tomatoes, fennel, fig plus a variety of other goodies hidden between the ribbons under that crispy egg. Ahhh, the crispy egg. This was my first, and it was delish, with for me a perfect yolk – it didn’t run everywhere but it wasn’t overcooked either, yay! The pasta itself was yummy, obviously fresh, and papparadelle is my favourite kind (I’d put it with every sauce possible, always if I could!) so that was always going to be a winner for me, the only thing that possibly let the dish down was the sauce for me didn’t quite pack in the flavour – Pasta Geneovese to me is pesto but each mouthful was more dominated by the veg accompaniments. That said we still very much enjoyed.

 

We weren’t sure we would manage pudding but we’re suckers for a chocolate brownie, and it said it came with roasted hazelnuts which is another of my favourite things, so we decided to share. When it came out we were slightly worried whether we’d be able to finish it – it was huge, the biggest we believe we’ve ever been served 😍 Pleasingly it was warm, moist, and squidgey (how all brownies should be) and came with a quenelle of Lovingtons vanilla which was a delightful contrast. I was also pleased to see a generous portion of raspberries, one of my favourite fruits (I hate when you only get one or two, but there were plenty and some hiding under the ice cream) though unfortunately the hazelnuts were nowhere to be seen 😨 It would have been nice to have a more varied texture but we still thoroughly enjoyed and despite my worries, there wasn’t a morsel left on the plate.

 

Needless to say we thoroughly enjoyed our evening – I was lucky enough to be seated with the pier directly in front of me so able to enjoy the view as the colours around the pier changed throughout the evening but also around us in our little glass box! That said – Chris thought his view was better as the door was open for most the evening as it was so balmy outside, so he had an uninterrupted view. The music was unobtrusive but atmospheric and Rosie, our waitress was really friendly and seemed genuinely interested in chatting to us, all adding to the experience. A really lovely date night and I’m looking forward to returning!

Food: 8
Service: 9
Ambience: 9
Value (based on if we had paid full price): 9
Overall: 9/10

Where: Clevedon Pier, Clevedon BS21 7QS

Disclaimer: The meal review was discounted by TiffinGroup, but the review is totally my own, based upon my own views which are honest and unbiased. This review has not been checked or edited by either TiffinGroup prior to publishing.

Thank you for reading folks! If you have any questions about the competition, you can direct message me on Instagram or use the contact page on this website. Good luck!

Lizzie xxx