Marsden Grotto in South Tyneside

An expensive place, the black mussel was stinky and had a bitter taste.

Not a great experience. The tables were pretty dirty. Staff rude and unhelpful. Had trouble requiring a glass for a drink. Drinks poor quality and expensive. It smelt dirty and definitely looked that way. Would not return.

Unique place, great atmosphere. 4 stars as decided not to stay for food as it was rather expensive.

A coastal gem with stunning views, great food, and a relaxing atmosphere. Highly recommended.

Not a one for writing bad reviews but my god this place has went downhill. Got fish, chips and mushy peas priced at £19.99, thought i was getting something decent to say the least, not even a slice of bread to accompany it. Food came and fish was swimming in grease, 3 serviettes later to mop it up and fish was bland. Told staff member and come back was, chef said yes maybe the fish hadnt rested enough?, asked if i wanted it changed, heck no when you hear stories about that so perservered. Chips half cooked and some burnt too, a little more than a handful. Disgusting to say the least. Last time ever there 👎. Hubby got crab arancini which came with little bit of tired salad £21. Save your money folks, Colmans 100% better and cheaper. Place could do with a good clean too.

Just had a meal, which was excellent, friendly service. Lovely views from bar and terrace.

A must see when you're in the North East. A bar/restaurant caved into the side of the rockface. Friendly staff and a fantastic view.

Short visit. Good sevice; tasty coffee and hot chocolate.

Many turned away because of lift being out of order. After paying £3 to park. The stairs are not an option in windy weather, or for disabled, elderly people.

Oh dear,where to start. Lift has seen better days ,needs refurbished. Bar area ok-ish, ordered 'food' , bar area could be cleaner but on to food,ordered a crab sandwich priced at £16.50 expecting a real treat, what arrived was a mush of brown paste that just ran all over the plate with a little salad-ish thing on side.Sent back &, to be fair was offered alternative but declined. Very sad place now, we had friends from NI visiting & from previous visits over many years was expecting significantly better than what we got,not a good experience

What a brilliant place location and staff are lovely xx we tried lobster fior the first time and it was amaxing

Not a good experience today, on entering the grotto it did not look nor smell clean. Food - The fish was hard to find inside doughy greasy batter. Fries tasteless with dry mushy peas. To conclude my review of my experience at the grotto today, 25 September 2024. It is not value for money and over priced.

Quick stop for a delicious coffee - lovely, unique spot.

Called in for some food having heard about the views. The location is lovely and the view would be too but sadly the fog came in for us. We ordered food and whilst there was a steady stream of customers it wasn't really too busy. The food came quickly. Too quickly. Which suggested prepared before hand. And as a result it was dry so I can only assume microwaved or overcooked now to reheat. Even my mussels were dried out? Not ideal. Staff also seemed frustrated and tired. So tables left dirty for longer than they should have been. And service slow.

What a quwiky location for a restaurant with rooms, loved it food and service was great

Great location, unique and interesting. Nice staff. Good food and well kept beer.

Location, location, location. As of September 2024 this place is doing pretty well. There are so many reports of the entranceway being smelly and of a general lack of cleanliness, but, I didn’t find any of this when I visited with family on, a weekday afternoon in order to have lunch. Yes, there are a few things that could be tidied up but in the current climate this place is looking after itself pretty well it is pricey which I put down the location. There aren’t many other places where you can sit and have these views And that comes at a premium which I was happy to accept. Service from the weekday staff was not the most attentive. Staff were much happier chatting between themselves and figuring out their own plans rather than interacting with and looking after customers, but, whenever any questions were asked, they were helpful, generous and engaged.

Had some chips and a drink here while walking along the beach. Lovely atmosphere and friendly staff.

We had a great 1 night stay here. The location is amazing. Our room looked directly out on the beach, the view is stunning. The room was basic, but clean and comfortable. The hallways and dining areas are carved out of the rock. The manageress is really friendly, all the staff were lovely. We had fish & chips - fresh, delicious chips were homemade- a great first night for our Hadrians wall challenge!

Visited today. Sat at table to discover soon seat was soaked. Staff unaware? Ordered food which was dreadful. Frozen scampi/ fries. Crab served in warm bun and dreadful salad not as advertised. Cutlery was brought in wet napkins. No tea spoons available. Basic stuff. Given a 25% reduction. Even then not value for money. Totally disappointed

Horrendous food for the price. I’ve worked in cafes and restaurants and could not imagine not even having a tea spoon for hot drinks… Paid over £60 for 2 teas, a hot chocolate, fish wrap, scampi and chips and crab sandwich. No spoons to be seen for the drinks, given the wooden ice cream spoons instead, tea came in a cup not even in a tea pot (who doesn’t have tea pots for tea)? Cutlery came wrapped in wet napkins, the fries are just cooked from frozen and were cold after 2 minutes, crab sandwich came on a tiny overspilling plate and the bun was warm but the filling cold. Paying over £15 for food you would expect quality but this was not it at all. Shame as you travel for the location and the experience and I’ve never had such a disappointing meal. Also the place just has an odd smell and the cushioned seats were wet when we sat down.

Amazing views, good food and friendly staff. A really unique and historical place set within a clifftop, well worth a visit.

My husband and I ordered two steak wraps from the menu, we had been looking forward to going there for some time and high expectations. The service was fine, but the food was terrible. The wrap came out nicely presented, but the steak was cold, you got three lousy pieces of uncooked steak the wrap was soggy the onion and peppers were raw. The wrap was an astonishing £18.50…. The whole thing tasted absolutely terrible. I couldn’t enjoy the first mouthful let alone the whole meal. This was very disappointing, the plate was taken to the bar and the kind waitress took the plate back to the kitchen, the waitress spoke to her manager on my behalf. The manager came to speak to me personally and apologised, the steak should not have been cold to say the least. The manger was going to speak to the chef in person. The manager came me a refund for my meal and apologised, it was a very disappointing visit!

Great and unique place to stay. Staff are fantastic and the place is definitely worth a stay if you get chance!

Sandwiches were disappointing, nice chips though, given wrong coffee but told it was the same. However, a cappuccino is not the same as a latte. Really should be better at these prices.

Bit of an appetite after a long walk by the sea, stopped in here thinking we’d get a Coke and a couple of sandwiches. Realised how hungry we were and went for a huge seafood sharing platter. Got to say it was gorgeous, add that to the utterly unique dining area and fantastic location and we’d stumbled onto a winner. Only slight downsides were that the staff were a little slow in cleaning and clearing.

We had a family meal here as we all love seafood and we weren't disappointed. The seafood chowder was amazing, and we all thoroughly enjoyed our food. The location is unusual and one of a kind, which adds to the experience. The staff were lovely and very helpful. It is a little expensive but it is seafood so that's expected. The drinks are very expensive and there are no other options nearby. Also the £3 charge for the var park seems excessive, given the location we'd expected it to be free. Worth a visit but only on special occasions as too expensive to be a regular thing

Have to say the description of the surf and turf burger is very misleading jumbo prawns which come as 3 small prawns that fitted into a small bun and very bland for £27.aa for the location and inside is beautiful would go back for a drink but never eat there again

In Aug 2024 we were heading for a walk from the nearby lighthouse and saw this on Google maps and decided to give it a try and what an amazing place. It has a fabulous setting right on the shore with rock stacks just offshore. The patio literally sits just above the shore. The restaurant is unique in my experience being set in caves in the rocks. Just a fabulous place and the coastal walk is also amazing on the cliff tops.

Called in for a beer and a coffee a proper hide away as it’s built into a cave, food looks splendid, will definitely call in again for food next time when we are in the area

Really disappointed today. Came last year and had a fantastic birthday meal, we dreamed of the seafood chowder and couldn't wait to come back!! Fast forward a year and the prices have went up phenomenal amounts! Gourmet prices for food that is sub standard and you have to go up to the bar to order, not even table service for such big prices! The steak wrap had minimal steak and filling in, the katsu cod burger: the curry sauce tasted like sultanas and sweet, not katsu curry sauce at all!! A seafood chowder that was very small either only 1 small piece of bread, a steak wrap, katsu cod burger and 2 soft drinks came to £59. Highly disappointed and we will never visit again.

Fantastic location. Built into the cliff and outside area looking on to the beach. Nesting seabirds on cliffs and the Rock.

Perfect for disconnecting from the weekly routine.

I really love that place. When I was there last year we had a nice clean room. We have been there two weeks ago and it is a big diference. The room was very dusty, dirty and mess in sink. Dissapointed. The breakfest included for one night 145,-£ was absolutely nightmere. Just bread, butter and muffines??? It was a bad joke...no more...one positive thing - great view.

Fantastic place, absolutely delightful.

Beautiful restaurant but the service is slow. Food is lovely. Beautiful view on marsden bay

Well what can I say came here with my wife an the dog which was great, but got some food Jesus Christ just under £50 for fries halloumi fries an a veggie burger an 2 coke, must ov thought we were pirate, will not be back but a great day out if you have a dog or not.

Great place for a little restaurant with amazing views. It’s right in a grotto, actually rocks!

great cosy unique pub great sea views

Beautiful views, excellent service

I go for my Sunday dinner and the dinners are always lush

Tables and patio outside let the place down and it need serious cleaning outside, every day. Not helped by people feeding pidgeons on the tables which is a health hazard. Overpriced drinks and the staff don't even bring them out for you. As with many places these days, it feels there's little staff/customer interaction or pride in their work.

Food was average at best and overpriced. It’s very grubby in general, tables were dirty and sticky to touch, toilets an absolute disgrace. Wish we had just gone with our gut instinct when we got there and went elsewhere. The restaurant is trying to be something it’s not - it’s pub food and drink for the locals, nothing more. Will not be back and would not recommend.

It's an interesting experience right from the moment you board the lift to descend into the restaurant. The main room appears to be hollowed out of the cliff. It's not pretty but it's pretty unusual. There was a good selection of drinks behind the bar, we didn't try the wine list. There is a good selection of seafood on the menu which is why we went there and everything that we had [there were 7 of us all having something different] was delicious. Service was excellent and the view from the veranda over the North Sea is quite spectacular. Thanks for a lovely night.

The grotto is absolutely beautiful but unfortunately extremely expensive such a shame as it’s on our doorstep and used to love going there

Great ambience and if you like sea birds, there is plenty to see. I cannot comment on the hotel as it was just a flying visit.

Amazing place but sadly is expensive, at £6.25 for a pint of peroni it's cheaper to drink in London. Staff weren't the quickest to tidy messy tables or wipe down the bar which is a shame as this venue is one of the most unique I've been to. Will definitely be back but will be to enjoy the beach as I won't be paying there prices

Great view, parking ticket has wrong time and you can only use pound coins. £1 donation to go down

Absolutely ripped off £120 for 3 x surf and turf 🤬 steak was nice but 4 frozen king prawns and 8 mussels the size of my thumb nail and a couple small handfuls of frozen fries bit salad and some tasteless colslaw wish I’d sent it back instead of eaten it when there for my son 16th feel like I’ve disappointed him. I’m never a one to complain but I’m absolutely fuming and pissed off at myself for paying it The second photo was off the 3 plates

Food terrible for the price. McDonald's fries, overcooked steak and mussels that were so small needed a magnifying glass to find them. First time last time overpriced Whether spoons food.

A location so unique it deserves a visit. The food is good, if a bit pricey, but the experience of being transported to a little geological wonderland, removed from the world above is what's really magical.

Worth going down for a pint (£6+), and the dog on the beach, it is one of very few cave bars in Europe, and has loads of history, from jack the blaster, Peter Allan, and going through different ownerships, ghost stories and pirates. A great beach, and views. Access is either by lift from the car park or by a zigzag staircase on the cliff at the side of the building. The lift is housed in a brick shaft rising from the front of the building.would definitely recommend a visit if you haven't been.

Only stopped to see the Marsden Rock

The Food is Amazing, & the staff are very friendly. Right outside is Marsden Rock. You can sit inside or outside, There is No Wi-Fi as you are inside a cave so you got to talk to each other like it's 1995. 1st time here & will definitely be back again. There is a lift from the car park down to Bar/Restaurant or you can take the stairs down that come down the cliff but there is a lot of them. Been back again today 2.6.24 & once again the food was so amazing & the staff are very friendly. Well be back again sometime soon.

£30 for fish & chips, £26 for a burger 😂😂 cone of chips £5.50 pint Ipa £6.75 nice place but never eating there is far too overpriced

Very expensive £3.50 for a small bottle of Coke bcse they ' forgot ' to order the syrup for the premix on a bank holiday!!

Excellent seafood restaurant food was perfect, ambience amazing staff friendly and attentive. Highly recommend a visit if you are in the area

Wonderful pub--it's a pub that serves food, rather than a restaurant that serves drinks. Literally in a cave on the beach; worth coming to just for that. Friendly staff, who say Hello if they know you (we're locals), but just as good for tourists. One tip though: don't use the Grotto car park. It's not owned by the pub, they get no money from it I don't think, and it's more expensive than the Marsden Lea one a hundred yards along the clifftop. So use Marsden Lea instead

A place that is very unusual. Bar restaurant and hotel. Built into the cliffs. With seating outside as well as inside. Great friendly place with great staff and friendly service. Definitely worth a visit 😃

Stayed for 1 night beautiful place with beautiful views. The staff Eva. Eve. Dylan and John went above and beyond to make our stay perfect thank you Tara and Ian x

Love this place. We had our wedding reception here and the service was excellent. The room we stayed in was fantastic. A great time all round

We love everything about this place. Looking forward to staying over in the winter months due to its seafront location.

What a letdown! The food was appalling, the service was terrible, and the prices were outrageously high. We won't be returning!

Super unique place to visit and watch the sea. Loved the history of the place and how authentic it feels.

I only popped down for a bite to eat, it's a very unique setting, the food was decent enough, though I did find it quite expensive for what it was, I guess you're paying for the setting as much as the food.

Its a novelty to eat inside a cave. Food was lovely, atmosphere was lovely. Nice views of the beach. Staff were really helpful. Take £3 cash for the carpark as it doesn't take card. Dog friendly.

Very nice location, so close to the sea. It is possible that the sound from the waves will make it difficult to sleep if you choose to stay at the hotel. Very special that much of the area is in caves. I didn't spend the night, I was only visiting for a few hours.

It's nice listening to the waves while led in bed.

Great service But £17.95 for a burger and chips not good French fries frozen not made from scratch Burger just.ok Salad ( well no words to describe how bad it was ) dry and so.e limp no dressing on ,no tomato either, coleslaw no dressing withnit so dry

Lovely place, lovely staff but service extremely slow. We sat for over 40 mins before we got any food however the food was delicious, not much choice if you dont like fish though. I had a burger which was good and everyone else said they enjoyed their food.

Visited the restaurant for a bite with the Gran kids they were surprised of the fact that the location being part of the cliff face. Not overlay-priced meals were nice and enjoyable

Didn't stay in rooms, but bar build into caves whar more can you ask for. Beer not cheap. April 2024 pint of Madri £6

Slow service, expensive drinks, but really nice homemade chips, better than Coleman chips, but very average overall

Can't rate it enough for food n service Brilliant

Brilliant location and very friendly staff

A place to visit when you are in South Shields.

Just popped in for a coffee, lovely place, lovely location. Bar and food available. Lift for customers. Great atmosphere.

Nice place for coffee and food, could do with a better selection of cakes when having coffee.

Unassuming entrance leads to a fascinating venue. We had lunch...very tasty.

The grotto is fantastic the staff are so kind and friendly highly reccomend

Long wait for food wasn't even busy,ordered fish and chips one of there specialty, fish was dry and all batter. Chips must have been the scratchings left in bottom of pan very poor. Mothers day treat so very disappointing

Always a pleasure , only dropped a star as the car park needs serious refurbishment.

Great place to visit, BUT a bit on the expensive side. Tea & coffee just over £7

Was only 1 night away , 15min drive from home , but we needed the break , was peaceful night , the food was out of this world , best pint of Guinness I've had anywhere , would of preferred a full English on the morning, but the light breakfast done us ok

It’s a unique building, lovely view and the staff were friendly enough. The aesthetics of the place on the surface was appealing. Beach hut vibes, it looked great however, that’s where the charm ends for me unfortunately. We stayed in the Sand Dancer room. We wanted a nice, quiet and relaxing say but we were met with huge bangs emanating from the door onto the patio area downstairs. Our room was directly above the door.. bang bang…. Bang bang.. constantly. Granted this was during the day when people were in the bar and having food etc but having paid what we paid for the room we wanted to enjoy being in it, but couldn’t relax with those bangs. We did mention it to the staff working in the bar at the time and she was surprised and said they’d never had a complaint about it and said it would quieten down by 10pm as they do apparently lock that door but did offer us an alternative room (room 1) if by 10pm if we still wanted to move.. I can say it was less frequent later on. The walls were that paper thin, we then had the door in the corridor outside our room, again big bangs when it shut! I know people going through doors can’t be helped but surely the owner could do something about them banging so loudly! You can also hear the music from the bar, that stopped at around 11ish. The shower in our room wasn’t great at all. It had a rain fall shower head and a standard head and I’d say you’d have to be 5’3 or less to even fit under the main rain fall shower head. I myself am 5’7 and the shower head came below my cheek .. my husband is 6’3 so you can imagine what that was like. The remnants of a used bar of soap left on the holder in the shower, Cobwebs hanging from the ceiling, doublet cover that had holes where the seems have come apart, uncomfortable bed you could feel every spring. And the final nail in the coffin was the curdled UHT milk carton I discovered making a cup of tea, how long had that been there to do that? Breakfast was adequate to be honest, cereal, toast and muffins with tea and coffee and juices. We didn’t eat in the restaurant as we saw the prices they dare to change for just the basics like fish and chips £17 I’m afraid is rather steep when 5mims down the road it’s the same meal for a whole £5 cheaper! £131 a night was definitely not worth it in this unfortunately tired and a bit dirty hotel. We only ever saw no more than 2-3 staff at one time. It has such potential to be great and charming place. Cannot say I would recommend or stay here again sadly.

We hadn't visited the Marsden Grotto for many years, the last time we went, it was a place to avoid despite the lovely sea views. It used to be very rough. What a difference from last time! We visited with my parents and were staying locally for a few days. The menu choices looked really good so we thought we would give it a try. We ate in the Cave Restaurant, early evening, really interesting place and tables nicely spread out. Could not fault the food, we have eaten in many seafood restaurants and this one ticked the boxes. My husband loved his whitebait, my battered calamari was light and crispy and good portion. My stepfather raved about his battered scampi, very rarely do you see actual scampi done in batter. It's normally breaded and with `substitute' or even supermarket scampi which many places do = awful. Three of us had the seafood tagliatelle - again, beautifully cooked, a decent portion, good quality fish and the spiciness of the sauce just right. Nice that they weren't skimpy with the mussels! Drinks competitively priced and all our food and drink was served by a lovely young man, Charlie who was professional, friendly and attentive. Constructive feedback: Bowls for the mussel shells and a finger bowl would have been really helpful, we ended up putting them in our paper napkins. The one thing which may put people off coming here is the car parking charge of £3. It used to be redeemable when eating at the Grotto but apparently this has now stopped as the car park is under council tender. Even in the evening, you have to pay. Possibly nothing the Grotto can do about this and message to the council is; if they are looking to attract visitors (or locals for that matter) to the area, then there should be fairer parking. Every car park along this sea front, along with the parking down the coast road is all payable. These points are the only reason why I have not given it a five rating. However, don't let it put you off visiting the Grotto. Some of the negative reviews on here are rather unjust - give it a try, we had a great evening, the food was excellent and lovely staff who look after you.

The Marsden Grotto, locally known as The Grotto, is a gastropub located on the coast at Marsden in South Shields, Tyne & Wear, England. It is partly dug into the cliff face and fronted with a more conventional building opening onto the beach. The pub is one of the very few "cave bars" in Europe, another being Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem in Nottingham. The Marsden Grotto from the beach, showing the lift shaft with the terrace bar below The venue includes large bar, the inside cave with another bar and pool room, a bistro, a heated terrace on the beach and a seafood restaurant upstairs. Access is either by lift from the car park or by a zigzag staircase on the cliff at the side of the building. The lift is housed in a brick shaft rising from the front of the building.

Food is disgusting and is overpriced just because it's in a cave. They also microwave the sticky toffee pudding. Wouldn't recommend eating here.

Marsden Grotto and the beach are Amazing the look of the Bar is great and has plenty history I ordered food at the bar and drinks for myself my Nephew and his son, pasta for the bairn/ son and a share number 2 dish The tables had not been cleaned and were full of old table ware and food and were absolutely Manky so were the tables over from us, so we asked for them to be cleaned, and got twisted faces, then we seen the glasses they had given or drinks in which were also Manky..Not a good start.. when we got the food, well there was nothing on the share board and most of it was rather brown and over cooked and disguised buy salad a d little pots with sauces in too make it look like there was more there and for £40 Shocking, We asked if there was more to come, were we were bluntly told from the manager, well it is what it is, you read the menu lol So basically Tuff luck!! and he walke Honestly the food, service and cleanliness of the Bar was absolutely shocking And no wifi unless you want to pay £4 for half an hour or so Well The Grotto pub is scratched off min and my family's list and what a beautiful friendly pub it used to be

A great experience still good food served in a very special place a nice walk along the beach to settle the meal.

Took our puppy down to the beach and had a drink and some chips in the cafe/restaurant. Food and drink abit pricey but lovely and if you want to get to the beach be prepared to stumble over lots and lots of stones and pebbles that have washed up. Take your time and you'll be ok. The view is amazing.

Spotted while driving the coast road, and 20 minutes walk from NT car park. Uniquely positioned at the base of the cliff with great views. Super food, great range and lovely staff. Magic!

Wonderful experience, we will return

Over priced poor quality food! Fries still frozen, burger over cooked. Wraps expensive and mostly consisted over raw out of date peppers. The wraps themselves tasted like just been defrosted . The toilets were dirty, broken and smelt

The worst fish and chips I have ever had. The soggy batter oozed with fat and the chips were flaccid and greasy. Unable to eat batter or most of the chips because of this. Would not recommend.

Not at all busy but took well over half an hour for sandwich order. It tasted fine but, whatever you do, do not order coffee. Undoubtedly the worst flat white I have ever had. I was even moved to say out loud "that looks awful" only to be ignored by staff member. Please train the staff to use the espresso machine.

Excellent customer service, we were part of a private party and the bar staff were excellent chatty happy smiling and working hard to get everyone served, the food was a barbecue cooked outside so must have been a challenge due to the weather but my Burger was absolutely perfect with hot chips and a sausage alongside was outstanding, friend were staying in the hotel part so viewed the rooms and wow 5 star easy.

I was so disappointed. We made a reservation only to turn up to what was practically sandwich’s only left being served. No phone call in advance to tell us the menu was limited (due to a fault with the fryer apparently..) If the customer service had been better , we’d Have at least stayed for a drink whilst we booked a taxi and table for elsewhere. Sadly, the person we spoke to, didn’t have time to give a genuine and courteous apology. The whole place can be summed up by the sad banner outside… a happy facelift that is much needed! Such a shame really.

Staff at the till were rude and did not get the order right. Waited for 50 mins for our food. Going to Greggs you have been better. Food was expensive and awful. Club sandwich more like bacon+chicken ends and mayo bang on, bread warmed not toasted. Chips stale and fish bite were buttered despite menu stating lightly buttered. I have been before and it was not this bad this was ugly. Do not mind spending that much if it was nice food. Basically paid for the location. I hope things improve.

What a beautiful location, on a lovely sunny weekend, when the sunshine’s everywhere looks good, I have read the previous reviews and they are a little harsh, as the location is the main attraction here. The staff were all helpful and friendly and yes it could do with some tlc . The food is a bit over priced but it was tasty and as a group of friends we had a nice break away.