Riley's Fish Shack in North Tyneside - Phone Number, Reservations, Reviews

Came for drinks on the beach with friends this afternoon just outside Riley's. Decided to order food, the two girls serving at the counter seemed to be having issues with the till and I was left standing ignored for ages without any acknowledgment or apology. The language they were using trying to sort the problem was highly inappropriate given a customer was stood right in front of them. After several minutes I was eventually acknowledged only to be told they don't do takeouts, however I could buy a soft drink, not alcohol JUST A SOFT DRINK 😆 There was no explanation as to why such an odd set up! I didn't appreciate the way they handled the situation. 20 minutes later one of my friends went in and ordered a takeout meal???? Very contradictory! Whether there was a switch-over point WHO KNOWS? but regardless, the front-of-house staff were just rude and didn't bother explaining anything. They are however good at ignoring customers and turning business away! As for my friend, the fish cake was tiny, tatstless and overpriced. Looking at other reviews I don't understand the clout; the staff were totally unhelpful and didnt care at all. I won't be trying Riley's again extremely disappointing experience.

In a league of it's own, not just for the North East but nationwide. The lads serving and in the kitchen were all exceptionally friendly. The view from the decking makes you feel like you're abroad. They have a couple a lovely local beers on tap. As for the reason we visited, the food; well it's a good as it gets. Menu is immense, we ordered 3 dishes and they all looked incredible and the flavours were unreal. What a place. Rick Stein himself couldn't replicate food this good!

Perfection at the beach. Had oysters, bread sticks with aioli, lager, and hot chocolate for the little one. Cozy, friendly service. Excellent food. Would love to return soon.

What a spot! Perfect for a sunny evening. Food was amazing and staff very friendly and helpful

Best fish I've had in years. Plaice with chilli was perfectly cooked, delicately and wonderfully seasoned. Wow venue. Book. Its going to be busy.

Fantastic venue right on the beach. Low prices, breakfast with fishcake, egg and coffee £12.

Have been wanting to visit with the family for a while but on a whole was generally let down by the very poor service and bad mannered staff. A few in particular not accommodating and seemed un-able to handle the 10 parties eating and drinking, getting clearly stressed out when asking for simple things like a couple of extra cups for the wine and then refusing to bring them out until you’ve asked a couple more times! Asked for recommendations on the food got looked at like I was stupid, kindly requested if I could take my order at stood at the menu and got told to take a picture and sit down?? didn’t have any ice or no cooler with wine, no prawns, no crab, no lobster, no scallops, no mussels:( After food asked if we could stay a little longer at the table as was getting shifted and my wife got told to find somewhere further down the beach not even an offer to come into the bar area - disgusting attitude for hospitality. Also forgot to remove the paid deposit from the bill and I didn’t want to get into it with the staff who were clearly ready for an argument so think use owe me £50 😂 won’t be rushing back need better staff could be a top top place with some simple changes!

Absolutely loved our first visit to Riley's...can't wait to go back. Amazing food, service and location.

Although it's a bit expensive, at the end of the day you get what you pay for. Lovely place very scenic right on the beach the food is top notch worth a visit when tynemouth!

We've been here before and had a great experience but visiting today was such a disappointment. The staff were rude from the start when arriving for our table and our waiting staff member was rude and inattentive. To top it off we were charged £9 service charge for the poor service (equating to more than 10% of the bill). Don't think I'll be back sadly. Such a shame as came to celebrate a birthday and left feeling very disheartened.

Really good fish. Worth booking. A little walk down but worth it.

Great venue, superb food and coffee, top class service

Excellent location, very pleasant. Good quality food. Wildly overpriced, sluggish service with automatic 10% service charge.

Didn’t know what to expect; blown away by the quality of the food and the service. It’s in a lovely location, though I don’t know how anyone who has difficulty with stairs would get there as it’s right on the beach. We had Hake & Fennel bake and Monkfish tail wraps and they were delicious. Definitely worth booking a table and going for the best fish you’ll get anywhere.

One of the most wonderful places to enjoy amazing food! The unique location adds to the ambience of this place. Tucked away in a beach, fired by wood, is in my opinion one of the best places I’ve ever eaten! I could not fault the chef, the staff are very friendly and attentive although maybe a little slow at first, this soon changed. It was a cool evening and the inside fires were lovely! Out in the beach the fire pits looked to have been appreciated by all the people enjoying outdoor dining.

Food was ace and good value. Service was so-so Atmosphere was unique (and salty).

Great food, really good vibes, warm service. An excellent experience!

I've been a regular customer at Riley's for years now. This was by far the worst experience I've had there, and indeed at any other restaurant for a good few years. We arrived on the bank holiday for our dinner at around 5 and were quickly told we would have to wait for their next delivery of stock before we ordered our mains - no harm done there, we were happy to have our starters and wait for the truck to arrive which it shortly did. Once the menu had been replenished we ordered our mains, a turbot and a lobster. By this point we had been there around half an hour, and expected the food to come out quickly following the initial delay however nothing materialised. We suspected something was up when dish after dish was brought out to other customers who had arrived after us. A further hour and a half goes by from this point before any of the staff even think to come over and ask how we're doing or offer us any more drinks. When this does eventually happen, I ask for the whereabouts of our food at which point the waiter's face drops and it is made apparent to us that we've been completely forgotten about - I find it difficult to understand how, given that we’d been sat under her nose the entire time. Without any apology or asking whether we still wanted the food, just a ‘my bad’, she disappears to the kitchen and, after a while, returns with the lobster and turbot we’d asked for a couple of hours previously. By this point my appetite had disappeared and we had no real desire for the food… after one mouthful I asked for it to be boxed up so we can take it home and leave, much later than we’d planned. When it came for the time to pay, she explained that she had removed the drinks and service charge from the bill – again, with no apology whatsoever. When I inspected the bill, none of this had been removed and we were in fact being charged full price… I regret not speaking up at this stage and addressing this issue, but at this point I just felt irritated, ripped off and wanted to leave as soon as possible. We ended up spending about 140 quid on a few oysters, three drinks and some takeaway fish that would be eaten cold at home. Not what you pay the high prices for. It’s sad to see the standards slip as I’ve enjoyed spending time and bringing new customers to Riley’s over the years, but after this experience I’m going to have to find somewhere else to go. Looking at the reviews here it seems I’m not the only one who’s frustrated by this stark drop in standards. The irony is they still have the capacity to churn out very good food, but it’s let down so badly by the front of house team that it’s become impossible to justify.

What a find! Fresh, whole Hake tail with a fantastic pea salsa. Eaten on the sand in a deck chair. Let's just say the fish was better than the famous 5* hotel I ate in last week.

Fantastic fish (cooked perfectly), served in a unique and stunning setting, by friendly staff... what's not to love. If I dodmt live so far away, this would definitely be my regular spot.

Food was amazing and staff were lovely and friendly.

So good. Great fish well cooked. Fantastic location and friendly staff. Definitely one of my happy places :)

I had an amazing afternoon here on the bank holiday weekend, they do excellent sea food and is served to you on the beach on deck chairs. There are friendly staff as well.

Amazing place. If you love seafood this is the place to go.

Amazing menu and beautifully cooked fish.

We were given a gift voucher as a wedding present. It thoroughly lived up to our expectations!

I had the polenta coated haddock, it was extremely fresh and very delicious. The potatoes on the side were also pretty good. Highly recommend.

Extraordinary service and attention. Superior quality.

Very big and very good food! We were surprised by the portion size for such a low price!

Complete disappointment in all aspects.

This was the best meal I've had in a long time. Really delicious food, friendly service, and a great location and vibe. I tried the oysters, Dover sole, and skate wing - they were all amazing.

Ah google... sometimes I need more than 5 stars! Wonderful friendly welcoming service. Skate wing & harissa was a taste sensation. And tasty ipa too! A great setting on the beach too.

I ordered a mackerel fish as It was on the menu (sounded promising)! Paid excessively, in my opinion for a small piece of mackerel fish (not even sure it was fresh from the texture, was a bit gummy as well) with some sort of pickled salad with burnt outdated potatoes as side, and a plastic glass of wine (£40). The only positive thing was the pita bread and the location with a nice sea view! Regarding the staff literally no comment as demonstrated to be awful.

Outstanding food in a great location. Service is the only area for improvement - staff weren’t particularly enthusiastic about the food or proactive in taking orders.

A great little place. Great service and tasty food.

Food and atmosphere were great. Prices were high but quality was also. Only criticism is that wooden utensils are not ideal to eat a lobster

Great place, fantastic vibe, brilliant service and the food is amazing!

Fabulous location and great food cooked over a wood fire. It's not cheap but you get a good amount of seafood in a portion. Staff are very friendly, we were lucky to be able to move to an inside table as it was pretty cold on the terrace on a windy April night.

The location is super good, there is place inside warm and even when it is windy, it's feel warm and comfy. The food is great and the chocolate was one of the best I ever had.. a really great experience for spring or summer. There is also some campfire on the beach. 🥹🥹

Enjoyed the fun experience even though it was a bit cold at least we had an inside table.

What a find! Extraordinary fish restaurant on a sandy beach. Good even for a coffee with a view.

2nd time I've been, food was lovely, had a table inside for 2 right next to the bar, nice atmosphere but on getting the bill was told there was a discretionary service charge of £9 on which i asked for that to be removed as wasn't sure what that was for other than someone carrying our meal a couple of yards to our table so didn't justify a service charge of any kind whatsoever especially how pricey it is to begin with to eat in there, then when asked to remove the girl was a little taking back and rude about it, would usually leave a tip anyway but should be left up to me especially with such minimal service

Fantastic place by the sea. Just great

I had a really lovely experience. I took an hour to get there and was really excited to try this place as it had been under my radar now for months! The food was amazing. However, towards the end I waited for two scallops they brought out one and tracked someone down to tell them. It took 50 minutes for the scallops to arrive. I tracked someone down and they had a bit of a foul attitude I just said it must’ve been due to a busy day. They brought the manager and he was AMAZING! He smoothed things over. Even though I had the long wait at the end. I would still recommend as it is a lovely place and will be sure to come again due to the good food and really proactive manager.

Fantastic location and food, always recommend coming here and bring all my friends and family too! The view from the seated area is stunning,aswell as the deckchair area, such a unique experience.

So the start off the food was lovely, however ridiculously expensive for what you get and the experience, £28 to eat a small piece of cod on a deckchair. The service, seemed to be an absolute shambles, no tables had numbers or area colours, so I saw punters having to physically take staff to point them to their deck chair in a crowd of people and chairs. Paid for a vodka and lemonade, got charged for it, then got told they didnt have vodka, so they substituted for a half pint but didn't refund the difference. Lastly.. £50 service charge, when we had to request bin bags to clean up our boxes and drinks because no one came to collect them.

We went to celebrate our daughter's 21st birthday. Rileys Fish Shack was the BEST place to do this. The atmosphere was wonderful, we had a table inside, a squeeze but all part of the charm. We started with cocktails that were delicious. The food was utterly astounding, possibly the best I've had. There were quite a few of us, we had monkfish kebab, monkfish wraps, cod all accompanied with the most exquisite salads we also added sides of potatoes, oh my god they were insane! and grilled hispi cabbage, off the chart divine, all washed down the most delicious palest rose. We ended the evening moving to the deckchairs outside with our drinks and sat around fire pit all provided by Rileys, a 10 out of 10 experience. Thank you for making it an awesome 21st!

One word: unbelievable. We’ve been dying to go to Riley’s for years but for one reason or another, haven’t made it until now. Let me tell you, it was worth the wait! We went into a bit of a frenzy ordering as everything looked delicious! We had: The harissa marinated skate wing Chilli fish empanada Monkfish tail wrap Oysters Langoustines in a lemon butter Squid with mojo verde All washed down with a beautiful bottle of white! The food was well complemented by the awesome positioning of the restaurant overlooking the sea. We sat in the shack but I think next time we’d probably try the deckchairs actually on the beach. Staff were really friendly and where we were sat with the kitchen pass behind us, we had a bird’s eye view on all the other dishes, too! We’ll definitely be back!

Amazing place. Fabulous food and drinks. Not cheap but well worth the money in our opinion. Always a warm welcome and it's such a great experience to eat quality in such a great location.

First time here, unfortunately the weather was awful but that didn't take anything away for amazing food. Not the cheapest and about a 15% service charge seemed high but you can choose not to pay that.

Amazing menu with delicious food. Great selection of drinks. Lovely cosy vibe overlooking the beach. Thank you!

Best food and the views are amazing . Unique experience

Only had coffee here but enjoyed the concept and the food looked marvellous

Food was excellent, but very nearly not worth the wait. We were seated quickly but left for a good 40 minutes before taking our order and another 40 minutes waiting for the food to come.

Great food, great location. I had lemon sole and was delicious. Highly recommended

Unique little place, lovely food. Will definitely go again!

Please get a vegan option!! Nice place but you have to buy food with a drink and there is no vegan option so vegans are discriminated against. I didn’t feel welcome. Very rare to find somewhere that doesn’t offer a vegan option nowadays.

This is a must visit if in Newcastle area. Superb location and fantastic food. Booking essential. Although its a beach location its also great in winter too. The deck chairs, the customer fires, the views, the food. Love love love it !!!!!

Loved everything about this! On the beach, check ✔️, fish dishes amazing, check ✔️, service on par, check ✔️ & even the cocktails, spot on!!

Quality service, Ihab top lad, even though Liverpool won…

Absolutely delicious seafood, great location on the beach.

Honestly the best place to eat / drink with the best views anywhere in the north east 👍🥂

Bring your own soup spoon! Other than inadequately flat wooden spoon to deal with delish soup.. I enjoyed myself. Perhaps this is a ruse to make you eat the soup longer and take in an excellent atmosphere and views of the place. ..5/5 would spoon again

My favourite restaurant ever, I am never disappointed by Riley’s Fish Shack, you have to go if you live / are visiting Tynemouth!!

Great spot on the beach and the food is delicious. Would love to go back and try the rest of the menu.

Dining on the beach with lovely, freshly cooked seafood. Make sure you book if you want a seat.

Don’t go there on a Sunday evening when they are running out of stock. Food is delicious when it’s available. May be pricy but it’s worth it. Not suitable for individuals with mobility issues. Turbot chop and monk fish were the only worth dishes available at 6pm.

Lunch. A must when visiting the North East. You're not a true foodie if you don't know about it here. Be prepared to walk down some steep steps. Located (literally) on the shorefront at King Edward Bay, Tynemouth, the small bay right next to the Priory, Rileys Fish Shack prepares, cooks and serves its fresh fish from two converted shipping containers that they custom designed and installed. Like the simplicity of the food, as an eatery is honest and rustic. We didn't book,as who wants to go and eat on the beach in winter? How wrong can you be. Turns out everybody does. There's not much seating – a few indoor wooden tables and some on the balcony. So, deck chairs on the beach on the beach it is then. The menu is on a daily changing board with so much choice,you are spoilt. We decided on North Sea Squid with artichoke, black olive & pine nut salsa £15. Polenta Coated Haddock & salsa verde £11. Monkfish tail wrap with a mixed side £28 which was huge and cooked to perfection. Everything was cooked fresh to order and filled a gap nicely. If you like fish dishes and dining on the beach, then get yourselves down here. But make sure you book. Having said that, if you are prepared to wait, a table might come free as it did for us. If not, you can always sit on the beach in deck chair.

Truly exceptional experience, sat indoors next to woodburning stove and still able to hear the surf on the beach. Amazing array of fresh seafood cooked to perfection. Timely and attentive service.

A fishing shack with wood fired oven that does the most tasty dishes. And with views of the North Sea that will knock your socks off.

Came here on a recommendation and definitely didn't regret it! You have to book in advance but you've got the option of sitting inside beside wood fired stoves, on their decking or on some deck chairs on the beach. For a cold day, sitting in the warmth was just lovely. The service was excellent and you can have a range of smaller dishes or go for a big one. We had the Monkfish kebab, langoustines, fish empanada and rosemary potatoes. All absolutely excellent. The kebab was packed with flavour and is huge; The empanada came with the most amazing fresh salad and aioli; The langoustines were buttery and the sourdough bread to mop up the sauce was excellent. Finally the potatoes I could have just had on their own, amazingly seasoned and crispy. Highly recommended.

Can't recommend it enough. Far and away the best piece of Hake I've had. Only bettered by their restaurant in Tynemouth Village.

Had a wonderful experience at Riley's! We all agreed it was some of the best seafood we have eaten - everything we tried was absolutely delicious and the portion sizes were also very reasonable. The atmosphere was cosy and unique, with a log burner to keep us toasty outside and view of the beach. It does get a bit smokey, but we felt this added to the beachy atmosphere! Service was good and our food was brought out fairly promptly. Will definitely be returning with visiting friends and family!

Great spot right on the beach, amazing seafood . Very limited indoor seating and can be a bit chilly out on the deck through the winter months, blankets are provided but they won't keep your food warm if the winds blowing

Lovely place, helpful service despite being extremely busy.

So many delicious foods and the starters were particularly fabulous. I'd suggest order all of them! Share mains as they are big

Lost itself. Went from being a casual, friendly establishment which served outstanding seafood to an overpriced and distinctly pompous venue. The food is still great, however the exorbitant pricing leaves a nasty taste in the mouth.

Sehr gut,nette Personal und Service.

If I said it was a freezing cold day, the inside tables were full (book ahead) so only seating outside with just an overhead tarpaulin for cover, yet only a couple of tables available, on a weekday and that should tell you the popularity of the place and the quality of the food. Oh and it's a steep descent down dozens of steps! It's a shack with a tiny kitchen yet they put the big chains with their perfect kitchens to shame. The variety, the unusual, the attention to detail. I had kipper wrap with a mixed side. The fish was topped with a beautiful green herb salsa, the side was rosemary cubed potatoes (oh my could have eaten a whole bowl full), a fennel based salad, salsa, aioli, and a olive/gherkin/ celery salad. It's 1.5 hrs from home but I would happily drive all that way . I expect it's lovely in the summer with chairs on the beach but don't wait til then, take a warm coat and hat and go there right now

This is how it should be done. Amazing food, amazing atmosphere. Well worth a visit.

Absolutely gutted. Travelled up from Cambridgeshire for the weekend to the North East. I made a booking for Riley's on 31st October for today which was 2 weeks ago. I received a phone call 2 hours before the booking to say they can't serve anyone with any allergies whatsoever due to their very strict policy. Whilst I understand this policy you have had 2 weeks to ring me to let me know, so I could make an alternative booking elsewhere. I would strongly advise that you call them days before to check they'll be able to honour your booking.

Love this place, staff amazing, food great! The only problem I have is my difficultly eating out of a box resting on my knee without spilling it on my dress 😂 will be back with a pair of black wipeable trousers!!

Only stopped for a coffee ☕ lovely place.

A fantastic place to eat outstanding food!

Fantastic hideaway to lose yourself for an afternoon.

Let us be clear: that Board outside you're reading comprises mostly of fish on its last day. Nothing wrong with that but your food cost is low. So... We turned up impromptu but there was plenty of space to accommodate. Service was markedly slow and we ordered drinks and food at the same instance to avoid further delay. About 50 minutes later food arrived. It was pleasant - nothing remarkable and certainly not justified by the price tag. Unfortunately, after the waiter put our food down, I leaned over to pass my daughter a fork. A seagull capitalised on the moment and took my meal. The waiter came over and asked 'did it take the meal?'. Yes, it did. 'Had you finished?'. No, I was far from that point. 'Ah, that's a shame.' He then moved on. Look. Green, he must be to hospitality - when your food cost is that low, you can afford to offer a replacement. Even something half price. Or just a complimentary plate / box of something else. Technically, you put that meal there and within minutes it was gone. Oh well. At least I won't make the mistake of returning.

Food was top quality, the service matched it. Wrap up well if you're sitting on the balcony. Definitely going back!

Food sensational, the setting and ambience are 2nd to none. I loved this place, just a shame I live 250 miles away in bristol so won't be returning for a while. I had the halibut which was cooked beautifully and the potato and salad sides were perfect accompaniments. Thanks!

Very Disappointed I had a voucher to spend here so I was excited to visit for breakfast with my husband. We arrived with no welcome, and ordered a coke and a coffee that took 10 minutes to arrive. We waited at the table for someone to take our food order but no one was bothered (there was only 3 tables in and the other 2 were eating already). I watched as all 3 of the staff made themselves a sausage sandwich and since we'd finished our drinks and they still weren't interested we paid for our drinks and left. What a shame been wanting to visit for ages and honestly ruined my morning. Rude staff blatantly couldn't care less.

The worst dining experience I’ve had in my life. We ordered, sat down and waited for a whole hour, no food ever came, and when we finally went asking where is our food they said that they don’t have our order, when the girl who took our order was literally stood there. And there were only about six tables at that time, not even busy. And it smelt horrible in the stack. Unacceptable service, absolutely shocking!

Delicious food, really busy, great views!

Fantastic location. Great food, drinks and service

Fantastic place, amazing atmosphere, great people, delicious food. I would highly recommend 😁👌🏼

A great location and we loved the fresh seafood food, except wasnt too keen on the size salad.

What a beautiful cosy place to eat would recommend to anyone staff so freindly

Friendly staff, we sat on deckchairs on the beach with a firepit provided by the shack. Great food and reasonable prices.

This review is only off todays visit…….. I know it’s Popular, but 25 minute wait for 2 takeaway coffees and a hot chocolate is poor service. If I was told when ordering I wouldn’t have bothered. The hot chocolate was ready 7 minutes before the coffee. Server too busy answering phones and serving other to make the coffee. There were only 4 hot drinks before mine. Won’t be back

Lovely tasty food we had herrings squid and kippers all individual dishes very filling staff were very helpful and attentive would recommend

Will be dreaming of the mackerel wrap for a while.

It's always an amazing time at rileys, whenever I'm back in Newcastle it is a must. The staff work so hard to ensure you have the best experience possible. The setting is to die for watching the sun going down over the sea with a fire. What more could you ask for. Not forgetting the absolutely incredible food. Always an absolute unforgettable experience