Sands Restaurant in North Norfolk

Absolutely loved the seafood platter I ordered. The staff were very friendly and I enjoyed my time and meal here. Would definitely visit again.

Really delicious food and great service. On our holiday for a week and chose to eat here two nights on the row as we enjoyed the food so much. The wine list was great. The service was welcoming.

Had a lovely and to be honest it was great Cod n chips roll with butter and drink £44:95 didn't break the bank but great service and polite waiters 👍

Warm welcome allergens explained . We had the most delicious lunch and being local such a treat to,have on our doorstep.. service was polite and attentive.but such a great view and atmosphere…

The staff were very welcoming, friendly and attentive. The food we ordered was excellent, served hot and without delay.

Sands is beautifully decorated, with a first floor restaurant serving fresh quality food. Great selection of fish dishes to choose from the main menu and a specials board. A table in the window overlooking the Quay is a delight. With a warm welcome and friendly service from the owner and her team, combined with excellent food it's a super dining experience.

Probably the best fish and chips we've ever had and the view over the bay wow a bit over priced but hey you can't have everything

What a fantastic place! We booked Sands for my Mum’s birthday which fell during our week away in Wells. When booking I asked for a table in the window and they accommodated our request as it was a few months before we went and I would recommend doing so. We were welcomed by a lovely girl who worked tirelessly all night greeting guests, taking orders and serving. It wasn’t overly busy which didn’t surprise us given it was mid-September and the weather had turned chilly. We only ordered mains but couldn’t fault anything: the cod loin was very flavoursome and presented beautifully; my Dad ordered the fish platter which was amazing, but my dish - the intriguing seafood linguine bake - was exceptional and so tasty. Everything was perfect. Sands claim to have the best view in Wells and we wouldn’t argue - to sit with our drinks and delicious food overlooking Wells harbour was just perfect. Really made my Mum’s birthday meal feel so special. Recommend highly, thank you ☺️

Staff very helpful and friendly

Visited a couple of times lthis summer and was very impressed. Good service, great food, (e.g. pan fried Skate wing or Whole Plaice can be available on the daily specials board), and a great elevated view of the harbour and beyond if you book a window seat. I can thoroughly recommend this place (no pun intended!) if you want a really nice meal, away from the lunch time crowds on the harbour. (N.B. It is easy to miss the single doorway entrance leading to the restaurant.

Lovely restaurant! Amazing food, really lovely and fresh, however limited vegetarian options, although, beautiful view of the sea from a massive window, great music played aswell!

Amazing local seafood specials. We had the dressed crab and fish burger at a table right by the window. Absolutely the best seafood meal we've had in Norfolk!

Good food, very quick service and not too busy

Great views over the harbour but the welcome was less than friendly despite us having a reservation. The food was so-so. Fish didn’t seem fresh and portions small.

Enjoyed delicious crab salad lunch, while enjoying this view of the quay and harbour

A real landmark in lovely Wells-Next-The-Sea. I had a beautiful fish platter and my other half had fish and chips. Really recommended.

Excellent fish and chips. Good child's menu and prices better than the take aways below. We would recommend this for a good meal and will be visiting again without hesitation. Don't be disappointed with your seaside food. Use this restaurant instead of eating on the wall with the seagulls.

We chose Sands for our anniversary meal. When we first arrived we were waiting a short while to be seated despite the young woman acknowledging we were there, however she was moving a table so this may have taken priority. When we were greeted by the man he was really pleasant and got us seated. The view was lovely and the food was out of this world. It was so good to see the choice of gluten free options, as this is rare. I originally chose the seafood platter but the waiter explained that most of the items on there couldn’t be made gluten free. Which is absolutely fine and I’m glad that he explained this to me so that I could choose a better option. Again, the food was divine - I had the sea trout and my partner had the burger. The only thing that unfortunately let the restaurant down was the service. Whilst I appreciate that there were only two front of house members of staff on, the restaurant actually wasn’t that busy. Our order was taken promptly and the food came out promptly as well. However, none of the staff came over to check that our meals were ok and when we had finished eating, we were waiting half an hour for our plates to be cleared/dessert menus to be given. It was clear that we had finished eating as after 10 minutes we moved our plates to the edge and our table was looked at on multiple occasions just not in vocal reach for us to say. The young woman was polishing glasses behind the bar and on numerous occasions looked over. This resulted in us taking it upon ourselves to skip the dessert as it was looking unlikely that the staff were coming over anytime soon and we then went over to the bar to pay our bill with our plates still left on the table. It’s a shame because we would have liked to stay longer to polish off a dessert with it being an anniversary meal. I did mention this to the young woman as we left. This would have been a five star revie had the service been up to scratch. Thank you

Really great food, staff were incredibly accommodating with a walk in of 10

My husband had fish and chips and said they were nice. I had the burger and it was the chewiest meat ever and couldn’t eat it. Over priced but it is wells and the 6 weeks school holidays so probably inflated prices for the season. Won’t go again. Wouldn’t recommend.

During our 2 week stay in Wells next the sea we have had some beautiful meals, unfortunately at the Sands restaurant tonight it was terrible, there was one member of staff on which I felt very sorry for, bartender. waitor, cieaner up, src. The food took an age to be served, the garlic prawns I feel uncomfortable where frozen, the salad came out on a red hot plate. The risotto was single grains of rice floating in some sort of stock, terrible, terrible, terrible, the restaurant does have a fantastic veiw, shame about the food

Absolutely amazing place. Options for all dietary requirements. I had the pan fried cod and chips as a gluten free diet. Stunning!!! My husband had the burger it was succulent and demolished in mins. Did not have room for dessert but will be back ASAP. Also the all the staff attentive and kind also understanding with dietary requirements. Wines fantastic. Thank you xx

Whilst the views from the restaurant are breathtaking and the waitress extremely welcoming the reason for visiting the restaurant was left severely lacking with the fish and chips. Expecting a quality experience with well presented large piece of crispy battered cod, chips in a mini fryer basket and peas in a small pot I was saddened to find the fish difficult to cut and chewy. Half the fish was inedible and I struggled to cut it let alone stick a fork in it. Both meals ordered were the same with one worse than the other. I mentioned it to the waitress and she apologised and said she would discount the food. I was shocked to see a discount of £3.19 on this £32.00 bill, I had been given the staff discount, poor staff! The waitress tried explaining that the cook had told her it was due to the fish being fatty and it was unlucky. This white fish, well known for being very low in fat, was tough because it was too fatty!! Even the cook can google that overcooked white fish goes tough and chewy when cooked to the point of being dry.and tough. Very sad, won't be returning.

Whilst the views from the restaurant are breathtaking and the waitress extremely welcoming the reason for visiting the restaurant was left severely lacking with the fish and chips. Expecting a quality experience with well presented large piece of crispy battered cod, chips in a mini fryer basket and peas in a small pot I was saddened to find the fish difficult to cut and chewy. Half the fish was inedible and I struggled to cut it let alone stick a fork in it. Both meals ordered were the same with one worse than the other. I mentioned it to the waitress and she apologised and said she would discount the food. I was shocked to see a discount of £3.19 on this £32.00 bill, I had been given the staff discount, poor staff! The waitress tried explaining that the cook had told her it was due to the fish being fatty and it was unlucky. This white fish, well known for being very low in fat, was tough because it was too fatty!! Even the cook can google that overcooked white fish goes tough and chewy when cooked to the point of being dry.and tough. Very sad, won't be returning.

Sadly, this restaurant trades on its position overlooking beautiful Wells Quay, not on its food. The staff were very pleasant but the food was distinctly dissapointing, to say the least. I was not surprised to see other guests leaving half eaten plates of food too. Time to up your game Sands.

Food and music from 80’s. Seafood platter was very disappointing. Bread was like cheapest supermarket baguette. Scampi and whitebait in thick layer of breadcrumbs. Altogether very disappointing.

How people can give this place 4 stars and some 5 is beyond me the portions was tiny and food not good at all

Was booked for Father’s Day but had to cancel that morning as I was unwell,I don’t like cancelling especially when it’s a small business,so we went Wednesday lunch time instead to make up for Father’s Day.again sands never disappoints,the view,the food and service has always been excellent,they have an excellent main menu complemented by a great choice of specials on the board,unlike some places around the north Norfolk coast which we don’t go to now have a menu on a piece of paper this is what the chef is doing today like or lump it.we had starters of baby squid very tender cooked perfectly and for mains we both had the swordfish steak risotto,perfectly cooked sword fish and the risotto was spot on very tasty well done Cara and team.thankyou.

Recommend seafood plater great food Good friendly service 👌

Ad hoc choice of the fish stew..it was excellent.

one adult and 2 kids , kids had mac and cheese which was successful , however the burger was chewy and very dry meat, i had super disappointing seafood platter , it is not cheap, it had 1 calamari ring, 2 slice smoke salmon with more brown meat than really is accptable, 3 tiny fried whitebaits, icelandic small prawns on a bit of marie rose sauce and then some pate, 2 pieces of semi baked baquette, it was disappointing and really not inspiring in any way. Would not recommend , service was slow, place was busy and seem to have 2 people only serving, they did best they could but not a experience i would go back for.

Our visit to Sands restaurant for my wife's birthday was a fabulous evening. They boast the best view of the quay They were not wrong. We were given a window seat to make the very best of it. We were treated to 3 fantastic courses of beautifully cooked food. The service was very good and we were made to feel a valued customer. I would recommend anyone visiting Wells next the sea to give this place a visit

We pop into Sands for supper after it being recommend by a friend. The location is great and we had a table by the window over looking the quay. The staff were friendly and service good. The food however was disappointing. I chose the Haddock from the specials board and it was very average and a bit greasy. My friend had the cod. The chips were tasteless and were like frozen chips. The meal cost us near on £20 each and we wished we had gone to the takeaway next door as that food looked a lot better.

Clearly average, 2.5 stars, we had swordfish which was good but frozen, when you cut fish like cutting a steak, there is no doubt. I also had a crumble, clearly out of the freezer, warmed in the microwave, some of it was still cold, and a crumble powder on top brunt with a kitchen blowtorch …. This is not a crème brûlée mate!! A crumble goes in the oven, and we need to see caramelisation on the edges. The service was great, the view was great. So if you lower your expectation it might work, otherwise go somewhere else. My message to the owner : your food isn’t worth the price, your employees should be as frustrated as your clients, do something or be ashamed of yourself.

Disappointed with the quality of the food, especially for the price. The rest of our experience was good.

The food we had was great and the view fromm the window was second to none. Great staff amd food. Throughly enjoyed

Delicious food, great service and wonderful views. My new go to place in Wells.

Just love Sands Restaurant. The food the staff and the spectacular view. What more is there to say! We pop down to Wells two or three times a year and the first thing we do is ensure we book a table before we go. We do try and request a window seat but obviously they are very popular so we try and go around opening for the evening at 6pm.

We booked in at Sands on a Saturday at 13:00. Great decision! A fantastic view over Wells harbour, nice service and great food. Both of us had a starter of smoked salmon with beetroot followed by a mains of sea trout. The food was lovely. Highly recommended and we will be back.

Absolutely brilliant. Food came quickly, very friendly staff. The restaurant itself is very pleasing to look at too. I highly recommend.

ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! I highly recommend this amazing restaurant! The kind waiter and waitress were absolutely amazing and looked after us so well. Could ask for better service. On to the food. All I can say is that it was out of this world. It was so flavourful. I had the seabass and my partner had the cod and the fish was so succulent and soft it was delicious! Tasted so fresh and the sauce on the seabass was incredible! I need that recipe! Onto the view. Just WOW. We came to this restaurant as we saw the signs saying it had the best view in Norfolk and it’s true. The best view in Norfolk by far. Again I highly recommend this restaurant the service was outstanding the food was exceptional and the view is breathtaking.

Fabulous food and service. Thank you Cara and Scott

OMG. This place was an accidental find but what a find it was!! After a walk with my friend on the beach we stumbled upon this wonderful restaurant. We were promptly treated by a young lady and managed to get a seat by the window which overlooked the harbour. After a couple minutes seated drinks order was taken and the waitress was able to answer our questions regarding the menu and many specials. We went for the wild mushroom brushetta, and tomato, mozzarella stack and cod and chips. IT WAS ABSOLUTLEY GLORIOUS. The bruschetta and stack where incredibly flavourful and the fish was fresh. Everything arrived promptly and with the waitress checking in and refilling our drinks. We didn’t have enough room for dessert but wish we did the dessert menu looked so good. Can’t wait to come back. Great service, great food and what an incredible view. Thank you team!

Lunchtime, Sunday 7th April 2024 4 adults, 2 children..restaurant empty except for 1 other table. Indifferent greeting, almost as if we were a bother and interferd with staff chatting behind the bar time! Indifferent service, no smiles or feeling of welcome. Getting water, wifi details all too much Servers were 1 girl who tried, 1 lad who was not interested, 1 older chap who may have been in charge but did nothing to make the visit memorable in any positive way. Asked to change table to one by the window... placed beside the one other occupied table and not with a clear facing of the outside, but side on. Absolutely no effort. Food also indifferent...2 x Seafood platters, 2 childrens burgers. With chips and drinks extras £85. Would have had a much more enjoyabe experience just sitting on the outside wall with Ice Creams! Will not return. James

Very good fish and chips and not greasy. A pity you do not offer garden peas instead of mushy peas. Very pleased to see no dogs upstairs where we were eating. This is due to allergy.

The restaurant has good views over the water. The food was disappointing- no wow factor. We both had fish and chips. Both pieces of cod were very different - one piece quite thick and the other a very thin tail piece and therefore not as succulent. Chips were of the frozen variety (we expected hand cut photos chips) . We had to wait for our accompanying sauces. All in all we expected better from a restaurant

Nice location. Fishy scotch egg wasn’t very fishy. Yokes were hard. Crab salad was ok. Small crab, lettuce leaves with almonds and raisins which was odd. Cheap supermarket coleslaw, when it’s easy and cheap to make your own even using bottled mayonnaise. It’s the detail that lets them down. Service was good.

It took an hour and a half to be served our mains. The chips tasted like oven chips. And the cod was tasteless. Should of gone to frenches next door. Would not recommend this restaurant.

Nice sea bass, friendly service great view, easy to book online for a window table. Only slight negative the bulb in lamp over table was a bit harsh for me. Oh and best Irish coffee I've had for ever 🙂

Slightly belated review…! We visited for the second time with a coach party, and wouldn’t hesitate to return again. Excellent service, 45 people served swiftly with freshly cooked fish and chips which were delicious and well received by everyone. The restaurant is welcoming and accommodating, and is happy to provide a realistic offering within our budget. Would recommend to anyone, but especially if you’re looking for a coach meal stop which is more upmarket than the norm! Thanks to all 😊

Fantastic food, lovely hostess, and beautiful views! We really enjoyed our visit to this restaurant and highly recommend to anyone visiting the area.

Nice food, friendly staff and good service however paying by card there was not a facility to tip the staff which in this day an age is ridiculous so l will not go again.

We were made very welcome and enjoyed an excellent meal of fish and chips with friendly and efficient service. Amazing view from the front window and very clean toilets.

The most beautiful view with amazing food. Sands has a very warm,welcoming feel to it with friendly attentive staff. No complaints, the fish was cooked to perfection and a very generous portion...four of us had starters and main meals and all had happy plates. Well done...an absolute 'must try' restaurant when visiting Wells.

Underwhelmed with the quality of the food. Thin and small piece of cod, batter undercooked and poor quality. Chips the pre cut frozen French frie variety which to be fair was stated on menu. £15 for fish and chip and peas. Expectations not met and wouldn't recommend. On the plus side other options looked nice , staff friendly , place clean and great views.

Having stayed in Wells a few times recent years, we thought we'd give this place a try. Nice welcome but probably one of the most disappointing meals in a very long time. As it was half term week, thought we'd make a booking. It was evening and when we arrived, it was just like the pictures at the start of the Tripadvisor page - empty! Had a drink, ordered food, a very basic looking fish and chips, bit dried up and poor value. Wife had a linguine. Looked okay but very creamy. (Can't be certain if this was the cause of being unwell for next few days) Staff did say that they had been busy earlier in the day and were often quiet in the evening. Perhaps in off season better to go at lunchtime.

Lovely place, good atmosphere and food was great

Went to this restaurant Sunday very nice food staff very welcoming, plight always on the move, clean .would defo recommend this restaurant when in Wells

Lovely place on the coast. Comfortable with good views

Came across this restaurant on a visit to Wells next the Sea, lovely view over to the harbour , was very enjoyable on New year's eve for lunch. Thank you

A very good gathering of the Clans prior to my son's wedding. Catering was very good and the food of a good standard. Certainly worth the visit, will return again n

What an incredible little restaurant. We have been here many times over the last few years and here never been let down. The service is 5 star as is the food.

We have visited this place in summer time and were very disappointed. There were lots of free tables and lots of people were not able to sit down. We have been waiting for a long time to be served. We have ordered chicken wings which were very very spicy. So we paid lots of money and couldn't eat our meal. Staff didn't inform that that food was too spicy. Don't recommend this restaurant

Had such a great time at Sands this evening, food, service and atmosphere amazing, so much attention to detail and perfect elevated view of the harbour. Highly recommended.

Excellent food and customer service, very helpful and polite, lovely views over harbour and marsh. Well worth a visit 👍

Really not very good Place was empty for dinner which speaks volumes when everywhere else is busy. No draught beers which is disappointing Menu was very limited We ordered the special fresh king prawns, chorizo and bread The prawns were clearly frozen, chorizo underwhelming and the bread was from the supermarket All for £8.50 ! The mains were better but I’d had enough by this time, poor service telling me the prawns were fresh, holes and rips in both the carpet and chairs Not our thing

Had a lovely meal at the sands restaurant. Had a table by the window over looking the boats. Would recommend this place.

I visited Sands for dinner with my wife when staying in the area. The dining area is on the first floor, with views across Wells-next-the-Sea harbour,especially if you are lucky to be seated at a table by a window. The menu is not overly large, but I prefer a restaurant with a smaller number of dishes cooked well. They also offered two starters and four mains as specials. We had an enjoyable evening, the staff were polite and friendly and the food was very nice and good value.

Booked online could not have the time I wanted but got me in 60 mins earlier with window view. Both nights food was delicious

Window table overlooking the quay, good food at a reasonable price, local cider and attentive staff. What more could you ask? This is my 2nd visit several years apart. I enjoyed both occasions and will be returning in the future. Definitely recommended. Update 2023 - revisited and my review hasn't changed.

Amazing view, and pretty good food. The service is slow at best. They have a weird system and on the day we were in everyone was waiting more than 20 minutes just for the orders to be taken.

Excellent service, fish and chips first class , beer very good . Highly recommended

5star lunch experience. The food was super fresh and tasty. Service quick and attentive. Prices really good - for 3 starters, 4 main dishes and a cider we paid less than 100quid. Lovely place

Nice location/ view, decor, slow service waitresses inexperienced, food is fine.

A fantastic restaurant, tasty food ,friendly staff & had a lovely view from our table overlooking the estuary. The local cider went down a treat as did the scampi & chips ,the homemade tartare sauce & to finish the yummy sticky toffee pudding with butterscotch sauce & salted caramel icecream 5*

Booked online had a lovely person call me back to apologies for the booking didn't go through. She confirmed I had a table no problem. The restaurant is located on the front of the quayside. Gorgeous atmosphere and location. Service is friendly yet professional. Reasonable prices but exceptional quality made food. Some specials and excellent menu. Well presented. Great view of the bay and the beach. Would recommend to anyone if you don't fancy a local pub for food.

We booked a table for five adults and three children, we were given a table for six. The starter of prawns in a sweet chilli sauce were a joke. Five frozen prawns in a dish with a bottled sauce and a piece of baguette for £8.50! We then waited an hour for the mains, a total rip off. Our table was booked for 6.30, we left at 8 35! Dreadful

Lovely staff and a great view on Wells's Harbour. The food is average and overpriced in comparison with more copiously garnished dishes in Norfolk's many coastal crab shops. Disappointing selection of starters and dessert. Good potential, unfulfilled as yet.

Extended family meal out. The place was busy but the friendly staff worked hard and we were served in a reasonable time. The food was delicious, cooked nicely and served hot.

Fantastic food, my husband had the platter and I had the sea bass, both excellent. Highly recommend!

On a busy day they had lots of empty tables. Small portions, mediocre food. £15 for fish and chips that disappointed. They state gluten free options available on a sign at the door but prepare for more disappointment when you ask for the list, it's just the normal menu with some hand scrawled nots saying most things have gluten. Will not be going back. Response to owner: i appreciate that you cant do much with most your dishes to make them gluten free but allergen information isnt the same as gluten free options, the sign led us to expect more. Maybe we were just over optimistic maybe not. The restaurant itself though was very nice inside and also clean. I dont like leaving bad review but wanted to be honest

Nice views from the restaurant but was a little disappointed with the service and food. I can’t fault the man who was serving us as I think he was on his own and it was fairly busy. We waited nearly 45mins for food and the drinks were slow. Food was okay, my boyfriend enjoyed his burger but my coleslaw and calamari were a little bland. We had visited from the midlands so a little disappointed to have had experienced not so great a restaurant but the crab looked amazing on the menu and from what someone else ordered so I believe if you come on the right day it would be a great restaurant with good service and food.

We had a lovely lunch and the service was excellent.

Very nice restaurant good food good staff

We have visited many times over numerous years and have always have lovely food. However, today the food was poor, the portion was small for the price & the batter on the fish was a strange yellow colour and soggy. The fish had lots of bones in it. It was so disappointing we always look forward to lunch out but would definitely look to eat elsewhere next time we are in Wells.. The staff as always were pleasant - unfortunately the food did not match the service. Date of visit: June 2023

An extensive menu, with local sea food, beautiful views across the harbour and marsh.

Staff were super and very accommodating.

The best thing about this restaurant is the view I ordered roasted skate which was not cooked enough I only ate 5 mouthful from the bottom edge the thick part was so hard I could not pull it away from the bone nobody came and asked if our food was ok so I ate the salad leaves and the new potatoes when the young man came to collect the plate I told him it was not cooked enough he said nothing and did nothing I would not return to this restaurant I would rather have fish and chips and sit in the car park

Pleasant dining experience with a lovely view.

Fish small too many chips, better next door

Excellent customer service, clean and bright restaurant. Beautiful location. Top quality fish and chips. Highly recommended.

Nice views, very friendly service, and pretty quick as well. The food, though, was only average.

Went on Sunday for my birthday lunch with the family, booked in advance and received prompt responses and kind arrangements. The food was delicious and fresh and the view was absolutely perfect. Really enjoyed it and will definitely be back! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Never been before and it was my birthday. Ordered fish pie which came up with a thick rubber layer of cheese which looked like oil around the edges. The fish was nice underneath the layer of cheese, in a watery sauce. Even the table next to us had fish and chips and they said the batter was soggy.

Restaurant staff friendly but the fish pie was fatty and full of cheese, no potato. Not nice

Food was lovely as were the views across the harbour my wife ordered steak with jacket potato but waiter said there was no jacket potatoes available only open 6-8.30pm how do you not have jacket potatoes available!!!! 3 Deserts on the menu as well as ice cream and sorbets ordered 2 of the Deserts only to be told they weren't available and there was alternatives which we didn't like that was the only disappointment

Nice food! reasonably priced! Great views of the sea from the restaurant. Helpful staff.

Fantastic fresh and tasty food, a great atmosphere and brilliant views. The staff are very friendly as well.

Truely lovely, great food and service and the view was the best :)

A very nice meal, I had the dressed crab extremely tasty, you get a fantastic view from the upstairs window across the Wells bay, I will return.