There are few pints as good as the one you drink after a day on the beach. The sea air, the promise of a good fish and chips on the way, and the phantom warmth of a sunburn settling in all make that beer or cider taste even sweeter. British beach pubs can sometimes let the views pick up what the service lets down but this doesn’t have to be the case. Here to make sure your post-paddle pints are spot on perfect are some of the best places in the country to drink by the seaside.
Xylo Taproom – Margate, Kent
This stylish microbrewery sits on the corner of Margate’s fashionable Old Town, offering a great view of the beach and the Harbour Arm. This is the sort of place people imagine drinking in when they talk wistfully of leaving London for Kent and opening a vintage shop that also sells succulents. The rotating selection of kegs and cans on deck offers plenty of options for the casual beer drinker as well as people with opinions about hops. The back bar is well-stocked with craft beers and spirits and there’s a neatly rendered list of natural wines for the pint averse.
There’s no kitchen on site but you’re welcome to bring your own food. The local area offers lots of great takeaways but you could do a lot worse than to turn right out the door and head to Peter’s Fish Factory. A haddock and chips with a glass of Xylo’s low-ABV radler is a great way to kick off the evening. As this is Margate, there’s also a slim chance you’ll run into one of the Libertines or the bloke who does Tracy Emin’s hair. But even failing an early 2000s celeb spot there’s lots of fun to be had watching the sun sink into the bay with a cold beer in your hand.
Macgochan’s – Tobermory, Isle of Mull
The village of Tobermory, with its brightly painted houses and picture-perfect view of the surrounding islands is a stunning place to visit. If you’re lucky enough to land there when the weather is good, Macgochan’s gives you a great place to perch outside with a pint and enjoy the harbour front. If instead you’re greeted by more traditionally Hebridean conditions, there’s always a warm welcome and great cooking to be found indoors.
This part of the world is rightly famous for its seafood, so after a beer or two it would be a shame not to check out the restaurant. If there are mussels or scallops on offer when you stop by, don’t leave them behind – there is nowhere in the world they grow them as good as this. Likewise, it wouldn’t be a trip to a Scottish island if you didn’t sample the local whisky. Macgochan’s is just around the corner from Tobermory distillery and a number of its old and hard to find malts can usually be found behind the bar. The peated style produced there – sold under the name Ledaig – is a smoky and intensely flavoursome make that’s a perfect match for shellfish. Slàinte mhath.
The Cove – Hope Cove, Devon
Hope Cove is about an hour south of Plymouth in the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Another one for the craft beer lover, The Cove boasts an ever-evolving selection of brews in keg, bottle and cask. There’s a nice balance of traditional ales and more modern styles so you could take your parents without having to watch them grapple with an imperial porter or something similarly crafty. It takes a bit of getting to, but this is a fantastic spot with plenty of outside seating and a cracking sea view. It’s also regularly ranked among the best bars in the county, so it’s well worth the detour.
The food menu draws heavily from nearby Brixham fish market, fielding local crab linguini and what might be one of the world’s best fishfinger sandwiches, backed up by burgers for the carnivorous. It’s stick-to-your-ribs stuff, beloved of the surfers who frequent the place in the winter and the locals who are there the year round. Very nice too.
The White Horse – Brancaster Straithe, Norfolk
North Norfolk doesn’t have the most dramatic coastline of the British Isles; there aren’t many towering cliffs or moody vistas strewn with islands. There is, however, a quiet beauty to the dunes and salt marshes that really hits home when viewed from somewhere like the White Horse. Though the name might put in mind a quaint country pub, this is actually a very smart hotel and restaurant with a great terrace to sit on while you watch the afternoon turn into evening.
The restaurant inside serves typical bistro fare but you’ll be happy sitting outdoors and ordering some Cromer crab, smoked crevettes and a pint of Aspall cider – all of which come from the surrounding area. There’s also a nice selection of English sparkling wines and a few interesting bottles on the Coravin and available by the glass. An excellent choice if you’re spending the day up the coast at Holkham Beach – known to be one of the county’s best.
Riley’s Fish Shack – Tynemouth, Tyne & Wear
A gorgeous seaside town that’s around 20 minutes from the centre of Newcastle by train, Tynemouth is one of those places you spend the day and then plan to retire to. It’s a perennial favourite of day tripping north-easterners that started attracting soft southern foodies a few years back when Riley’s Fish Shack started making waves online. The simple kitchen with a flat top, a bread oven, and a screamingly hot grill might be the perfect place to sink a few pints, a plate of oysters a perfectly seared sea creature. The fish are punchily seasoned and so fresh they’d swim away from you if they got the chance. Everything tastes all the better because view from the beach at the bottom of the cliffs is a real stunner.
The only issue you might find with Riley’s is it’s hard to get a seat. They’re currently taking bookings for space indoors and some deckchairs on the sands, so there’s less need to queue as there has been in recent years. However, the place still fills up most days. If you strike out there or fancy getting a drink sheltered from the elements, the Head of Steam on Front Street is a good bet. It’s got a rock-and-roll vibe to it – but notso rock-and-roll that you couldn’t take your in-laws – and they’ll do you a decent Espresso Martini if you need a bit of pep. Not a bad runner up.
The Swan – Southwold, Suffolk
You don’t wind up in Southwold by accident, it being a place that’s unreachable by rail and takes a bit of planning to get to by car. However, once you’ve made the effort of arriving there this little enclave rewards with a posh high-street, a surrealist amusement arcade and great pubs like the Swan. The flagship in the Adnams pub armada, this hotel-bar-restaurant is set just back from seafront – making it a great place to retreat to after a morning on the sand. Once installed in the handsomely renovated tap room you’ll be about 90 seconds walk from the Adnams brewery itself. So, you can be sure your print of Broadside or cool, citrussy Ghost Ship will be glowing with freshness and perfectly kept.
In addition to the powerfully East Anglian ales the local distillery supplies enough gin and liqueurs to support a list of classic cocktails. The kitchen serves seriously smart renditions of great British gastropub classics to visitors and well-heeled second homers. Expect meat from farms the surrounding fields and seafood from Southwold harbour. The veg is locally sourced, they paint your steak with melty bone marrow, and the chips are fried the three times legally required of a serious pub in 2022. All is exactly as you’d want it to be.
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