Photo by Rachel at Coffee, Cake, Kids

During the last couple of years we’ve taken our annual holiday during the summer, but this year we decided to go away over the Easter break. Whilst we usually make a trip to Norfolk, this year we made the decision to visit North Wales instead. With yet another change for our holiday, we often stay in a private cottage but this year we opted for a caravan and spent a week at Presthaven; just a few miles away from the seaside town of Rhyl. Rhyl seafront is currently undergoing a large regeneration project, and one of the recently opened businesses is the Cookhouse and Pub.

We believe bringing good things together makes them even better, from fish and chips or brownies and ice cream to a cheeky gin and tonic.

Along with freshly prepared dishes and delicious drinks, we offer a friendly service and great value.

Cookhouse & Pub, a great place to get together.

We were lucky to be invited to Cookhouse and Pub whilst in Wales, and were looking forward to a meal we didn’t have to cook ourselves!

My thoughts

Along the seafront, Cookhouse and Pub is really easy to find with a prominent placement; there is no car park attached but there is a pay & display right across the road. We arrived a few minutes late for our booking at 4pm but received a warm welcome from the staff. It wasn’t too busy when we arrived, but the tables soon filled up and a couple of walk in customers had to wait as it was so full. Once seated at our table, we were given the specials board, our drink orders taken, and a few minutes to peruse the menu. There was a really great selection in different price ranges so some of us found it difficult to choose; all five of us (my brother-in-law Wayne joined us) had three courses, so our waiter was given quite the task!

Starters

The boys ordered from the kids menu (I liked that this was on a separate activity sheet to keep them occupied whilst they waited for their meals) which is available at 2 courses for £4.99, with the option to add an extra course for 75p. Jacob went for the garlic bread with cucumber sticks; Noah went for the chicken meatballs with BBQ sauce and cucumber sticks. It was great to see that there was a portion of veg with both choices. N is a bit of a fusspot at the moment, so I was surprised that he polished the meatballs off, seeing as they weren’t coated in breadcrumbs!

The cucumber actually came served on the plate!

Us adults of course ordered from the main menu. I went for the chicken liver pâté; Paul went for the garlic flatbread with cheese; and Wayne went for the jerk chicken & lime skewers. I have to say we were surprised at the size of the starters; they were bigger than we were expecting, especially P’s flatbread which would have been big enough for two to share! They all looked delicious though, and tasted it too. My pâté was lovely & smooth, and the fruit chutney was sweet – but not overly so – to compliment the pâté. Wayne did say the skewers were a little spicy but he polished them off!

Mains

There was a good selection of main courses for the boys, and they were able to swap their sides too if they didn’t fancy what the menu suggested. Jacob went for the chicken burger; he did originally choose the mini jacket potatoes but they didn’t have any in the kitchen, so he was happy enough to swap for chips. I was expecting a breaded chicken burger but it was just a grilled chicken breast which was pleasantly surprising.

Noah decided to have the hotdog as it came, with chips and mini corn on the cob. The sausage was a good size for a child’s portion, as I sometimes find that they don’t even fill the bun. Noah wolfed his down, but Jacob left most of his bun – which is nothing unusual to be honest.

I was really impressed by the selection of main courses on the adult main menu; with larger meals, lighter plates, and vegetarian options so something to suit everyone. For my main course, I went for the C&P ultimate burger which came with two 4oz burgers, streaky bacon, cheese, aged cheese sauce, tobacco onions, fried mushrooms, baconnaise and pea shoots, topped with a pickled cucumber; as well as chips and slaw on the side! I have to say, the burger was probably the best I have ever had when eating out – everything went together so well. The chips were delicious and still had skins on just how I like them; but Jacob did share some as I wanted to save room for dessert!

Both men went for the mixed grill which came with a 6oz minute steak (though they upgraded to an 8oz sirloin steak for an extra £1.99), a gammon steak, a chicken breast fillet, two pork sausages, two fried eggs, and four onion rings. Not forgetting the peas, grilled tomato, and chips as standard with a grill! The steaks were cooked exactly to their liking, and the sausages were chunky & flavoursome. I find that onion rings when eating out usually tend to be of the frozen breaded variety, but these were proper homemade battered ones; I tried one of Paul’s and I could have eaten a plate of these!

It’s all under there somewhere!

Desserts

There was a small selection of desserts on the kids menu, including healthy options of both fruit and frozen yogurt. But being my kids, they went for the more fun option of pancakes for Noah and mini donuts for Jacob. N’s pancakes came with chocolate sauce, bananas, and strawberries; J’s donuts came with chocolate sauce, and chocolate beans.

Yet again, Noah wolfed his down and you can tell by his face how much he enjoyed it! Jacob didn’t quite finish his but Cookhouse and Pub boxed the remainder up for us to take away.

When ordering our meals I tried to go for something light to finish as I had a feeling I would be pretty full after my starter and main. As I’m indecisive (!) I went for the selection of three mini puds which included lemon mousse, mini mud pie, and mini apple crumble with custard. The lemon mousse was really lemony and light; the mud pie was quite rich & sickly, but that may have been because I was feeling so full; and the apple crumble wasn’t overly sweet as some can be.

Yet again the males went for the same dish, which was Thatchers Gold Cider apple crumble. It suggests to serve with custard on the menu, which Paul had, but Cookhouse and Pub were happy to swap the custard for ice cream, for Wayne. I was surprised how big the portions of crumble were and wasn’t totally sure that they were going to finish it all! Paul didn’t, but once again it was boxed up by Cookhouse and Pub to take away. As with my crumble (which I presume was exactly the same), there were big chunks of apple and the sauce had a mild cinnamon flavour to it. The topping was super crunchy, just the way I like it. A wonderful ending to a wonderful meal!

The open kitchen is a great design feature, as you can actually see your food being cooked and prepared. Also, I really like the fact that Cookhouse & Pub have made the move toward using eco-friendly paper straws. So with a great location, great service, and a great menu, I would definitely recommend a visit for holidaymakers and locals of Rhyl.

Our rating – 5/5

Disclosure
We received a complimentary meal for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and opinions are honest & our own.