Richard and I visited The View restaurant at Tynemouth (https://www.theviewtynemouth.com) which is a beautiful modern restaurant with large glass panelled walls to give diners a spectacular view over the Tynemouth Longsands beach. I’ll write a little post shortly about the beach wheelchair I hired at this beach so I could paddle in the sea with Richard and our dog Milo and you could easily tie in these two activities! The food at The View was as spectacular as the view itself; I’d particularly recommend the fresh and locally sourced seafood dishes. It was also really helpful for us that the outside area is dog-friendly. If the UK sun is hidden (as usual!) then don’t worry as this outdoor area has canopies that can shield diners from any rainfall and heaters that can be used to keep the area warm and comfortable if you are visiting after a long dog walk over the sands. 
The View is located at the base of one of the two ramped entrances to the Tynemouth Longsands beach. This end is also the dog-friendly end if you’re visiting with a canine companion over the summer months when the restrictions apply. As a Blue Badge holder you can utilise the dedicated disabled parking spaces directly outside the restaurant at the base of the ramp. If these are taken then you can also park for free in any of the Pay & Display bays on this ramp or in any of the car parks at the top to journey down to eat. If you don’t hold a Blue Badge then parking charges do apply but these are very reasonable for such a historic seaside town!
There is a nice clear sign to show visitors how to enter The View and this takes you into a smoothly inclining slope that is an easy wheel with the wheelchair. At the top of this slope you can turn left to enter the outdoor seating area or continue straight forward to enter the restaurant itself. Do remember if you are dining outside that order must be placed at the bar. The door to enter the building is quite heavy so it might be worth asking your friend to hold this open if you are a wheelchair user.
The bar area is very modern and there were large displays showing the cocktails, beers and wines on offer. There was a wide selection of gins you could try and lots of soft drinks on display – some were a little different such as cloudy lemonade and fresh orange juice. Alternatively, there was a large display showing a wide selection of freshly brewed coffees and teas. There was also a separate hot chocolate menu with delicious flavours to try such as rocky road, salted caramel and amaretto hot chocolates – perfect to warm you up after a winter walk along the beach!
The interior itself was beautifully decorated! It had a beach theme running throughout and even had beach huts inside that you could eat your meal in. Old-fashioned lantern style lights hung from the ceiling and the large wooden tables had thick rope intertwined around the legs and base. Portholes were dotted in the walls and displayed different forms of nautical knots. The interior would have been an absolute treat for an inquisitive child to explore but also gave the area a spacious feel and a sophistication that showed the owners had clearly thought in detail about the interior design. The star of the show, however, was the large glass windows which gave a nearly uninterrupted view of the beach and stunning coastline! The beautiful view elevated the restaurant into something special – an area that would work perfectly as a date night with that special someone as well as suiting a group gathering to celebrate an occasion. Either way, visitors would all be surprised with the stunning scenery that the restaurant had made full use of! Wheeling the wheelchair was fine throughout and there was plenty of space in between tables for me to manage easily. There were tables with usual dining chairs as well as benches. If you wanted to remain in your wheelchair and not transfer then I would recommend choosing or booking a table with removable chairs to ensure you aren’t perched at the end of the table since the benches are fixed in place.
The sun was absolutely beaming when Richard and I visited so we decided to sit in the outdoor area. This was slightly harder to access with the wheelchair as it was so busy and the aisles were too tight in certain areas to get to all of the tables. However, we still easily managed to find a table that suited us and Richard helped me transfer onto the bench seats that were predominantly fixed onto the floor. Again, I loved the modern nautical decor and there was a row of wooden beach huts that you could dine under. This would be perfect if you wanted to shelter from the sun or if there was a coastal breeze running across the area. As mentioned, the retractable canopies were a massive selling point for me. We luckily had beautiful weather so they were retracted fully but they could be pulled out to shelter the area from the rain and they included lights and heaters for when the UK weather becomes a little colder. The outside area felt slightly more casual than the interior where people had clearly dressed smartly to visit the restaurant. Outside, many families and couples were visiting in summer outfits straight from the beach. This gave a really nice bustling atmosphere and many diners had brought their dogs along with them. The View actually sell “pupcakes” which are dog-friendly cupcakes which is so lovely since it allows you to treat your canine counterparts too! 
The food was absolutely delicious and the portion sizes were very generous despite the reasonable prices considering the prime coastal location! I would 100% recommend the fresh seafood dishes as these were very tasty and felt very in-tune with the seafront location. However, I did see other diners having pizzas which looked, again, a particularly generous size! Richard ordered the Longsands Seafood Linguine which was absolutely fantastic! It was a massive dish of linguine and baby tomatoes covered with a slightly spicy garlic, chilli and white wine sauce and topped with oodles of fresh mussels, clams, crevettes (yes, I had to google this and they’re shrimp/prawns), tiger prawns and arctic prawns. Richard absolutely loves seafood so was delighted with the plentiful toppings of this dish and with how fresh and tasty the seafood was. I thought the presentation was great; the dish was a hearty portion but had all the colourful presentation of a gourmet meal. I ordered the cod and chips as I’m not so adventurous with seafood. Nonetheless, this dish had ample flavour with an equally ample portion size. I loved the presentation of the chips in the tiny deep frier strainer and the homemade tartare sauce was very tasty with just the right amount of flavour. I continued the deep-fried theme with a side of onion rings which were homemade, coated in a light batter and deep-fried into the large loops that were served in another plentiful portion. The food was delicious! I felt the chefs didn’t overwhelm diners with too many choices on the menu but you could tell that each dish had been painstakingly improved to give it the perfect taste palette whilst also giving visitors fresh ingredients and large portions. There was still something on the menu for everyone and even a Senior Citizens fish and chips offer (£8.50 Mon-Fri 12-6pm).
We unfortunately didn’t leave room for dessert but there were plenty of choices of homemade cakes in the display case indoors or muffins and scones by the bar – ample choice for those with a sweet tooth!
I honestly couldn’t praise the food more at The View and the only thing I had a problem with during our visit was the disabled toilet. The room was fairly compact in size anyway but the baby-changing table was left open so there was no room at all to turn the wheelchair. When I spoke to the owner about this he mentioned that the mechanism that keeps the table closed was broken so visitors had to use the buckle to fasten the table up when they are finished with changing their baby. Perhaps a sign to alert customers to please fold the table away again would be helpful or maybe a staff member could check that this table is upright when a wheelchair user visits the restaurant. Either way, that would hopefully lessen the cramped occurrences. Despite this, the toilet was clean and did contain a pull-cord alarm system (although this didn’t reach the floor as it should) so with the baby-changing table upright then it would be perfectly suitable as a disabled toilet.
Overall, Richard and I had a wonderful time at The View and can’t praise their food, decor or location enough! Parking was available right by the restaurant entrance and, apart from some tight spots for my wheelchair in the outside area, the whole restaurant was very accessible. Obviously the toilet was very tight for me but I still managed to use it and this would be less of a problem with the baby-changing table up. The food was delicious; containing fresh and tasty ingredients which were served in hearty portions. The exterior area’s canopies and heaters would allow you to sit outside with your dog in any weather or you could choose to leave him/her at home and have a romantic date night or gathering with friends in the modern nautical interior. Either way, do make sure to visit The View at Tynemouth (https://www.theviewtynemouth.com) if you’re ever in the area!
