I wonder if anyone else during lockdown had certain meals on the top of they’re ‘when we can get out again’ list?
For me it was fish and chips, so after a walk on the beach at Seaham, we headed up into the town for lunch. The first thing we noticed outside Downies was that the tables and chairs on the pavement were gone. And then the sign saying that the restaurant was closed – my heart sank until we spotted that it was take-away only. Perfect!
Actually, the queue in the street should have been a clue. Not that it was big, but there were several people waiting, socially distant of course.
We joined the end and after a couple of minutes, a girl came out and took our orders. Once we’d moved forward we could look inside and see the new system. One customer went to the counter and paid for their order, then moved down into what had been part of the seating area and waited for their food to be ready for collection. Then the next customer went up, so everyone was at a safe distance.
We ordered two cod and chips which were served in very sturdy cardboard boxes, but I think we realised, when we saw the fish and chips being ‘shovelled’ in, that we wouldn’t be able to eat it all! We got plastic forks with our order and headed outside. Just round the corner is a small garden area with concrete benches, so we took a seat and opened our boxes of delights.
What a treat! Freshly cooked to order, the taste was amazing. Crispy batter, delicious chips. It was heaven!
Sadly the only thing that wasn’t perfect was the weather, as it started raining and we ended up finishing our lunch in the car. But even that couldn’t spoil our first fish and chips since lockdown. And they were everything I’d dreamt of! Will we be back? Most definitely, but it will be one between two next time.
“Visit the website”:http://www.downeysfishandchips.co.uk
