Eating out in St Helier Jersey on holiday

The OH gets really annoyed when he comes on holiday with us, because the whole structure of the day is based around meal times and what the plans are for the next. Thankfully N is largely ruled by his tummy too, so we make a great combination when we’re out and about.

Because we weren’t eating in the hotel outside of breakfast, we wanted to find some great places to eat. Going on a Sunday and bank holiday did prove a bit of a problem at finding places – cafes for lunch seemed to be limited so we ended up buying odds and sods for lunch from Costcutter a couple of days. Our first evening meal was spent heading to Pizza Express while we tried to find our way around the town and work out what else was around.

Eating out in St Helier

Ice creams

we stopped off for ice cream at Joe Delucci’s where we listened to children playing one of the decorative pianos that are found over Jersey, and N discovered scooter seating much to his excitement.

Seafish Cafe, Liberty Wharf

No coastal holiday is complete without having fish and chips. Now I’m not a fish fan (I don’t mind tuna and swordfish, I’ll tolerate salmon and sea bass) but N loves it, so I let him have one night of choosing the food. We’d spotted a nice looking fish and chip restaurant and takeaway in the middle of town, so we went back one evening to eat in.

While white and black can look quite sterile, the décor was helped by the good food, and the buzz in the restaurant. The waiting staff were friendly and attentive without being overly so, and there was no worries about finding the children’s food options.

N had the children’s fish and chips and it was the perfect sized portion. Although I have to say I’m worried, because if he’s scoffing down children’s portions which are meant to cater for up to age 10 or 12, what’s he going to be like when he’s that age!

I decided against fish in the end and chose the Posh Dog. I wasn’t entirely sure what I was going to get but crikey it was good. Basically, the Posh Dog is a sausage in a nice roll, with spicy beans, mustard and other accompaniments plus chips. I’m not a mustard fan so some of that came off, but it was delicious. I’d never think of putting a bean side actually with a hot dog, but it worked so well, with just a touch of chilli spice.

N wasn’t sure if he wanted pudding, but in the end he had ice cream (no surprise), while I treated myself to a chocolate brownie dessert. Like the mains, it was really tasty, and I’m sure if we’d been on holiday for longer, we might have returned to eat there again.

N also liked the toilets – why is it children always wait until your hot meal is delivered before needing the toilet (twice!).

For a chippy it’s not cheap, but if you want something a bit more than a takeaway, then definitely check out Seafish.

Jersey Joes, Merton Hotel

We did eat in the Merton Hotel one evening, checking out the 50s diner Jersey Joes. You can read more about it in the Merton Hotel post.

The White Horse, St Saviour

I’ve definitely turned into my mum. She used to get an idea in her head of somewhere to go on holiday, and then we’d spend hours walking to it (I recall a long walk from Sheringham to Cromer along the beach, and then back again one evening!). It seems I’m like that too, although I didn’t make N walk quite as far.

I’d spotted a few possible restaurants for dinner on our last night in tourist leaflets and decided we’d head out to St Saviour. The walk was closer than I’d anticipated – not having to go into town to head back out – and the main beach was still busy as the sun was coming down as we arrived. It’s a shame we’d not discovered it earlier in the holiday because N would have enjoyed playing on the beach.

But trying to find the restaurants on my list proved harder than I thought, and involved a longer walk along the sea front. Luckily there were plenty of antics in the water to watch so N didn’t moan too much about being hungry. I couldn’t believe some people were jumping from the top of the lido, obviously the beach shelved quite steeply otherwise it would have been a bit dangerous.

It turned out that the restaurant I was looking for was in a hotel, didn’t open for another 30 minutes and I didn’t fancy anything on the menu. So we headed back out the way we came towards where we’d originally seen The White Horse pub and the food stalls by the beach.

Luckily the White Horse had some tables available and after advising us to sit inside due to there being a few wasps around the only table left outside, we were checking out the menu. What was really good about the White Horse is that the majority of dishes can be made into children’s portions. I much prefer that to eating out in so many restaurants where your only kids options are fish fingers, sausages or chicken nuggets.

The staff at The White Horse were lovely, with the main guy serving us being a real character. I’m not sure what N thought, but he was great with kids and all sort of people coming into the pub.

The prices were similar to the village pubs back home, so it wasn’t a shock, but if you’re used to an old fashioned traditional pub that’s not what you get. It’s more gastropub with a good selection of well cooked meals options.

I chose the Caesar salad with chicken and bacon, and it was delicious. I’m not usually a salad eater at restaurants, but wanting something lighter, meant this was perfect. But there were so many other dishes I’d have liked to have tried, it was hard to decide. N had the fish and chips (can you tell he loves fish?) and he proclaimed it perfect, especially with his new favourite vinegar added.

The beach bar and eatery is well decorated and a place I’d love to have nearer home.

It was lovely to sit, eat and relax with N, especially as he’s getting older and we can have good conversations while we eat.

What type of restaurants do you like to go out to? Have you been to Jersey – where do you recommend for food?

Why not take a look at these similar posts.

• Castle ferry to Elizabeth Castle
• Staying at Merton Hotel Jersey
• Mont Orgueil Castle, Gorey