The Boathouse, Instow

We had been down on Instow Beach for a 'blow' (as my wife calls it with charming naivety!) and decided to grab a bite to eat. I'd liked the look of the Wayfarer last time I was in there for a quick pint, but that was packed. So Fiona ran into the Boathouse (which I'd assumed would have been packed) and they were happy to have children, had a high chair and had space. Excellent. I parked up while they went in, and then joined them, grabbing myself a pint of Sharp's Doom Bar on the way. Why anyone would buy beers like Adnams while in the Westcountry is beyond me. I'll always try to go for a south west beer, it somehow feels more supportive of local business... Anyway, enough of the sermon.
We ordered our food. I had the baked Lundy crab with prawns and salad while Fiona had the prawn and avocado bake. We just asked for another plate and a teaspoon for Hannah, which they were happy to bring us.
The food was nothing short of outstanding. My crab was gorgeous - it had a cheese and herb crust and was slightly peppery. It came with a good portion of new potatoes and peas, and a good salad of tomato and various leaves with a good portion of small peeled prawns - so despite the fact it was a salad (which I'll shy away from in lots of places because they will often be too small to act as a main meal for a gutbucket like me) it was really filling. Fiona also really enjoyed her food, although I didn't taste it.
Hannah turned up her nose at the prawns, crab and salad options, settling instead for a few of her mother's chips and practically all of the peas which came as a side dish with my meal... Eight months ago we'd have felt embarrassed by our daughter eating nothing but chips and peas in public. Now we're just grateful that she didn't have a screeching fit when we were being unreasonable and unkind - refusing to let her play with the salt and pepper, for example.
Anyway, full marks for the Boathouse. We'll certainly go there more often. The staff were really friendly and the food was fantastic. We were also lucky in that we arrived shortly before the place filled right up, so not only did we get a seat easily we also had virtually no wait for our food. It's the sort of pub food that you would really expect to get so close to the sea - but in reality is almost a holy grail...