Scarborough Restaurant Reviewed - 'The Tunny Club'
Find out more about Scarborough restaurant 'The Tunny Club'. What to expect when eating out in Scarborough. Tasty fish and chips and a slice of history...
'The Tunny Club' reviewed...
We ate our lunch at the Tunny Club. This Scarborough cafe-restaurant is a charming little fish and chip cafe, truly delicious, and a really unique experience!
The cafe is in a quaint little building, dating from the mid 18th century - it is a little higgledy-piggledy, but that's all to the good for the unique character of the place...
The building was, as the cafe name suggests, the HQ of the British Tunny Fishing Club from the 1930's to the 1950's. 'Tunny fishing' - fishing for the blue-fin tuna - was a really popular past time amongst the well-to-do at this time, in Scarborough.
People flocked from far and wide to enjoy this sport, and amongst the rich and famous who frequented the Tunny Club were:
John Wayne
David Niven
Errol Flynn
Tony Sopwith
Tom and Charles Laughton
Baron Rothschild
Colonel GT Peel
By the early 1950's the numbers of Tunny (tuna) were in decline - due to such hard-core fishing of it in the previous couple of decades - and the British Tunny Club closed.
The Tunny Club Fish and Chip Scarborough Restuarant makes the most of this interesting connection, and the lovely, old fashioned room is filled with interesting excerpts and cuttings about the sport, and about the time period.
The proprietor - a very friendly gentleman - was only too happy to chat and fill us in with stories about the past use of the building, and the tunny fishing history - great local knowledge of the Scarborough area.
As well as mementoes from the Tunny Club history, the quaint, wood panelled restaurant is filled with genuine artefacts from the Cunard and White Star Line shipping companies of the period - and even has on display some porcelain items from the Titanic museum in Florida USA.
We thought it was an interesting-enough experience to come to the Tunny Club restaurant just to find out about the history of the building - but the yummy fish and chips are another very good reason to visit...
We only like to eat fish and chips from the seaside, because the freshly-caught and battered fish just tastes soo much better than fish that has travelled, and been stored. The fish at the Tunny Club was delicious - we had really thick and chunky haddock, with lovely, thick chips, and garden peas.
Relaxing and waiting for my freshly cooked fish and chips - mmmm!
The food is served take-away style - but you can enjoy it at simple tables with charming, red-checked cloths, seated on old wooden pew-benches. In good weather you can eat your fish and chips outside in the courtyard patio - or the fish and chips can, of course, be taken out and eaten anywhere you like along Scarborough sea front.
The Tunny Club is simple, old fashioned, interesting, informative and above all - yummy! So, when you are feeling hungry, as you stroll along Scarborough sea front, or on the beach, do pop into the Tunny Club to fill up...
The Tunny Club Scarborough restaurant is on Sandgate, but you can easily see it from Scarborough sea front when walking towards the North Bay. It is quite close to the harbour area and Lifeboat station. Find out more information about the Tunny Club on their own website.
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We ate our lunch at the Tunny Club. This Scarborough cafe-restaurant is a charming little fish and chip cafe, truly delicious, and a really unique experience!
