Driftwood, Bridlington: 'I tried out a new restaurant at a prime tourist spot in Yorkshire - and it was surprisingly very good'

So low are my usual expectations of the epicurean offerings available in Bridlington, I was preparing to walk out of Driftwood with those words on my lips.

Having enjoyed a near-excellent meal, though, I shall add a two-word preface - surprisingly very good for Brid. Actually, it’s surprisingly good for anywhere.

Driftwood is a corner restaurant bang in the middle of town. It used to be an American diner type thing, but I don’t recall ever seeing it. So it must have been fairly demure compared to similar ventures.

After closing, the building was bought by a chap called Russell Bowerman, who owns various establishments in the area, and he installed chef Shaun Pendlebury to try to make something work in this prime tourist spot.

Shaun hails from the Lake District and had most recently been cooking at the Coach House in Brid until Covid put paid to that.

Working alone in the kitchen, he now has free reign to turn Driftwood into something distinctive and popular, and it was his extremely tempting menu that drew me.

In many ways, it’s good that the menu is so tempting, because the interior is a little basic.

Rough-hewn tables and canteen seats are the order of the day. Nothing shrieks luxury.

But the food, the food is spot on. I was sorely tempted by the ham hock terrine as it featured plum jam and egg yolk.

No idea what this combo would look or taste like, but it sounds adventurous. Not as adventurous, though, as my actual choice – confit duck doughnut. I’d no idea what to expect as the only other description on the menu was blueberry, pistachio and star anise jus.

So was it to be an actual doughnut or an arty deconstruction of the seaside staple?

It turned out to a bit of both. Three balls of savoury duck meat sat atop a slab of ginger cake with a swirly dollop of pistachio cream and a blob of plum jam. It was a proper treat. Gamey duck at the centre of the dish but an array of complementary sweeter additions of various textures and flavours.

It was vaguely Asian but felt weirdly like an English classic. I didn’t know what to expect but what I got exceeded any and all non-expectations.

Another starter of king scallops with crab, passionfruit gel, samphire and burnt butter provided a rather more traditional plateful, albeit with equally intriguing fringes. It has apparently become a firm favourite amongst customers, and I can see why.

Less adventurous mains followed of pork belly and chicken breast. Unusualness still found its way into both of these, though.

The pork belly featured a pork cheek perfectly cooked and plonked on top. There was apple ketchup, parsley emulsion, sauce Robert and asparagus, which I think had been griddled.

All great but best was a black pudding pommes Anna, wherein half the traditional potato layers were replaced with crumbly black pudding.

Pig three ways is never going to get any argument from me, especially when there is such a beautiful mix of flavours.

The chicken breast came with a ballotine thigh (featuring the low point of the night in the form of some tough meat), fondant potato, truffle celeriac, chicken fat carrot, parmesan foam and chicken jus.

If I’m being harsh, the parmesan foam tasted of almost nothing and wouldn’t be missed if discarded, but it was otherwise a well-balanced plateful.

Puds brought a lemon posset with raspberry sherbet, lemonade foam (in truth, a little too sour), raspberries and hazelnut biscotti, and something called ‘fallen plant pot.’

Expecting something far more inventive, I jokingly suggested that it would just be a garden centre plant pot filled with mousse and laid on its side. We stopped laughing when that’s exactly what turned up.

A little gimmicky, then. Especially when it comes accompanied by something called nutella soil, which sounds all kinds of wrong.

When I’d overcame my resistance to eating anything served in or on any form of building supplies, though, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The mousse was good, the chocolate ale cake was flavourful, the blackcurrant gel added a neat extra and even the Nutella soil turned out to be nicely crunchy.

The edible flowers on top lent the whole frieze an air of comic reality, so I’m willing to forgive the gimmickiness for the sake of the overall enjoyment of the dish.

Prices at Driftwood are about average for this sort of thing - £9-14 for starters, mains between £21 and £36 and a tenner-ish for desserts.

I wasn’t a fan of the drinks menu, though, as it didn’t feature anything particularly distinctive. Even the cocktail I tried was only OK.

Some work to be done on that front, I fear, if people are to be tempted to order repeat drinks rather than head to nearby town centre pubs.

Ironically, it may be that Driftwood’s supremely central location is more curse than blessing. I spotted a few people amble up to the front door, check out the menu posted there and amble on by.

The more gastronomically astute visitors to Brid will no doubt have found the restaurant online and booked in advance, but the average walk-up tourist is more likely seeking something less swanky.

Attracting vital lunchtime trade may consequently prove tough.

As I’ve said in these pages before, though, there is money in Brid and if Shaun and his team can convince the better-heeled of the town to become regulars, there is every chance they will make it through the tourist-free winter months.

I hope so. Driftwood is good for Brid and the town needs better places to eat.

Man cannot live on fish and chips, doughnuts and sticks of rock, no matter how hard you might try.

Welcome 5/5

Food 4/5

Drinks choice 3/5

Prices 4/5

Driftwood, 2-4 Cliff Street, Bridlington, YO15 2NH

Tel: 01262 425095 www.driftwoodrestaurant.co.uk

Open: Lunch, Wed-Sun 12-3; Dinner, Thurs, Fri & Sat 6-8.30