The Old Lifeboat Station, Bridlington: 'I visited this wonderful Yorkshire seaside restaurant - and I can't think of a single negative thing about it'
Dave Lee visited The Old Lifeboat Station, Bridlington, which hosts an outstanding fish wagon, and ended up spending a wonderful afternoon sampling the freshest of fish.
Many of you probably remember the old lifeboat station at Brid not as a working lifeboat station but as a sort of museum.
For many years, it featured a decommissioned RNLI lifeboat poking out of the front door and related items of interest further inside. It was free to wander round (though donation tins were highly visible) and a pleasant enough way to kill a few minutes while waiting for the rain to stop.
Perhaps of greater interest was the building itself, which featured a beautiful wooden dome-type roof. The kind of thing no-one makes anymore because the cost of insurance would be scandalous.
As nice as the sort of museum was, the building is now home to a far more enjoyable enterprise; it’s become a pop-up gastronomic space featuring an absolutely blinding fish wagon.
Quick bit of backstory: Some years ago, Robert Ruppert - a hearty, happy character from the West German town of Herne - realised he could avoid doing military national service in his home country if he disappeared abroad to learn a trade.
He chose cooking in Scotland for his civic service and there became a chef, specialising in cheesemaking. After cheffing (and cheesemaking) spells back in Germany, Ireland and other locations he made Bridlington his permanent base, as his English wife’s parents had a history of catering success in the town.
After working for local hotels, Robert decided the time had come to own the means of production. So, he put a bid into a blind auction to buy Brid’s former lifeboat station.
A building in which he rightly saw much potential. Surprising himself, he won. The question was now, what to do with it?
Leaving the interior pretty much untouched (the roof is just as lovely as ever) he decided to create income by curating a space that could hold Christmas markets in winter and work as a repository for small foodie concerns in summer.
An amorphous, evolving room that could just as comfortably accommodate local artists and craft folk as well as small eating and drinking businesses.
A kind of mini–Borough Market opposite Brid Spa. The new Old Lifeboat Station opened in Autumn 2024 and, so far, it’s proving a rip-roaring success. Currently sharing the space is a coffee company called Ey Up and a nighttime pop-up restaurant called Drift.
During the days (on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays only) Robert runs a fish shack.
He buys all his fish and shellfish directly from the fisherfolk of Brid and Filey, cooks it in a tiny catering trailer and serves it up in cardboard trays on bench tables to a seemingly non-stop queue of extremely happy punters.
I spent a couple of sun-blasted hours last Friday sat outside the Old Lifeboat Station, munching on as many of the daily-updated chalkboard menu offerings as I could and I too left extremely happy.
It’s the most fun I’ve had in Brid since 2003, when I had a night on the tiles in the town that still occupies a fond place in my memory.
There will be different dishes available on the day you visit (and you really should visit) but there will likely be options such as local open crab sandwiches, served on sourdough with a huge pile of red cabbage and salad; simply cooked cod offered up with crunchy, moreish parsley fries or smoked haddock and spring onion fishcakes delivered with a piquant tartare sauce.
Everything is fresh as can be, perfectly cooked and absolutely bang on.
Menu mainstays seem to include variations on local lobster - whole with butter and parsley fries or breadcrumbed in risotto as an arancini ball with fennel salad are definite recommendations.
My personal favourite doesn’t actually contain any fish; samphire bhajis with mint yoghurt and cucumber and coriander relish. Two crispy, crunchy tangles of taste that would make a meal in themselves.
There is usually only one dessert option – an Eton mess or similar – but it’s just as voluminous and delicious as the preceding savoury delights.
And there are only soft drinks or the aforementioned coffee, but you are welcome to bring your own booze in return for a small corkage fee.
This is cooking at its simplest and best. No fuss, no elaboration and – crucially – no hefty bill. Because Robert buys his fish direct from the local boats and keeps his overheads low, prices are correspondingly minimal.
Bhajis are £7, crab sarnies are £12 and even something like a whole lobster comes in at £34. Anywhere else and you’d definitely be paying more than £50 for the same size crustacean, but I very much doubt it would this fresh.
Robert’s marine ingredients go from swimming round the North Sea to disappearing into your gob within half-a-day.
The only way to eat fresher would be to drop a line off the harbour wall and cook your catch on a camping stove in situ.
You should be aware that the place doesn’t take bookings and doesn’t have a website. If you want updates on opening times and menus, you should refer to Google and the Old Lifeboat Station’s Instagram feed.
Both are regularly updated with all the detail you should need when planning your visit.
Rare is it that there is nothing to complain about at an eatery, but I cannot think of a single negative with the Old Lifeboat Station.
Robert has created the best way to enjoy seafood along the Yorkshire coast and easily the best way to kill an afternoon in Brid.
I left with a full belly, an undented wallet and a free tan.
Judging by the slavering queues, the people of Bridlington seem to know that they have a new gem in their town, and I doubt many of you will see the summer out without taking a detour to discover your new favourite gastronomic destination.
Germany’s loss is definitely our gain.
Welcome 5/5
Food 5/5
Atmosphere 5/5
Prices 5/5
The Old Lifeboat Station, South Marine Drive, Bridlington