If you ever find yourself at Butlins in Minehead, you will be spoilt for choice when it comes to dinnertime. With takeaways such as pizza restaurants, fish and chip bars, and even a Burger King all on site there was one we fancied the most: ‘The Diner'. This establishment is effectively a take on the beloved American dining experience that guarantees an old-school retro vibe. Just to clear things up I’ve never been to America, so I can’t compare it to the real thing.

As advertised, the menu does live up to expectations when emulating typical American cuisine. From
pancakes to sloppy joe fries there is enough to choose from for catering for all ages, including a tots menu,
Junior menu and adult menu, portion sizes are taken into account. Prices seem steep for what you
receive, and this will be explained within this review.

We, as a family of five, visited this restaurant at 5 p.m. on a Saturday evening. Our weekend away to Butlins had an ESF event going on. This is a grassroots rugby tournament with teams all across the country competing against each other to win the trophy and bragging rights. We knew the camp would be extremely busy because of this event, so we decided 5 p.m. would be a great time to visit the diner as the rugby matches would still be taking place and we would have a better chance of getting a seat. Upon arrival, we were right to trust our instincts; the place was empty. We were kindly greeted at the entrance by the usher, who gave us a choice of where we would like to be seated. We chose a big booth suitable for 2 adults and 3 children. The place didn’t disappoint when living up to the stereotypical retro American restaurants you would see on TV. With the colourful interior and dated jukebox, you can see why the venue would get a lot of traffic. 

Butlins has an app called B-Serve where you can sit down and just order your food and drink to the table. However, on this specific day, the restaurant was not accepting this technology. Our only thought could be that because the ESF weekend is classified as an adult weekend, this was not an issue as the quiet atmosphere made it easy to order at the bar, and again, the barman was fabulous helping us with our order. We began with three milkshakes for the little ones, and of course I went for a lager, whereas the wife went for a woo-woo cocktail. With only a few lagers to choose from, I had to settle for Carling. Here’s where the problems began. Now the kids milkshakes looked amazing, and they were very satisfied children. The woo woo was tasty, just like all the other bars you would find on site; however, the Carling just tasted wrong. I’ve been a beer lover since I turned 18 and have had Carling on many occasions, but this time it was just not right. I ordered two just to be sure, but both were the same. You could smell the gas, and the taste was just horrific; it’s almost as if you were drinking the dishwasher. 

Next was the food. I ordered a bacon and cheese burger, while the wife settled for a chicken burger. The children opted for a hot dog off the junior menu (x2) and a fish goujon off the tots menu, all of which were supplied with fries. So for five dishes, the time for this to arrive at our table was only 8 minutes. Now, you would expect this from a fast food joint, but not from a restaurant experience. This showed when the food touched our fingers. The fries were as stone cold as the meat in the burgers; it’s almost as if it just came out of the freezer, chucked in the microwave, and served to us. The taste was OK, but I’m sure it would have been much more enjoyable if the dishes were warmer. 

OUR SCORE

4/10

BRONZE RATING

ALL IN ALL

If the food quality was better the marks would raise. Take nothing away from the staff they were fantastic, however this is a restaurant review so food is the main talking point and does not live up to expectation. I have Visted this same location twice and each time the outcome has been the same.