Eat My Words: We review The Lookout in Ingoldmells

Every family and friendship group has its own shared maxims, memories and rules. Many of the most important ones centre on food, right?

For us, a golden rule is that ‘Mum loves a prawn roll at the Lookout’. It’s stood for more than 30 years…so I thought it was time to test if it was still true on a recent visit.

The Lookout, if you’re not familiar with it, is perched on the seafront at Jackson’s Corner in Ingoldmells — just south of Butlin’s and a short drive north of Skegness itself. The views take in the beach (these days with more grass than when I was young) and out across to the wind turbines that have sprouted up in large numbers out to sea. It’s also a sister bar of Havana’s and Oasis in Ingoldmells and the Waterhole Bar in Skegness.

My Sunday afternoon trip demonstrated its broad appeal. We saw women clad in neon gear as they enjoyed an 80s weekender at Butlin’s, families attracted by the standalone arcade to keep the kids entertained and bingo players who had popped in for a game on the lower level (separate enough for the dabber and dobber brigade not to intrude for the rest of us).

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There were football fans glued to the unfolding Euros action, caravanning couples having a picturesque pitstop while on a promenade stroll and, perhaps most commonly of all, dog walkers galore. It’s certainly a pet friendly pub — and some of the dogs looked to be drying off after a daring dip in the ‘bracing’ sea waters.

There’s lots of reasons to stop off here, therefore, and the food menu is one.

Mum’s mind, of course, was made up before I’d even finished asking ‘shall we go to the Lookout?’ and she duly opted for her old favourite - these days badged as ‘prawns in seafood sauce with salad and a multi-seeded roll’. I think over the years it has toggled between whichever bread was fashionable, but the current incarnation met with Mum’s approval.

I went for a roast pork and stuffing baguette. I don’t often eat pork at home — it’s pretty expensive these days — so figured this would be a nice change.

Neither of us swapped our crisps for chips, but we could’ve done for £2.50 more.

A traditional Sunday lunch and a kids menu were also on the cards for those in the market for that sort of thing — while, had we been here earlier, there’s a weekend breakfast menu too.

Drinks wise, Brewdog’s Wingman Session IPA is exactly the sort of pint that your wannabe-hipster reviewer enjoys, while Mum just wanted a water to wash down the meal. There was a decent array of beers at the bar, certainly enough to keep our roving Secret Drinker occupied.

Luckily, the prawn roll has lost none of its charm for Mum. She was impressed with the amount of prawns and said the sauce was generously applied and tasty. She also found the roll to have a nice flavour. The sizeable salad and portion of crisps meant there were no ‘chips regrets’.

For mine, the pork was plentiful and definitely not dry (not sure my photo does it justice). The stuffing was really tasty too — and there was also a decent amount of this. I’d have liked the baguette to be crispier and more well done…but that was the only down side.

I’ll be honest, though, throughout this my mind had wandered back to the menu and the promise of ‘cookie dough’. My sweet tooth was getting the better of me and urging me to ‘leave room’. Egged on by my sugar cravings, Mum joined me to sample this dessert.

I opted for the Malteser variety and Mum chose an Eton Mess.

I admit to having been expecting something a little different when it arrived. I’d tried some amazing cookie dough in New York and that was a pot of actual dough that was probably horrendously bad for you…but also delicious.

This was not that. It was, essentially, a wide flat chocolate chip cookie, topped with cream, ice cream and then whichever variety of sprinkled assortments you’d plumped for. Mum thoroughly enjoyed hers — I don’t think she had any preconceptions — and I have to say that I think hers seemed the better of the flavour combos. The strawberry curls, crushed meringue, raspberries and strawberry sauce offered a richer variety than Maltesers and sauce, which felt like it was missing something.

While mine differed from my expectations, it was certainly tasty enough…and you can’t go wrong with a Malteser really can you? We perhaps could’ve shared one after a filling meal but it was nice enough to try as something different.

The Lookout isn’t flash — and it isn’t somewhere you go for a posh slap-up meal. But don’t let either of those things put you off. It knows what it’s good at and its widespread appeal is testament to that.

If you find yourself heading for the coast if we ever get what passes for a summer, it’s well worth a stop off.

And, decades after we first paid a visit, it’s refreshing to know that the beach, turbines, arcade, may have changed, but the ability of the prawn roll to leave Mum happy remains a refreshing constant. Mission accomplished.

Out of five:

Food: The prawn roll ticked all of the right nostalgia boxes for Mum’s tastebuds. My baguette could’ve been a little crispier, but the filling was excellent. Our dessert wasn’t quite what I expected, but maybe that was more about me ****

Drink: As well as my Wingman Session IPA, there was a decent choice of beer, including a couple from county stalwart Bateman’s ****

Decor: We opted for the sea-view conservatory, which is nice and airy and festooned with fairy lights. The pub itself is spacious, with plenty of tables and an unfussy look. They know you’re more bothered about gazing outwards than looking in ***

Staff: All very cheerful and there were plenty of them about to ensure swift service ***

Price: The prawn roll was £7.99 and my baguette was £6.99, much the going rate for this sort of thing these days. Sunday lunch would set you back £9.99, while breakfasts start at £6.95. My pint was a sadly-now-par £4.80. Frequent flyers can get a discount card for 10% off ****

Have you had a great meal? Share your own Eat My Words reviews or tell us where to try by emailing: news@lincsonline.co.uk