Locks Heath Restaurant Review: Long awaited Nautical Nellie’s, Universal Marina, is now open

By TinaGarner | Tuesday, June 29, 2010, 22:51

Locks Heath’s long awaited replacement for Café Lulworth,

Locks Heath's Nautical Nellie's - bright and airy inside.
Locks Heath's Nautical Nellie's - picturesque views outside.
Locks Heath's Nautical Nellie's.

‘Nautical Nellie’s’ opened its doors about a month ago, so I thought I’d pop

along and see what I thought.

Nautical Nellie’s is run by Tracey Thurlow, who previously managed the Cork and Cheese in Park Gate. She is a very busy woman – she never has time to talk

to me, so I have no comments from her yet.

I have to say though first impressions of the place were

excellent! Stepping into a lovely large bright and airy dining area with an

assortment of seating options – chairs and tables for a full meal or sofas and

low tables for a quick bite. Lots of high chairs stacked too, although no

children when I went. They also have a mezzanine floor – presumably you could

rent this out for parties.

The food menu is a good assortment of very reasonably priced

hot and cold dishes. Breakfast is served until 12-1pm on a Monday and Tues but

all day the rest of the week. There is an assortment of sandwiches to choose

from too but they’re less well advertised – not listed in the menu. There was a

queue at the bar to order the food but this was possibly due to staff training.

We had:

Seafood cocktail: £5.99

Tuna sandwich: £1.99

Peri-peri chicken flatbread: £2.99

Cream teas: £3.99 each

We sat outside – and this is where Nautical Nellie’s comes

into its own. It is gorgeous outside! A large area of decking with a few tables

and yet more tables nestled among the trees with a view of the boats on the

Marina. Absolutely beautiful.

We rated the food as ‘nice’. My flatbread wasn’t up to

Panini’s standard by a long shot – just tasted a bit dull and unexciting. The

seafood cocktail was good apparently and came with a lot of olive bread, and –

well - you can’t really go wrong with a tuna mayo sandwich, can you? All three

dishes were served with fresh salad.

I didn’t have a cream tea but they scored well – lovely

light scones, a good chunk of clotted cream and preserve. I had a black coffee

– which was OK but not as nice as Tracey’s coffee at the Cork and Cheese, which

I think is one of the best in the area.

There was an extensive and competitively priced wine list

too but I’ll have to go back later to sample this.

I’m not a food critic but I would say watch this space. It

was lunchtime when we went and there were a lot of customers. The service was

good and quick and prices very competitive. There is room for some improvement

I’d say but they have only just opened - I think Nautical Nellie’s will do very

well.

You can contact the restaurant on 01489 589768

Nautical Nellie’s is in Universal Marina Boatyard

Have you eaten here yet? If you have why not write a review yourself. To do this is in the Busness Directory - follow this link: Nautical Nellie's.

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Comments

Just a quick note to say what a fantastic dining experience we had this Saturday evening.

Food was tasty and varied, atmosphere was fun and relaxed, even though the restaurant was very busy the service was prompt and friendly -although we hadn't booked, the owner still managed to squeeze us in. We couldn't fault it.

By Oatmen at 10:20 on 04/10/10
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I have just been into Nautical Nellies for my second time and still really enjoying the new restaraunt at Universal Marina. The first time was on a wet Sunday morning and experienced a lovely full breakfast, for a very good price.
Although we were a bit put off by the rude male bar man, who acted as if i was inconveincing him by being there!
This time just popped in for and ice cream and a drink, both of which were very good and refreshing. Also heard that the rude barman was no more, and had a lovely chat with a couple of the other staff there.
On the whole i think it is getting better the longer it is open for, can't wait till they have a full evening menu up and running as current menu is abit limited.
Keep going Nautical Nellies, looking forward to the next visit.

By whatsisays at 17:04 on 01/09/10
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We always loved Cafe Lulworth and so were looking forward to our first visit to Nautical Nellies. WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT! We ordered two full cooked breakfasts and the food did arrive quickly, but the order had been mixed up and we were brought a child's breakfast. Both meals were then taken away and when they came back all they'd done was obviously piled a bit more onto the child's plate - as a consequence it looked rather unappetising (a bit like a school dinner dumped on a plate)and half the food was cold as it had been sitting waiting. The scrambled egg was solid and caked together, the sausages were cheap and not very tasty and the black pudding was a mush. All in all not a very pleasant experience! What a shame, as the cafe itself is well presented and promises so much more. Surely it would be so easy to use lovely fresh local produce - a selling point in fact! The setting in the garden is very pretty and looks out onto the water, but the staff working today were very young and whilst I'm sure they were doing their level best, I'd imagine that having at least one more experienced member of staff would improve things.
I'm not sure we'll be going back, which is a shame, as it is such a beautiful place.

By Stedmum at 13:23 on 07/08/10
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Nautical Nellies
We have become a regular Sunday visitor to Nellies and wow do those staff work hard!
They are friendly, always pleased to see us despite being incredibly busy.
We are working our way through the menu and are yet to find a dish we don't love!
Our dog looks forward to seeing the young, blonde waitress who always brings him out a sausage LOL!
We recommend Nellies to all our friends and held our daughters Birthday party there, the owner brought out a beautiful Birthday Cup Cake as a surprise, a lovely gesture!
Well done Nautical Nellies - keep up the good work!
And a big WOOF from Benji.

By mandyj43 at 10:44 on 15/07/10
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Experienced very poor service and attitude!! We had pre-booked a table for 10, but were told on arrival that the (presumably) manager was too busy to tell us where our table was situated! After approximately ten minutes he managed to drag three tables together so we could sit (bearing in mind it was my Father's 80th birthday treat), after studying the menu and the miniscule chalk board, we discovered a couple of the menu choices were not being served. We very quickly decided to leave and eat elsewhere.

I fully appreciate that Nautical Nellies was busy on a sunny Sunday afternoon, but it could be organised a lot more professionally. Maybe some of the staff require "customer service" training, if a place is run professionally it should be run by professionals who can adapt to a hectic schedule.

All in all a poor experience, which coat Nautical Nellies approximately £200+.

0 out of 10 :-(

By Phyzzz at 19:50 on 14/07/10
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