Craigs By The Sea

A lovely cafe to visit for breakfast, exceptional dishes and very good hot chocolate. Good quality ingredients and made by food artists!

Superb! Yes it’s a bit pricier than others locally but portions massive and the bread/cakes are made on site and delicious. First class service and great wine list. Will be back!

Craigs didn't really live up to expectations. It's very basic inside, very little thought to décor and display.The coffee is OK, although the latte was served in a smaller cup than the cappuccino which is nonsense.The menu might look exciting at first glance (despite the bizarre spelling mistakes) but it is deceptively simple. Smart move from a business perspective but disappointing as a customer. The eggs benedict cruffin was nice although I don't think the hollandaise was homemade and the eggs were a little bit snotty still.Nice bacon on the sandwich but the bread was sliced so thinly and unevenly it was almost see through in places. Why skimp on something so simple?We took some choux pastries away with us and while they looked nice they were most definitely past their best. Despite the craquelin the choux was painfully stale, the cream on top drying and cracked with an unpleasant taste.Service provided by the cheerful Kerry was warm, friendly and efficient.

I want to love CBTS, but it's never a smooth visit, and I've been numerous times.Service is always a bit frosty, never any gluten-free bread, it's always just ran out...There are usually 1 or 2 gluten-free cakes that are tasty.I wouldn't not recommend it, but it's not my favourite place.

Excellent, large sausage sarnie and black coffee for a tenner. Service was very jolly and efficient. A lot of thought has gone into Craig's by the Sea and it shows. Recommended!

My third visit to this seaside cafe and bakery and it won’t be my last. The coffee is by local roasters Rountons and is reliably top notch. The food is delightfully presented and delicious and the sourdough bread is made on the premises. But what makes a visit memorable is the staff….not just amiable and attentive….but when they ask you if you enjoyed everything it’s not just waitressing by numbers, you can tell they really want to know.

Edited November 2023When I first visited in 2021 (see below) I had no idea quite how extraordinary Craig's was in comparision to other places in this region. Now after living in County Durham for just over a year I have had to come back, change my review and rave a bit more about this place.In terms of the affordability of the food versus the quality of the food Craig's is without doubt the best place I have found in my travels in North Yorkshire, County Durham, the Lake District and Northumberland.They use flavour and spice exquisitely, with unusual ingredients, delightful combinations and fantastic clarity.It is only a cafe, but the quality of the food here is unbeatable. Ox-tail and kimchi skillet? - heart-breakingly good!Cruffins? They make you want to cry with joy!2021 review:I never imagined when we looked for a little cafe to get a good coffee in Marske-by-the-Sea that we were actually going to find such a gem!I was expecting standard crowd pleasers, but instead got really state of the art lunch and fab cakes made by someone who used to work with Benoit Blin (the judge on Bake Off The Professionals).The savoury lunches featured an interesting selection of vegetarian, vegan or meat options, with fashionable fermented items such as locally-produced kimchi bringing a bit of vavavoom to the dishes.The cakes all looked amazing and we enjoyed the varying flavours and texture of our macaron and financier.I was not expecting food of this quality in a little seasoning de cafe and it was a real treat!Some people may be surprised by the prices, but if you are know the difference between price and value you’ll appreciate the quality on display.Yum yum!

Called in for a coffee while on a walk from Redcar to Saltburn and just had to have one of their fabulous cakes!I’ll certainly return if in the area.