Premium Dining At Butlin's Minehead Review

Updated May 2026

Are you thinking about booking premium dining at Butlin’s Minehead? Here’s everything you need to know.

What Is Premium Dining At Butlin’s Minehead?

Butlin’s Minehead offers three onsite dining options as well as self-catering.

Dine Around – This is the most expensive option which lets you eat at a different restaurant each night of your stay. You get breakfast and then a choice of a two-course lunch or dinner at one of the many onsite eateries including an American Style Diner and an Italian Bistro.

This option includes one complimentary drink per meal, which can be alcoholic. You can also upgrade to three courses for £3 per person.

Premium Dining – Premium Dining is the mid-range price option which includes breakfast and dinner, served buffet style in a choice of two restaurants.

There is a different around-the-world themed menu each evening but always a choice of traditional British Cuisine too. During our stay, there was always a roast dinner option.

Live cooking stations offer even more choice and flexibility – this is perfect if you have fussy children as they can have food made exactly as they like it.

Some drinks are included such as tea, coffee and juice but fizzy drinks and alcohol need to be purchased at the bar.

Food Court Dining – This is the most basic and cheapest dining option at Butlins Minehead. While the food is mostly the same as with Premium Dining, there is slightly less choice and no live cooking stations.

The Food Court feels more like a canteen than a restaurant but is a great option for those on a budget, especially as you can still help yourself to as much food as you like.

When we decided to book our Butlins holiday, booking a dining plan was something that really appealed to me.

It’s not something you see very much with U.K. holiday resorts and I liked being able to pay for all of our food and drink ahead of time.

I also liked not having to think about where we were going to eat each night or worrying about having to book a table somewhere.

My husband has a really big appetite and our daughter can be quite fussy so we felt that the Premium Dining at Butlins Minehead offered the best choice for our family.

Butlin’s has recently introduced some additional options to it’s dining plan including a daily lunch option for around £7 per adult per day and a drinks plan for around £26 per day.

If you enjoy this kind of content, take a look at my UK Holidays & Days Out Hub for more inspiration

How Much Does Premium Dining At Butlin’s Minehead Cost?

Below I’ve put together an overview of the price for premium dining and the other types of dining (and drinks packages) at Butlin’s Minehead for 2026.

These prices are approximate and are of course subject to change depending on availability and special offers.

Butlin’s Minehead Dining Plan Costs (Adults + Children 2026)

Option	What’s Included	Adult (Per Day)	Child 6–14 (Per Day)	Child 2–5 (Per Day)	Under 2
Food Court Dining	Buffet breakfast + dinner	£25.95	£15.50	£7.25	Free
Premium Dining	Higher-quality buffet + more choice	£33.95	£15.50–£20+	£7.25–£10+	Free
Drinks Package	Alcohol, soft drinks, Costa coffee	£25.95	N/A	N/A	N/A
Lunch Add-on	Buffet-style lunch	£7.00	£1.00	£1.00	Free
Food + Drinks Combo	Buffet meals + drinks package	£50–£60	—	—	—

Typical Total Cost Per Stay

Length of Stay	Adult (Budget Dining)	Child 6–14	Child 2–5
3 nights	£75–£80	~£45–£50	~£20–£25
4 nights	£100–£105	~£60–£65	~£25–£30

When we booked to go back later this year at the start of January, there was a Special Offer running where we got 30% off dining plans which helped to lower the overall cost for our next break.

As these prices included breakfast and dinner, we felt it came in at slightly less than we would have spent eating out every day.

Even though we chose accommodation with a kitchen, I was pleased to be having a holiday from both cooking and washing up!

What Does Premium Dining At Butlins Include?

Premium Dining At Butlins Minehead includes Breakfast and Dinner each morning and each night of your stay. On a Mon-Friday break, we had four breakfasts and four dinners.

Below I’ve given some examples of what we ate during our October Half Term stay but of course, the menus are likely to change from time to time.

I’ve seen some people worry that just breakfast and dinner won’t be enough food but we found we were plenty full enough for the day, with just a snack or two around lunchtime if we fancied it.

Breakfast – Premium Dining Butlins

What’s Included:

Full English inc bacon sausage, eggs, fried bread, baked beans & hash browns, Omelettes made to order, Pancakes with a choice of toppings, Continental Breakfast (ham, cheese, etc), Croissants & pastries, Cereal, Yoghurt (both plain and pots of fruit flavoured yoghurts), Granola, Fresh Fruit (both cut up eg. watermelon and whole bananas, apples and oranges) Toast & Jam, Porridge.

Drinks include Tea, Coffee, Fruit Juice and Squash.

My husband loved being able to have a full English/fry-up every morning and I really enjoyed the lighter options such as pain au chocolate and freshly made pancakes.

Being able to help yourself is great as it means easily being to ditch anything that you don’t like (we are a family of baked bean haters that always have to ask for them to be taken off when we eat out for breakfast!)

The only thing they didn’t have that I would have liked was marmite for my toast!

We also grabbed a banana and apple each morning for a snack later in the day.

Dinner – Premium Dining At Butlin’s

Below I’ve tried to cover everything that was available during our stay.

Every night there was a roast dinner option and at least two other traditional dishes such as fish and chips, meat pies, fish in sauce, cottage pie etc as well as plenty of potatoes and veggies to go along with them.

Then there would be a couple of other special menu options such as two or three different curries along with poppadom’s, samosas, naan bread and rice.

The children’s section always had chips, rice and vegetables as well as two or three other kid-friendly choices such as chicken nuggets, fish fingers, sausages, pasta in sauce and mild curry.

Children aren’t limited to this though, they can choose whatever they would like and adults can grab food from the kid’s station if they fancy some chicken nuggets!

The salad bar had salad basics each night (lettuce, tomato, cucumber, coleslaw etc) but also some bowls of pre-made salad such as greek salad or chicken and bacon salad.

Hot desserts changed each night but there was usually just one option with hot custard. Cold desserts came in a range of sizes so you could choose a few to try or a bigger portion of a favourite.

What’s Included:

Mains Available Every Night – Soup, Bread Rolls, Hot Roast Meat, Gravy, Vegetables, Potatoes, Pizza, Chips, Salad Bar, and Cold Meats.

Cold Desserts: Cheesecake, Brownies, Jelly, Ice Cream Factory, Fresh Fruit, Cheese & Biscuits.

Special Mains: Curry, Rice, Naan Bread, Samosas, Pappadoms and Chutney. Chilli Con Carne, Rice, Nachos. Stir Fry Noodles, Beef In Black Bean Sauce, and Special Fried Rice. Korean BBQ Chicken, Rice, Veggie Stir Fry.

Live Cooking Stations: BBQ Chicken, Gammon Steak, Burgers, BBQ Pork, Pasta & Sauce, Stir Fry.

Hot Desserts: Sticky Waffle Pudding, Rhubarb Crumble, Hot Chocolate Pudding, Syrup Sponge.

Drinks: Tea, Coffee, Fruit Juice and Squash.

We loved being able to help ourselves to as much food as we liked and it meant there were plenty of choices if our daughter was being fussy or she could have more if she decided she really loved something – there was a night she ate six fish fingers!

There was enough choice that we didn’t ever feel like we were getting bored of the food or it was too samey.

There are also enough options that you could have a full four-course meal if you really wanted to eg, Soup or Salad as a starter, Main Course, Dessert and Cheese & Biscuits followed by coffee.

As someone who is very conscious of their spending and writes about money for a living, I thought this offered really good value.

Premium Dining At Butlins Minehead – Your Questions Answered

Have you got a question about Premium Dining at Butlins Minehead?

I’ve tried my best to answer below but please pop me an email or leave a comment if there is anything else you’d like to know.

Can You Add Dining Plan After Booking Butlins?

Yes, you can add a dining plan after booking your holiday, simply give Butlins a call and they’ll let you know how much it will cost to add it to your break.

Does Premium Dining At Butlin’s Include Soft Drinks?

Premium Dining at Butlins Minehead includes some soft drinks such as tea, coffee, fruit juice and squash. You can purchase other soft drinks from the bar.

Coffee and tea come from a coffee machine that has a large selection of hot drinks including latte, cappuccino and mocha.

Does Premium Dining At Butlin’s Include Alcoholic Drinks?

Premium Dining at Butlins Minehead does not include alcoholic drinks, but you can purchase them from the bar situated at the entrance to The Deck and The Yacht Club.

If you’re looking for a dining plan which includes alcoholic drinks, you might want to take a look at the Dine Around plan.

Where Can You Eat With Premium Dining At Butlins Minehead?

With Premium Dining, you get a choice of eating either at The Deck or The Yacht Club.

The Yacht Club tends to be quieter and doesn’t have live cooking stations but you can move between the two restaurants if you would like to get food from both.

Having a little one, we tended to head to The Deck around 5 pm for dinner before it got too busy. Despite being half-term, we never had an issue finding a table and found the queues for food fairly minimal.

If you have a large party you might find it a struggle to get a table to accommodate everyone at some of the later dining times so my advice would be to go early if you can.

Premium Dining Vs Food Court Dining At Butlin’s – What Is The Difference?

There are three main differences between Premium Dining and Food Court dining at Butlins Minehead;

Price
Live Cooking Stations
Location

The majority of the food served in Premium Dining and Food Court dining is the same.

However, those using Premium Dining have the option to get food from live cooking stations.

At breakfast, this includes freshly cooked pancakes and omelettes and toasted sandwiches made up to order.

At dinner, there is the option of pasta dishes made fresh with your choice of sauce, and ‘fresh’ grills such as burgers and BBQ chicken (although it’s worth noting these are reheated on the grill to order rather than actually cooked live).

When it comes to dessert you can help yourself to as much Ice Cream as you like in Premium Dining whereas in Food Court it’s portioned by a member of staff.

With Premium Dining, you get two location options – The Yacht Club and The Deck. These are located next to each other and serve the same food although it’s only The Deck that has live cooking stations.

The Yacht Club tends to be the quieter of the two although both do get very busy during peak dining times, especially in the school holidays. I would say both of these have the same feel as an all-you-can-eat buffet-style restaurant.

The Food Court is in a similar location and is more akin to a canteen than a restaurant. This option is perfect for those on a tight budget who are happy not to have live cooking stations.

Is Premium Dining At Butlin’s Worth It?

For what it’s worth, we were really happy with our Premium Dining experience and have booked it again for our next trip to Butlins.

We only had one bad experience which was the Rhubarb Crumble which was really undercooked, not sweet and inedible. But as I could just grab a different dessert instead it wasn’t really an issue.

I liked being able to add Premium Dining when booking the holiday and knowing the bulk of food costs were covered for the week. We only spent around £100 on top of the cost of our holiday and that included Build-A-Bear, ice creams and trampolining because we weren’t spending on food all the time.