The Silk Room Champagne Bar & Restaurant, Newcastle

The Silk Room Champagne Bar & Restaurant , Newcastle upon Tyne

In all the doom and gloom of the cold, dark nights and like the rest of the world, just getting by these days, the other half decided shake things up a bit and splash the cash on a champagne night at the Silk Room in Newcastle.

We’d been there twice before some years back, the first time was amazing and the second time the food was barely edible. However we were both in agreement that the champagne and service could never be faulted, so we were happy to return.

When we arrived, we were pleasantly greeted and told the table was all ready, so we sat down to digest the menu. The menu hadn’t changed much since the last time we were there, so we opted for a bottle of Bollinger Special Cuvee along with a starter salad of poached hens egg, prosciutto, local goats cheese with ciabatta soldiers and sautéed king prawns with wild garlic cream.

Both arrived around 8 minutes after ordering, were beautifully presented and delicious.

We then opted for a 10oz matured rump steak (medium rare) with poached hen’s egg, wild rocket, roasted vine tomatoes and 8oz dry-aged fillet steak (medium) with sautéed king prawns, Langley Farm cream & white wine sauce – both with hand cut chunky chips.

We had to wait around 10 minutes for this course, but the friendly staff didn’t hesitate to pop over and top our glasses up. I think, being British, we find this a bit weird… there’s always that awkward silence when they’re pouring the drink and you don’t quite know where to look or what to say other than Thank You more than you normally should!

Anyway, the meals arrived and were beautifully presented on wooden boards. The steaks were perfectly cooked, although a little cool for my own personal preference but the whole plate looked very appealing.

I couldn’t manage another thing after the main (as usual) so he ordered the Chocolate Truffle & Caramel Torte with Vanilla Pod Ice Cream dessert. Naturally I had to taste it!

The visit was a success and we agreed we’d definitely return to the Silk Room again in the near future.

In total the meal came to (including champagne) around £195, which I understand is a lot! But drop the two bottles of champers and its a decent price for a nice meal in nice surroundings.

 

Review of The Feathers Inn, Northumberland

The Feathers Inn, Stocksfield, Northumberland has recently won the accolades ‘Great British Pub of the Year‘ and ‘Best British Gastropub 2011‘.

After seeing many local tweets about great meals there, we decided this morning to venture out and see what all the fuss is about.

Sunday lunches are always popular, no matter where you go so at 9am this morning I wasn’t expecting a table. However we were lucky enough to grab one of the remaining two, for today’s service.

After a nice little 40 minute drive (and a hairy experience on a weird narrow bridge in Ovingham) we arrived early, but were pleasantly greeted and seated. On the way there, I had a craving for a nice cold glass of white wine and asked for one when ordering our drinks (remembering that I liked Pinot Grigiot) I asked if they had any. Much to my surprise, the waitress then proceeded to explain some of the wines they had (great service) and it wasn’t till she walked away I noticed the blackboard behind her with the list of drinks available, silly me!

So, I had my delicious cool Pinot and the other half opted for a half of real ale (local Mordue, Workie Ticket) as he was driving.

We were given the menu almost straight away but had a little chat with the waitress as we were 10 minutes too early to order. The menu was extensive and we had already decided to go for two courses (£17), so again we skipped starters and went straight for the main, with a pudding to follow.

Now, The Feathers Inn is renown for using local produce and gaining much praise for the delicious meals they serve and the fantastic service… and I’m not one to believe the hype – but from the minute you walk into the place you could sense and see that it’s all true!

• For example, we overheard a member of staff ask the rest of the team if they all knew and understood what was on today’s menu – to which they all replied yes.
• The bar is gracefully traditional and decorated with blackboards explaining what was on offer. From an extensive wine and champagne list to the real ales and cider available (including ale tapas, a genius idea whereby you’re given a third of a pint of each ale to taste).
• The back of the menu has a map of Northumberland which pinpoints their suppliers and
• The toilets are spotless (and I mean spotless), with handwash, cream and little flannels to dry your hands instead of those noisy hand-dryers.

Anyhow, back to the food. I ordered a main of slow roast saddleback pork and he ordered the 38 day aged beef*. Both meals arrived within a few minutes and were beautifully presented. The mains were accompanied with two massive roast potatoes, mashed swede and a huge fluffy yorkshire pudding* and a separate medley of sprouting broccoli, braised red cabbage, buttered carrots, green beans and cabbage. Plus a medley of apple sauce, horseradish and mustards.

Now it’s only 3 hours since I ate this (and I’m still stuffed!) but I have to say it was simply one of the best Sunday roasts we have ever had. Period.

The pork was juicy with nice little chunks of melt in the mouth fat and a huge piece of crackling which, I simply have never tasted any better. His beef had been thickly sliced and was succulent and pink in the middle. Not a little flash of pink surrounded by dry beef like you get in most places, I mean pink! In fact, he said it had a texture of butter, it was that tender! The vegetables were cooked to perfection and the waiter even returned to ask if we needed anything extra, such as gravy.

Oh my word. Offering extra gravy on a roast… this place truly is foodie heaven!

We managed to devour the mains quite quickly and were completely full at this point, but he had already spotted the hot chocolate brownie and I was curious if the desserts were as good as the main, so I ordered the apple and blackberry crumble with vanilla custard.

Again, both beautifully presented and you could tell it had all been home-made, even down to the little vanilla specks in the custard (no ambrosia here lol).

A-mazing. I swear people of the North East, you must believe the hype!

We will definitely return to The Feathers Inn but I think I may need to fast, or wear elasticated pants as I couldn’t settle for just one course. In my case it was almost an episode of Woman vs Food as by this point I was struggling, but pure gluttony had taken over.

The total bill came to £42.55, which included a glass of wine, half of ale, two mains and two desserts. Well worth the money. If you wanted to visit on a smaller budget, don’t worry – one main course is enough to fill your boots and that would cost you just £13.50 each excluding drinks.

The Feathers Inn, give yourself and your team a massive pat on the back but most of all, keep it up.

*The beef dish is £3 extra and was the only main that was served with a yorkshire pudding. Not that it mattered!

 

Should I include food photos?

I had a thought recently about uploading photos of the food that we eat, to show you the portion size and presentation but I have my reservations about this.

Mainly because a photo never does a nice meal justice! I often look at loads of recipe books, blogs and so on but I’ve often had beautifully presented meals that just taste meh. And average looking meals that taste beautiful.

Plus, if I show you a picture of a Sunday roast, it’ll just look like any other roast – what counts is the surroundings, the service and the taste.

The world can be pretty dull sometimes, we have taste-buds for a reason. We shouldn’t want to survive on a diet of frozen mass produced meals that look good on the packaging and taste like a Victorian shoe. Listen to your friends and family (or a random stranger like me) and visit pubs and restaurants who have a passion for what they do.

So for now I’d rather, unless asked by popular demand, not include photos of the meals we have in my reviews.

Anyway why not get out there and experience new places, new food and new people. You’ll be surprised at what’s on your doorstep.

)

 

The Barrasford Arms in Hexham

The Barrasford Arms in Hexham, Northumberland was recently listed as one of the best gastro pubs in the North East of England, so we had to try it for Sunday lunch.

We booked around 9am Sunday morning for a 12:30 arrival and after a short 50minute drive from North Shields (during Great North Run weekend!) arrived at a lovely looking small village set in beautiful countryside.

The Barrasford Arms has two dining areas, and after ordering a real ale at the bar, we were taken to what appeared to be the smaller of the two. Service was friendly and quick, we were given fresh bread rolls before our orders were taken.

It appears you have to buy two courses (£14 each) for Sunday lunch, which is a bit of a shame as we don’t normally have room for two courses. However, we didn’t opt for the starters so went straight to main course – beef for him and lamb (naturally) for me.

The dishes arrived after a few minutes and were beautifully presented, everything was well cooked, puds light and airy, gravy delicious and the vegetables served separately (green beans, mange tout and carrots along with a fantastic side of cauliflower cheese). Divine!

Shortly after we finished, we ordered dessert. By this time we were already full and satisfied so he ordered apple crumble and I ordered poached spiced pear in chocolate sauce.

The apple crumble was lovely, nice and bitter with homemade custard, but I have to admit I was slightly disappointed that the pear was cold. It was certainly tasty and different to what I’d normally order, but had it have arrived luke warm it would have been more to my liking. (Saying that, I’ve looked at a lot of recipes for this online and you can serve the pear both ways)

Anyway, in terms of cost - in total for two two-course meals and two halves of real ale, the total bill came to £31. (If we compare this to our favourite pub, the Shoulder of Mutton then it is more expensive, but then again you are given a starter or dessert too.)

We would certainly go back to The Barrasford Arms to try their other menu as the food was delicious and if we did return for Sunday lunch, I would be cheeky enough to ask for just the main meal at a discounted rate. It could be possible that you can do this but we didn’t think to ask at the time!

 

Home-made Crunchie Bar

Here’s a simple recipe I found which is a Nigella Lawson classic.

Home-made Crunchie Bar (aka Cinder Toffee)

You’ll need:

• 100g caster sugar
• 4 x 15ml tablespoons golden syrup
• 1 1/2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda

Method: Serves: Makes 125g

• Put the sugar and syrup into a cold saucepan and stir together to mix. You mustn’t stir once the pan’s on the heat, though.
• Place the pan on a medium heat and let the mixture first melt, then turn to goo and then to a bubbling mass the colour of an autumn leaf. (Nigella says this will take 3 minutes or so, but I found it to be longer – maybe the heat was too low)
• Off the heat, whisk in the bicarbonate of soda and watch the syrup quickly expand and turn pale gold. Turn this immediately onto a piece of reusable baking parchment or greased foil.
• Leave until set and then bash at it, so that it splinters into many glinting pieces.

I covered mine with melted milk chocolate once it had cooled completely, giving that Crunchie look. I’ve tried the recipie twice now and the second time I doubled the ingredients, it looked fab when I turned it out but I notice that it shrinks as it cools. Don’t worry though, it still tastes amazing!

 

We’re not snobs, we just love good food…

Now the high street on Wallsend isn’t one of the best looking places in the world, but there’s a couple of hidden gems there which serve lovely food.

Let me start with Spice Palace, Indian Takeaway.
We’ve ordered from here many a time and their banquet meal (around £15) is a firm favourite of ours for a Friday night. After trying almost everything on their menu, you can be rest assured that their food is delicious and cooked with passion. Even if you call up shortly after opening time, you can still wait almost 45mins to an hour for the food – which is a good sign that it’s fresh and cooked to order (unlike some takeaways we’ve been to!). The staff there are great too, they’re always happy to recommend a dish to try and are always very polite, from those taking your order to the delivery driver. I couldn’t recommend a dish to try as we’ve had so many, but if you fancy a takeaway one night then give them a call, you won’t be disappointed.

Soprano’s, Italian Restaurant
Rather a large restaurant which often has a very popular ‘happy hour’ where you can get three courses for just £5.95. Now don’t turn your nose up just because of the price, the restaurant serves simple, classic Italian dishes which are very tasty. We never make it in time for the happy hour, so we pay full price, but the food is very reasonable for the size portions and quality that you get. There’s also a specials board which changes often so keep an eye out for that. We dined there last night around 7:45pm and the restaurant was packed out with birthday parties (probably there for the happy hour), but we were happy to wait around 20 minutes before a table became available. Service is quick, efficient and the staff are again polite, plus the food is cooked perfectly (i.e. no microwave pasta). Due to the portion sizes we only had a main each and one alcoholic drink each, it came to a total of £18 which is nothing compared to some places we’ve been to.

It might seem a little weird reviewing a takeaway and high street restaurant after my previous reviews, but whilst we love good food, we’re not snobs!

We once booked (weeks in advance) into Six at the Baltic on Newcastle quayside for a birthday meal, hoping for fine dining and champagne. However the service was so despicable we left after an hour of waiting, well, being ignored basically. So our staple favourite, Spice Palace got our trade that night! lol

 

The Eye on the Tyne, Newcastle

The Eye on the Tyne pub/restaurant on Newcastle Quayside is proving popular for their breakfasts, particularly with the tourists to the area as it offers a large and comfortable dining area with a good value for money cooked breakfast.

We have occasionally visited the Eye on the Tyne for Sunday breakfast over the past few years and on occasions it has been hit or miss.  I recall their grilled breakfast often came with chips which is a bit hard to stomach early in the morning.

However, we visited not so long back and were pleasantly surprised.  I ordered the regular breakfast and he the larger and we were each presented with a pleasant tasty plate of food. Not a greasy plate in sight, no overcooked eggs and no chips… Yay!

The Eye on the Tyne is literally minutes walk from the Newcastle quayside, and if you visit on a Sunday morning you can stroll the market too. There’s some lovely little stalls with fab locally produced food.

Anyhow, our breakfast usually costs (with two latte’s) around £20, but is worth the money. Give it a try!

 

The Shibden Mill Inn, near Halifax

The Shibden Mill Inn, near Halifax, has recently been crowned UK Food Pub of the Year 2011 at the prestigious Publican Awards and is a AA 4 Star Inn.

We stayed there for a night recently after hearing and seeing so much publicity about the standard of food and accommodation.  We were not disappointed!

The Shibden Mill Inn is a cosy little place situated in what appears to be the Shibden Valley, after a steep descent winding road we come across the beautiful little white property, nestled in between the trees with a very small stream running alongside the car park.

Thankfully it was a lovely day when we arrived, so after checking in (early) we sat ourselves down in the beer garden with a real ale and ordered lunch.  We could choose from the menu of the day or the specials board and opted for a Ploughmans lunch and a fresh summer garden salad.  Within a few minutes our meals arrived, beautifully presented and much more than expected.

Lunch (with two drinks) came to around £30 which is a little expensive to some, but the quantities we were given could have easily passed for a main dinner dish.

Our room was larger than expected and very well maintained, spotless, with all expected amenities.  We were advised to book dinner in advance as it was a popular attraction and duly did so for 7.30pm.

We returned to the beer garden area around 6pm for drinks and made our way to our table at 7pm as the restaurant was pretty quiet at that time.  The menu was the same as earlier so we decided to skip starters this time and opt for a main and dessert.  I ordered roast cod chunk, chorizo & white bean stuffed pork belly with red pepper piperade and sherry vinegar red wine jus.  He ordered a stuffed Pigs trogger with fondant potato and jus (from the specials board) with a side of honey glazed baby carrots.

The mains were delived within 5-10 minutes so while we waited, we relaxed with a pint of ale and a crisp glass of Chenin Blanc.  The mains arrived and were again beautifully presented with great portion sizes.  After our delicious meal our tables were cleaned almost immediately and we sat to let things settle for a little while.

Unfortunately by this time the Shibden Mill restaurant and bar area had filled up, so we had to wait around 20 minutes before someone came back to our table to ask if we wanted a dessert menu.  Another 5 minute wait and our order was taken, Norwood green strawberries & rose water parfait with sweet white balsamic & shortbread biscuits for me and a baked chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream for him.  We simply couldn’t fault the food.

The following day we sat down to breakfast, as per most places we visit there’s a great choice of cereals, fruit etc but unusually for me this time, I wasn’t that hungry.  I ordered a sausage (Chef’s own recipe) sandwich and he a cooked breakfast.  I swear the sandwich was almost as huge as his full english!  Amazing though.

All in all we had a fantastic stay, I think our 20minute wait for a dessert menu can be accepted because the restaurant was so busy (and rightly so) but we did leave positive feedback and will be returning within the year.

If we lived locally to the The Shibden Mill Inn then we would definitely be regulars, but if you’re visiting the local area it is well worth a visit.  And finally, our total bill (including room) came to around £180 – we appreciate that is a little pricey for some, but after all we were on a gourmet holiday that week lol

 

The Wild Boar Inn, Lake District

The Wild Boar Inn is part of the English Lakes Hotels group and is situated just a few miles from Lake Windermere in the Lake District.

We stayed here last year (at full price) and can’t seem to forget how fantastic the Inn is, so we took advantage of their 20/20 special offer and booked for mid-week in July 2011.

Our room this time was a standard (the Lop room, they’re all named after pigs) and although from being that slightly bit smaller than a feature room, it had exactly the same delightful decor and features.

We booked dinner in their restaurant for 7pm so we entertained ourselves in the bar with a few real ales for an hour beforehand.  Staff there are fantastic and didn’t hesitate to serve you at your table, our only gripe about the bar area is that it is very quiet.  (We thought it would benefit from some background music).

So, onto dinner.  We ordered a starter each (knowing that we’d be stuffed like last time we visited) of chicken liver and Madeira pate with crusty bread and fresh salad (for me) and corned beef hash (for him).  The pate came in a jar which could easily have fed two people, so I could only get through half of this before reluctantly setting it aside to keep room for my main.

Our main course choices simply had to be a grilled steak, after all it is a steakhouse!  I opted for the 7oz rib eye (medium rare) and he the 10oz fillet (medium rare) with sides of red cabbage, sweet potato wedges, potato dauphinoise and onion rings.

Now I’m afraid to have to say this as our last stay at The Wild Boar Inn was faultless, but this time our steaks were unfortunately overdone.  The fillet came medium to well and the rib eye well done.  Not only that but my rib eye was covered in cracked black pepper, too much in fact.  However, we’re not one’s to complain – I can handle a well done steak… it was just unfortunate that I couldn’t handle the abundance of black pepper and left a third of it.  Thankfully everything else was delicious, as usual.  We (again) couldn’t manage a dessert so popped back to the bar area for a few real ales instead.

We paid a deposit for the 20/20 offer of £50, so after dinner and drinks were added our final bill came to £70 (this included 20% off the food/drinks) so we certainly saved on their standard rates.

Such a shame about the steaks on this occasion but don’t be put off by this review and trust me, we would still definitely return here!  There’s some little thing’s they do that make you feel special, just silly things like replenishing the tea/coffee tray in your room whilst dining at their restaurant – it’s small things like this that make you want to return.

The Wild Boar Inn is a fantastic place to stay, if we can tear ourselves away from the place we might just get to try their other hotels one day!

 

Macdonald Linden Hall, Northumberland

We stayed overnight at the Macdonald Linden Hall in Morpeth, Northumberland and dined at their Dobson Restaurant on the evening.

The ambiance of the restaurant was very formal and quiet, although there was classical music playing in the background broke any long silences.  The service by the staff throughout our stay was impeccable and when we sat to dine we were each given a complimentary amuse-bouche (mini pre-starter course) of chicken liver pate on toasted bread with chutney and micro salad.

We ordered a bottle of Prosecco to accompany our starters of hand-dived Scallops with pea puree (for me) and ham hock terrine (for him).  Starters arrived within two to three minutes and were beautifully presented.  The dishes were so delicate yet so delicious we were already in awe of what was to come for our main courses.

A few minutes after clearing the starters our main courses were delivered.  I delighted in saddle of lamb with potato gratin and he, breast of duck with sweet potato puree, alongside a plentiful side of seasonal baby vegetables to share.  Oh my god… talk about delicious!  We didn’t want to stop eating.

By the time our mains were devoured and the dishes taken away, I admit I was too full to delight in a dessert even though the choices looked fabulous.  However he took one for the team and ordered a chocolate brownie with pistachio ice-cream and caramelised pistachios.  Of course, I tried this and wasn’t disappointed at all – although I still think I would have struggled to eat a whole dessert myself.

All in all the food at Macdonald Linden Hall was spectacular, we would definitely visit again.

As a side note, we stayed in the Honeymoon suite with a complimentary bottle of wine and I was treated to a 2 hour Silver spa package which was fabulous.  Our breakfast the following morning was cooked to perfection too (full English with toast).  If you do like to treat yourselves, look out for their special offers and keep up to date with the team on their Twitter account, they’re ever so friendly!