This Northumberland Sunday Lunch is a Must this Winter
We head into Hadrian's Wall country in search of something delicious on a cold winter's day
In Brief
Highlight:
The beef – tender, juicy and plenty of it.
What We Wish We’d Tried:
The eight-course tasting menu would make for a really indulgent evening.
Our Take Away:
A cosy escape in stunning surroundings with hearty food cooked well.
As we pull up to the hotel and restaurant, not only am I praying for a deliciously hot Sunday lunch, but also (hopefully) a roaring fire to help recover from our brief time in the elements outside. Thankfully, we’re in luck. The interior is wonderfully cosy with classic rustic touches including exposed beams and a flagstone floor in the bar area.
We’re early so the space is pleasantly quiet and we’re quickly shown to our seats in the conservatory area of the restaurant. I make sure to take the chair facing the gardens to bird watch while we wait for our food.
The other items on the menu are tempting (the pan-fried rabbit with black pudding and apples from their own garden very nearly swayed me), but we’re on a mission for a classic Sunday lunch which arrives quickly and is piled high with wonderfully tender beef, new potatoes and an impressively large Yorkshire pudding. The mix of seasonal vegetables is served separately and there’s plenty of gravy to go around too.
We polish this all off without any trouble and decide we definitely have to try something sweet. I opt for the marmalade bread and butter pudding (with lashings of custard) and my friend goes for the Baileys cheesecake with vanilla ice cream. Finally, pleasantly full and ready to face the gale outside, we head back out into the cold, determined to come back one evening to try their Dark Sky Observatory.
