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Bdaily visits BlackFriars

Bdaily recently went to the oldest dining room in the country, Blackfriars restaurant in Newcastle, for the early bird menu.

Tucked away in a quiet corner of the city, this medieval eatery is renowned to be one of Newcastle’s most talked about venues. We pondered the menu over a glass of wine and some of the restaurant’s homemade sour dough bread, which was delicious. To start we had chicken livers on toast, with roast onion puree, and honey and ale reduction; and ham hock terrine with homemade piccalilli. Both starters were tasty and left us wanting more. The terrine in particular was juicy and wholesome, just the right balance between robust home-cooking and attention-paid, restaurant standard. The breaded camembert with pear chutney sounded like another great potential choice.

Blackfriars is a former monastery, so among the antler chandelier fixtures and oak beams, you get the feeling that you could be seated at medieval banquet. That said, a few contemporary twists here and there make sure it’s comfortable. The staff were friendly and professional, offering the kind of service you would expect in any top restaurant.

The main courses arrived, and we had opted for a classic steak and chips, and smoked haddock with buttered spinach and poached egg. The steak was topped with a tasty garlic and basil butter, which melted over the meat to make it even more mouth-watering. Thick cut chips and fresh salad were the perfect accompaniment. The haddock was intricately presented over a bed of spinach and adorned with a poached egg; poached to precision with a perfectly running yolk.

With little room left for desserts we felt obliged to try a trio of sorbets, including rhubarb, coffee and raspberry and pear, and homemade cinnamon brioche with with poached rhubarb and sorbet. Other favourites such as panacotta with chocolate truffle, and sticky toffee pudding, I’m sure would have been an equally good way to round off the three courses. At £15 for three courses, the Blackfriars menu represents high quality eating without breaking the bank. Certainly worth a look.

Also, when a company books a table of at least six people for lunch or dinner at the restaurant, Blackfriars will also offer them free use of the adjoining meeting room that day.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .