Raby Hunt Restaurant, Summerhouse, near Darlington (From Darlington and Stockton Times)

Raby Hunt Restaurant, Summerhouse, near Darlington

12:57pm Friday 4th December 2009

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THE Raby Hunt, when its name was suffixed by the word ‘Inn’ rather than ‘Restaurant’, was the sort of cosy-looking pub that looked like it would serve a good pint.

The truth of it is, I never went in for a pint – I was always on my way through Summerhouse to get to somewhere else. Unfortunately it seems that I was not the only one who admired it from the road, but never frequented it – the pub doors closed and were only re-opened when the Close family reincarnated it as a restaurant in October.

Helene and Russell Close have impressive form when it comes to hospitality – they were in charge of the awardwinning The Grange B&B in Hamsterley Forest, near Bishop Auckland for 15 years.

Now Helene and Russell’s son James, a trained chef who counts Headlam Hall amongst his previous employers, has taken over in the kitchen with his Mum helping out and Dad front of house.

So I ventured to The Raby Hunt, now rebranded the not-so-snappy Raby Hunt Restaurant with Rooms, on a Friday night, filled with confidence that the Close family would not disappoint.

The interior of the restaurant is as far from a country pub as the Closes could dare to go. Long gone is the selection of hand-pulled ales, the bar stools and the well-worn tables.

Diners wait for their tables in a compact bar with arty bits of driftwood pinned to the walls. While we waited, the friendly waitress brought us something to pass our time – homemade hummous and breadsticks, roasted root crisps and some wasabi nuts – spicy enough to give the taste buds a warm-up, but as with all horseradish, the heat had long gone by the time we made our way to our table.

The main dining room is smart and relaxing – deep purple benches, matching orchids on the table, black, robust chairs and crisp, clean white walls. We were sat next to a door with a sign which read “Loo’s”. I’m not sure who Loo is, but I’m sure he would be happy that his door graced such a pleasant room.

I started with pigeon breast stuffed with black pudding on creamed mushrooms with a prune sauce (£6.95). The earthy, gamey meat worked well with the honey-like sauce but while the mushrooms were nice they were bullied by the bigger, bolder flavours on the plate.

My girlfriend Stacey went for a duck and pork terrine served with a spicy pear chutney and toasted brioche (£5.95). Again, sweet and savoury combined well – the chutney with just enough kick to get the best out of the rough, rustic terrine.

Both starters were a generous size, but just in case they weren’t, along came an amuse bouche – a tablespoon of salty kedgeree with half a quail’s egg – its yolk perfectly soft – perched on top.

In all fairness, we could have paid up and walked out there and then and we wouldn’t have gone to bed hungry. But the mains we ordered sounded great – plus we had twothirds of a bottle of South African red (£14.95) to finish.

I was intrigued by the roast tenderloin and shoulder of pork which came with potato fondant, caramelised apple, cream cider sauce and, to add a much-needed shot of originality, a much-enjoyed warm shot of cider (£16.95).

The pork tenderloin and shoulder were both great: the latter offering dark, slowcooked, melt-in-the-mouth meat while the former was lean, moist and pale pinkishwhite.

Both were complemented by the sweet apple – still with the faintest bite. It was all washed down perfectly by intermittent slurps of cider.

Stacey’s pan-fried fillet of salmon with a chorizo potato cake, spinach, brown shrimps and a parsley fish sauce (£14.95) also brought about a greedy grin.

The salmon was expertly cooked and at its best when jammed on a fork with one of those little fishy shrimps, a lump of potato cake and a smudge of the sauce.

The desserts offer some interesting choices. I chose a chocolate delice with orange cream and marmalade icecream (£5.95) over a equally tempting hazelnut cake.

Just like with my starter, the orange cream was overwhelmed into obscurity by the punchy, bitter ice-cream and the thick, smooth and rather large chocolate mousse.

Stacey must get nostalgic when she gets full – her dessert was rice pudding with raspberry jam and pecan nut ice-cream (£5.95).

“I feel like I’ve got two puddings,”

she said as she contemplated whether to go for the ice cream or the vanillaflecked rice pudding, which she laced with runny, sweet jam from a jug.

With the wine, the meal came to £71.65, which we can’t fail but consider decent value. So much so, that the next time I’m passing through Summerhouse, I’ll seriously think about pulling over and booking a table.

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