Eleven gets eight for food and value

When Truffle opened in Grange Road over a year ago, there were plenty of folk who gave it six months on the basis that Darlington’s eating-out market is essentially middle-of-theroad.

Counting up the growing number of Italianesque establishments that serve standard pizza/pasta/chicken fare would seem to illustrate the point.

But Truffle is still there, complete with its own dedicated sommelier (yah boo sucks to those who scoffed) and seemingly doing well, based on the entirely unscientific evidence of it appearing busy every time I walk past it on the way home.

Then in the summer, the Houndgate Townhouse opened just round the corner, a splendidly restored Georgian gem of a building.

It is a hotel with a restaurant – Eleven. While the hotel business appears to have been slow, the restaurant and bar have been doing well. We struggled to get a weekend table more than once.

Perhaps the problem with the accommodation is that Houndgate labels itself rather curiously as a “design hotel” when most people would probably use the term “boutique” to describe the high-end contemporary styling which is a feature of the refurbishment.

It is, after all, the only hotel in Darlington that fits the boutique label (apologies to Duncan Bannatyne – his eponymous establishment’s just a bit too corporate) so why don’t they call it that?

No matter. Eleven seems an eminently sensible, doeswhat- it-says-on-the-tin, name for the downstairs restaurant and bar on the ground floor which is, as is the rest of the place, beautifully done out. The only jarring note was outside where the serried ranks of blue waste bins between the hotel and street railings rather spoilt the perfect proportions of the Georgian frontage.

When we saw Eleven in the summer at the time of its early-evening opening, it seemed a fresh, light and airy room with a mix of banquette and standard seating, a tiled and wooden floor and a predominantly light green/mushroom/cream colour scheme.

On a late and cold November evening, it was still an impressive room but we thought some adjustment could be made to the lighting and dressing of the tall windows overlooking the rear terrace to make it feel a bit cosier. We were by no means cold but our table in the middle of the room felt a bit stranded somehow.

There is a heavy hitter in the kitchen. Head chef Simon Walley has been recruited from the Bay Horse at Hurworth and has previously worked at the Tontine, in London and around the world. His menu of modern British classics with a few twists reflects that wide experience.

Our starters went down well. Sylvia’s terrine of the week (£7.50) was ham hock, notable chiefly for its well-seasoned moistness and the dinky cubes of toasted brioche with it.

My lime-smoked salmon came in a single fillet, lightly cured with just a hint of sharp lime.

It came with some tiny deep-fried cauliflower florets. They were almost brilliant but let down by a little sogginess.

Sylvia went plain and simple with her main course – steak, salad and chips, no sauce (£17.50). An excellent, juicy, flavourful rib-eye was nicely charred on the outside and definitely medium on the inside. The chips were fine, as was the salad, particularly the classic French dressing.

My braised beef cheek (£17.50) was super-rich, sticky, gelatinous and meltingly tender – beefiness in essence. It came with some smooth creamy and buttery mash, crushed carrot and celeriac. A real autumnal winter warmer of a dish, I couldn’t give it 100 per cent because the jus had been reduced down just a tad too much, concentrating the flavour to the point of salty-sharp overkill.

I forgot to mention the excellent artisan bread served before our starters which we perhaps over-indulged in and meant neither of us could manage a dessert.

Otherwise we might have been tempted by the baked English custard with apples, the vanilla pannacotta with rhubard jelly or the hot chocolate and honeycomb (£5.50).

Service was efficient and friendly without being anything special. Our food was better than that, let down only by a couple of minor indiscretions.

The bill was fairly reasonable, we thought. The £61.96 included a large side dish of green beans (£3) which, in retrospect, we probably didn’t need and a glass of Prosecco (£4.95) and a small Pinot Grigio (£4.50).

RATINGS
Food quality: 8
Service: 7
Surroundings: 9
Value: 8