Great service for this Sunday treat

And Sylvia feels the same. After a lifetime of preparing family Sunday lunches for the hungry hordes, the prospect of being whisked away to somewhere a bit classy to have meat, three veg and all the trimmings plonked in front of her without having to lift a finger never loses its appeal.

So we looked forward to our visit to Beamish Hall Hotel. We had been to a few dos there before, formal dinners, balls and the like, and had fond memories of a compact, almost bijou, stately pile in North Durham a stone’s throw from the famous museum.

Of course, we had forgotten that the main hall is kept for exactly those sorts of grand occasions. If you are just calling for a one-off meal your destination is round the back of the hall in the stables.

Now if that sounds a bit shabby it isn’t. Remotely. If I couldn’t have been lord of the manor I reckon being one of his many horses can’t have been such a bad life. The classically- proportioned stone-built structure is E-shaped with a pleasant courtyard in the middle for summer dining. Inside, the wooden fittings and structures of the old stable block have been retained where possible in a refurbishment that has created a warm environment (lots of wood-burners scattered about) that is part pub and part restaurant.

We ate in one of the wings adjacent to the Stables micro-brewery which is separated from the dining area by a glass door. The gleaming copper mash tun could be clearly seen from where we were sitting.

There was something else that I could see from my vantage point overlooking the courtyard but in the interests of decorum, good taste etc we’ll leave that until later...

Sunday lunchers at the Stables have a choice. They can go down the traditional route or opt from the a la carte (steak, fish pie, sausage and mash, chicken Kiev, curry, ravioli).

Like the majority of people around us – lots of families – we chose from the traditional options.

Four starters included soup and deep-fried camembert wedges with cranberry sauce but Sylvia opted for a duck spring roll served with an Asian salad. The two spring rolls were super crisp and light outside and tangibly more-ish inside. Sylvia thought the salad, while certainly refreshing, was a touch too cold. More Siberian than Asian perhaps.

My devilled whitebait was classically prepared in seasoned flour (possibly with a hint of mustard?) and deepfried for a moment so it was just crisped up on the outside but without turning the little fish into nuggets of tile grout. They came with a little rocket salad and some Silver Buckle bread (lovely soft wholemeal, baked in-house with yeast from the brewery, I guess, because Silver Buckles is one of the ales produced here).

The roast meat options were beef, Northumbrian lamb, chicken and Crane Row pork loin (Crane Row is a farm near Hamsterley), all served with roast and new potatoes and lots of veg – swede, carrots, broccoli and sprouts – and massive Yorkshire puddings.

Sylvia went for the lamb which she enjoyed very much. I asked her why she liked it, hoping she would provide me some insight into its special qualities and some clever turn of phrase I could weave into this review.

She said, after a pause: “It’s very lamby.” Very helpful.

What can I tell you about the pork?

The new woden fittings at The Stables Restaurant, in Beamish

It was thickly cut and very lean, which meant it wasn’t as tender as it might have been but the flavour was good. Very porky, as Sylvia might have said. Crackling wasn’t particularly crisp but at least my fillings were safe.

The Yorkshire puddings, as well as being huge, were crisp and pillowlight in all the right places although I thought the batter could have done with a tad more seasoning. The roast potatoes were well coloured; the new potatoes were particularly well flavoured. The bowl of vegetables were okay; I liked the sweetish swede but the sprouts, perhaps inevitably, were slightly overcooked.

There was lots of gravy.

I finished my meal with a very pretty looking brandy snap basket which struck the right balance between brittleness and chewy caramel sweetness. It was heaped with Chantilly cream, redcurrants, strawberries and raspberries.

And finally, what was the other thing I could see from my seat in the Stables?

Well, it is difficult to write about this in the context of a food review but, directly in my eyeline was a pile of matter which a large dog must have deposited. What was gratifying was the way the maitre’d responded when it was discreetly brought to his attention. With the minimum of fuss he nipped outside and dealt with it himself; there was no dispatching of some flunkey to clean up. We thought that mightily impressive.

Service was generally fine, particularly swift at the beginning of the meal, tailing off somewhat as my dessert was served. The bill was a reasonable £36.10 made up of £16.95 for the three-course lunch, £13.95 for two course and two drinks – a small glass of tempranillo and a diet Coke.

Ratings:

Food Quality: 7/10

Service: 8/10

Surroundings: 8/10

Value: 7/10