For Christmas we were given a voucher for some money off a meal at Blackfriars restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne. With it being Easter weekend and plenty of opportunity for a Grandparent sleepover we thought we’d give it a go last Saturday. Here’s how we got on…

The venue

Newcastle is full of restaurants and bars and you can feel overloaded with choice. I’ve known about Blackfriars for years but have never been. It has a reputation of being a more upmarket restaurant than your norm and provides additional experiences such as wine tasting and a medieval banquet.

The website has the following description:  “Blackfriars is located in a 13th century former medieval friary and serves an award-winning seasonal and local menu, showing the North East at its best”.

My wife and I love a good meal and we were very excited for this. We’d checked out the menu beforehand and whilst it was definitely on the pricey side we had a little money off by way of the voucher. Plus, the fact we don’t get out very often just the two of us meant we tried to push expense to the backs of our mind.

The meal

Upon arrival we were spoken to promptly, shown to our table and asked if we’d like to hand over our coats. We were told they were serving from the a-la carte menu and informed of the specials of the day (fish?! No, thank, you!) A drinks order was taken and being an expert on red wine I requested an Italian one with the nice sounding name. We also got a couple of beers and some tap water.  I was happy to avoid that awkward moment when you’re expected to try the wine beforehand with the Waiter asking if we were happy pouring ourselves when we were ready. We were!

We were allowed a little more time to have a couple of sips of our drinks and deliberate over the menu before our order was taken. My wife decided on the duck ham to start followed by the rare breed pork. I went for black pudding hash and the fillet of beef (when in Rome…..) which I requested be a medium.

Whilst waiting for the first course to arrive I realised that I would normally go for a medium rare beef not a medium and I was kicking myself that I’d now potentially spoilt my food choice. When the starters came I asked the waitress if it was ok to change my selection. She insisted she’d go and ask. I was subsequently informed that it was absolutely fine and to not worry about it. Result!

The starters

Looking down at our starters when they arrived my first reaction was…. “we may need to go for pizza after this”.  The presentation of the food was very well done and it had  a “MasterChef” kind of feel to it. Now then, what about the taste? My word it was good! We happily ate it all up both of us making the appreciating sounds that accompany a satisfying bit of food.  All too often we’ve ordered starters at restaurants which once eaten almost felt like you’d had a full meal. This left us satisfied but wanting more. A great start!

There was a nice bit of time between the starters and the main course to sit back and appreciate the surroundings and ambience. There didn’t seem to be a specific waitress set to any particular table. They all seemed to be working efficiently and never once looked hassled in any way. The room had a lovely feel about it. No music,  just the general noise of pleasant chatter.

The main course

Like the starters before it the main course was smaller than we were used to.  I guess we’ve spent too many visits to more, shall we say, traditional kind of restaurants and not enough enjoying a different kind of dining. Undeterred I took a taste of my beef fillet. It was honestly the nicest thing I can remember ever having tasted. The flavours were delicious and it melted in the mouth. My wife’s pork was of similar quality. Once again we completely cleared our plates commenting on how amazing the food was.  A win for quality over quantity. What a nice change not feeling completely bloated.

Desserts

We originally decided to skip dessert to try and keep the cost down. Having had such a nice meal we didnt want it to end so we thought “why not”!  Espresso mouse for me and the lemon tart for my wife  arrived.  Again the quality of the dishes shone through.  A fantasic end to a fantasic meal.

Time to go

The second sitting was due to commence around 9pm and we comfortably finished at 8:30pm.  Despite a number of tables being cleared as we finished our wine we didn’t feel rushed.  The bill arrived and it was going to be expensive.  £136 including 10% tip.  £35 of that was drinks so the meal itself cost us roughly £50 each.  Now that’s a lot more than we typically spend but it actually felt worth it given that it was probably the tastiest three course meal I have ever had.

We paid up and picked up our coats. As we were leaving one of the waitresses made a point of asking us how we enjoyed our evening. That level of service finished off a perfect visit to this fantastic restaurant.

We couldn’t afford to dine there often but we’ll definitely be back again one day.

I really want to try that medieval banquet!