Tavern’s scran is so-so but plentiful
A TYPICAL summer Sunday – overcast and threatening – our idle chat of a run out to the coast seemed doomed.
Getting into the garden was mentioned but I had one thing on my mind – scran.
After being on our travels recently this Sunday we decided we were long overdue a trip into Toon.
Mrs Eats made noises about a look around the shops so I suggested City Tavern, just off Northumberland Street, as a pit stop.
I could have a pint while she carried on the collateral damage on our bank account. First thing I noticed was this isn’t your typical Tyneside boozer – it’s all a bit...girly. From the first glimpse inside it was as if the other half had run riot in B&Q, it’s lovely – just more up Mrs Eats’ street than mine. It was a bit fancy, as she would say, but not so much so you’d feel out of place. Dog friendly, it made a Car park..................... Kids allowed...................... Real ale..................................... Wine by the bottle........................ Credit cards..................................... Vegetarian food............................. Disabled toilets............................. change to see a couple of happy hounds treated to a slap up Sunday meal of their own too. Luckily the menu was a bit heftier than the pleasant but elaborate surroundings. I got the drinks in – a pint of Moretti for me and a large gin and tonic for Mrs Eats – and we set about the menu. To start we opted for some fishcakes (£5.95) – but were told there were none. Instead we ordered some mini sausages in a honey mustard dressing. There were plenty – a pile of meaty sausages with a sticky, gently warming sauce. Mrs Eats, a self-confessed sausage fan, tucked in eagerly and even with the famous Eats appetites – we were impressed. The Sunday menu might not be the most extensive but it is at least solid – £9.95 for the roast of your choice, usually from a choice of at least three meats and a handful of starters and sides, complete with the kinds of puddings your gran used to make. Lush.
I went for the beef, while Mrs Eat – sticking to her guns – went for belly pork. The beef came in thick slabs – a little pink – and with a heap of vegetables. Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, carrots, and a side of greens which had beans and broccoli to share. The meat was perfect. Served up with extra gravy, there was no offer of mustard but, to be honest, things were moist enough without it.
The pork was served up with a slab of stuffing and the same plentiful accompaniments – again, despite the menu stating, there was no offer of apple sauce to round it off. It was moist, plentiful but perhaps not that memorable.
An honourable mention but a word of advice to the owners – you’d do better sprucing up the food rather than what’s hanging from the ceilings.
It wasn’t that it was a bad meal, this was exactly what you’d expect from a city centre pub. But nothing more.
City Tavern was a decent little scran stop. Perhaps not enough to write home about, but for the prices you got a lot – and we know our appetites.