Views and scran are twice as nice
AFTER a morning stroll around Corbridge, our thoughts quickly turned to food.
The Twice Brewed Inn is set amongst some of the most dramatic scenery in the North East and stands in the shadows of Steel Rigg, part of Hadrian’s Wall.
The pub is close to all the main Roman sites on the wall – Vindolanda, Housteads and The Roman Army Museum.
If it’s food you’re after, then you’re in the right place, as the Twice Brewed is pretty much a food-led pub, the set-up being drinks at the bar and meals served at the tables.
However, there is a fine extension with stunning views, and that’s where we ate. It is spacious and light, and has a pleasant,
THE TWICE BREWED INN
Bardon Mill, Hexham, Northumberland NE47 7AN Tel: 01434 344534 Food served: 12pm – 8pm Sundays
Rating: 18/20 Character...........................
Quality................................ Service................................ Value................................... welcoming atmosphere. From our choice of four starters, Mrs Eats picked the homemade tomato and mascarpone soup with a slice of bread, (£4.25), which was served up in mini tureen, piping hot, thick and smooth, and full of tangy flavour, with the mascarpone adding interest. The potato skins (£5.95 for a large portion) were served with a sweet chilli and garlic mayonnaise dips. It was a really decent starter, with just enough spud left on the p o t a t o s k i n s t o Car park..................... Kids allowed...................... Real ale..................................... Wine by the bottle........................ Credit cards..................................... Vegetarian food............................. Disabled toilets............................. give an air of substance to the dish. Washed down with a wonderful pint of Convive Blond (£3.40), and there are plenty of ales on offer, and a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon (£3.40), it was a decent way to start the meal.
There were four roast options as well as sausage and mash, gammon steak, burgers, scampi and a cheese souffle.
We had a short wait between our appetisers and our mains, and I went for the Sewingshields Heritage beef (£9.95) and Mrs Eats went for the turkey (£8.95).
The beef was served with the homemade, gigantic Yorkshire pudding, mashed potatoes and three mini roasties.
The beef slices were thick, sweet and juicy. The Yorkshire pudding was excellent, crisp on the outside, and meltingly soft on the inside. The turkey came with the same additions as well as apricot and sage stuffing. It was well-cooked and full of flavour. Mrs Eats said her turkey was good quality and it could be said of the whole meal.
The vegetables were served in a separate dish, cauliflower, carrots and mangetout. They were all cooked beautifully, were slightly crisp, just as they should be.
After demolishing as much as we could, we’d left a tiny bit of space for sweet. There was a choice of sticky toffee pudding, cheesecake, ice cream or crumble.
The homemade Eton mess pudding, a fail-safe comfort pud, was Mrs Eats choice. It was a gooey concoction of strawberries, raspberries and cream.
And that was yummy. Quality and taste shone through again – a great dessert.
The cheese board (£7.95) was a fine selection of locallysourced Northumberland cheeses.
It was loaded with four offerings of cheese, grapes, celery, crackers and chutney.
Mrs Eats and I really couldn’t fault our dishes.
I can’t think of anything that needed to be improved, and we were very happy with our visit.
There are vegetarian options too, so there should be something for everybody to enjoy.
Overall it’s certainly worth a visit out to the Twice Brewed Inn with its relaxed, homely setting and stand-out tasty pub food.