Fantastic food at an amazing price
MRS E loves a bargain so when a friend offered her discount vouchers for a Sunday lunch she accepted like a shot.
And when it came with a promise from her pal that it would be a ‘great meal’ in ‘charming’ surroundings, it was enough to see us loading up the Eats Mobile and heading to the Hardwick Arms in Sedgefield.
We arrived at the picturesque coaching inn - a bit of research had revealed it was first established in 1750 - and were delighted to discover the bar area had plenty of character, despite the seemingly compulsory television screens which stood at both ends.
We had booked but as we were early a friendly young barman invited us to have a drink
HARDWICK ARMS
1 North Ed, Sedgefield, TS21 2AZ Tel: 01740 622305
Food served: Noon to 2.30
Rating: 17/20 Character...........................
Quality................................ Service................................ Value................................... until our table was ready. All too soon we were called from our comfy chairs through to the restaurant. This was clean and bright - without the TVs - but also featured quaint touches including a row of wooden seats which looked as though they had come straight from a courtroom - and well they might have.
Our voucher offered us two, two-course meals for £12.50 compared with the normal-price three-course offering for £12.50 each. Even with a dessert at £4.75 it was a good sav
ing. Car park..................... We settled down at an a i r y t a b l e Kids allowed...................... Real ale..................................... Wine by the bottle........................ Credit cards..................................... Vegetarian food............................. Disabled toilets............................. which had plenty of room in a busy but not overcrowded restaurant.
A quick look at the menu revealed it was limited but with options most people should be able to choose from.
Starters were Home Made Soup - vegetable - or classic prawn cocktail. We opted for one of each.
My prawn cocktail was large to say the least with plenty of prawns served with a tangy cocktail sauce, loads of salad and brown bread and butter. Excellent value and really tasty. Mrs E said her soup, rich and creamy and accompanied by brown bread and butter, was equally good. Excellent start then. The mains on our voucher were all carvery options. There were four choices or roasts - beef, chicken, pork or lamb - or for a supplement you could have a bit of each. We were also told there were vegetarian options if we wanted them but then that was never really going to be for me!
I went for beef while Mrs E had pork. Our meals arrived on plates laden with accompaniments including Yorkshire puddings, roasties which were crisp on the outside and soft in the middle, parsnip, fondant potato and new potatoes. There was also a separate bowl of vegetables including cauliflower, broccoli, and carrots.
Both meals were superb. Our meat was perfectly cooked and extremely tender as were the vegetables and both the Yorkies and gravy were definitely worth writing home about.
By now both of us were on the full side.
Fortunately, despite the restaurant being busy, we were not hurried at all and were able to relax while we debated dessert which of course resulted with Mrs E saying: “Well I’ll just have a small one!”
We both went for sticky toffee pudding but decided to skip the custard. I might have been full but I was so pleased I gave in to temptation - it was one of the best desserts I have had in a long time. There was oceans of sauce with a soft, moist sponge. Perfect.
The meal would easily have been worth paying the full price - or more - for with little that could have been changed. Perhaps a couple more options on starters but apart from that nothing. We can’t wait to return and we will definitely make sure there is room for that pud!