Delicious – from the nose to tail
TRAKOL is the sit-down restaurant in the newly opened By The River Brew Co. Perfectly positioned on Gateshead Quayside, the artfully rusted shipping container development seemed to spring up overnight, just in time for the summer, and it’s been doing good business ever since. It’s easy to see why.
The location, right by the Swing Bridge , is pretty much perfect, offering a great view of Newcastle , and the containers themselves lend a fun, postindustrial feel.
Trakol is all about cooking on an open fire, and it styles itself as such, plenty of rustic scrubbed wood inside, with a kitchen visible through glass full of exciting-looking hunks of meat and plenty of open flame.
If you’re drinking here, you really ought to be trying the beer. At Trakol, it very much doesn’t come in pints: two thirds or a third are what you’re offered.
They say it’s to allow customers to try more (I’m sure it doesn’t hurt that this may mean they buy more, too), and with at least 10 taps on the go at any one time, this does make sense.
We enjoyed a bright, refreshing pilsner, a crisp, dry IPA and a rather lovely, citrussy ‘table beer.’
Trakol prides itself on offering “fiercely seasonal” “nose to tail cooking”. Now, while I didn’t get to sample any nose, I can confirm the tail was excellent.
Pigs’ tail, to be precise, huge meaty hunks covered in a punchy spice rub. They’re like pork scratchings taken to their logical extreme and they’re absolutely delicious – a perfect accompaniment to one of the many great beers on the list, though I can’t help but think they’d suit a foaming pint more so than those dainty two-thirds.
Our starter choices showed off the kitchen’s versatility well. In less skilled hands, the pork jowl with ‘XO slaw’ could have been all too similar to our tail snacks. Here, however, both dishes managed to be richly piggy but entirely distinct. The jowl was a far more delicate thing, its melting-soft fat giving way to subtle flavours of coriander and citrus.
Best of these first dishes, though, was octopus ceviche. Simple but stunning, it offered perfectly-textured tentacles tingling with chilli, lime and soy.
On a similar fishy theme, we loved the cheddar-baked Lindisfarne oyster we enjoyed slurping down the fishy morsel covered in its sharp cheese sauce.
After this, an aged sirloin was everything you’d want it to be: well seasoned, quality meat, cooked exactly as ordered (medium rare), a proper carnivore’s treat. A side of sharp green tomatoes and tiny crisp onions lifted the dish further – so much better than the sad grilled beef tomato so often plonked by the side of a steak.
By far the winner of the evening for me, and the dish which meant I could only give Trakol five stars, was my Asado lamb. Generous chunks of meat had obviously been cooked lovingly over the fire for hours, imparting a delicate smokiness and a perfect texture.
Somehow the plate just seemed to have been put together with absolute joy, fresh ingredients scattered throughout it with a free hand. It genuinely made me grin. There’s not much choice for pud here – still, a sundae of peanuts, chocolate brownie and salted caramel was as tasty as it sounds.
I must admit that when we first entered that shipping container, both my dining companion and I felt slightly suspicious. With the shipping container, the scrubbed wood, the pointedly open kitchen and phrases like “fiercely seasonal” flying around, would it turn out to be the sort of place designed more for Instagram than for actual eating?
I’ve never been happier to admit that my first impression was wrong.
We were concerned it might be a bit style over substance, but as it turns out, Trakol’s style and substance match up perfectly, and it delivers just what it promises. Service was friendly, and staff seemed knowledgeable about both the food and drink on offer.
Price-wise, this isn’t a bargain meal, but it’s very good for what you get. We paid £79 for snacks, starters, mains for two and a dessert to share, as well as two very good beers each.
Fresh ingredients scattered throughout it with a free hand. It genuinely made me grin.