Newton Grange, Finchale Road (From Durham Times)

Newton Grange, Finchale Road

2:04pm Friday 1st May 2009

• Print
• Email
• Share

Change of menu not soon enough

A SUNNY Saturday afternoon drive around the County Durham countryside led me to the picturesque Newton Grange pub on the outskirts of Durham City Centre.

Accompanied by my partner, Sean, and my brother, Ian, we were lured into the pub by its smart outside appearance and good sized beer garden.

The omens were not good. A heavy rain shower just as we pulled into the car park meant we could not sit outside after all, there was a two for the price of one deal on main courses, but there were three of us, then my preferred choices of starter and main course were both unavailable.

But the pub was smartly decorated, clean and spacious. The background music was not too loud, unlike some chain pubs, and was a pleasant mix of 90s pop music including Savage Garden, Simply Red and The Lighthouse Family.

For starters, I opted for smoked chicken wings with barbecue sauce (£3.55), Sean chose loaded potato boats with cheese and bacon (£3.25), and Ian ordered tiger prawn skewers (£3.95).

For mains, I chose chicken Wensleydale (£8.95), Sean opted for 8oz sirloin steak (£11.45), and Ian ordered fish and chips (£7.45).

And because the menu is two for one on all main course dishes, we ordered the exotic-sounding Indian summer salad (£8.45) to share between us.

The starters took around half an hour to arrive, and failed to whet our appetites on arrival. The prawns were dry and chewy, the potato boats were oozing grease, and the “smoked” chicken wings tasted anything but smoky.

Considering how long we waited for the starters, we thought we would be in for a similar wait on the main courses.

But no sooner had our starter plates been cleared away, the main courses were being placed in front of us.

The “fresh, seasonal vegetables”

with the Chicken Wensleydale were an overcooked portion of carrots, and soggy translucent cabbage.

The mashed potato was dry and powdery, and took me back to my student days of instant powdered mash, and supermarket’s no-frills brand frozen vegetables.

The chicken was succulent, and there was a generous helping of the Wensleydale and ham sauce.

Sean’s steak was cooked to perfection – medium rare and full of flavour. It was tender and succlulent, which was a good thing because no steak knife arrived with the dish. But the flavourless chips and uninspiring bland side salad let the rest of his meal down.

The fish and chips were similarly uninspiring. The peas were hard, dry and cold, and the “battered fish fillet, deep fried until golden” offered a tasteless small piece of grey fish coated in thick chewy batter which was soggy inside.

The Indian summer salad was the most disappointing. The chicken samosas were pleasantly surprising – the pastry was light and flaky, and the generous filling was nicely spiced.

The rest of the dish consisted of iceberg lettuce, cucumber, two cold new potatoes cut in half, two stodgy onion bhajis, with slices of naan bread on the top, accompanied by shot-glass sized pots of mango chutney and yogurt and mint dressing (which was inedible due to its overpowering chemically after-taste). It was dry and flavourless, and grossly overpriced.

The menu offers a range of pubgrub dessert favourites priced around £3.25, including cheesecake, ice cream, and apple crumble.

But we were so disappointed by the starters and mains we decided against a dessert, and instead bought ice lollies on the way home.

The pub seems confused as to whether it wants to be a restaurant or a gastro pub. Some customers, including ourselves, were approached by waiting staff who took our orders, while others ordered at the bar.

The food is very disappointing, but the surroundings and drinks menu offer some consolation.

There is a good range of guest ales (a pint of Dragon’s Tail was £2.50), lagers (£2.60 for a pint of Carling)and soft drinks (diet Pepsi was £1.50). Our final bill was £42.85.

The beer garden is a good size and offers stunning views across the countryside. Despite being located on the roadside, it was surprisngly peaceful, and I imagine would be a good place to spend a warm summer’s evening with a group of friends.

The menu is changing on Wednesday... surely it can only get better.

• Print
• Email
• Share