All day, and all of the night...
Most stag dos to Newcastle
involve three things.
1) Being forced to drink a bottle
of Newcastle Brown Ale at pace during which a jubilant crowd of Newcastle Dog
Track attendees screams “Down it! Down it! Down it!”
2) Sleeping on the stairs outside
your hotel room because your mate has passed out inside, having gone home
earlier with the key.
3) Having a Geordie bloke suggesting
you should "step outside" with him because you decided to wear a coat.
I witnessed all of these events
last weekend. But more than that, my particular group, which included a chef of
some stature, also witnessed an excellent meal.
Having filled up on cheap drinks
and takeaways for a couple of days we rolled out of the cab at The Broad Chare.
Unannounced, the seven-strong
group - probably looking like absolute scoundrels - arrived at the pub which
sits just a street back from the Tyne.
It is set in an old brick
building, but with a modern-rustic interior. As one of restaurateur Terry Laybourne's 21
Hospitality Group, the pub
features stripped back tables and a plethora of brass fittings and frosted
glass.
Keeping to current trends, the day’s
specials were scrawled on the mirrors – another look that so many are going
for. And why not, it’s pleasant, if a little derivative of the front runners - See Here.
Chef Chris Eagle heads up the boozer’s nosh
and offers exactly what it says on the slogan – “Proper pub, Proper beer,
Proper food.”
A proper British picnic,
upliftingly simple but beautifully crafted.
In a tapas-style frenzy, the
hungry group took on 12 Lindisfarne oysters - au natural - at (£2 each), deep-fried
monkfish cheeks with tatar sauce (£3.50), sumptuous warm scotch eggs (£3.50)
arguably the best Middle White’s pork crackling and Bramley apple sauce I have
ever tasted (£2.80) and the most
picturesque hand-raised pork pie (£3.50) I’ve ever seen (pictured).
Two pints of Scotland’s finest St
Mungo lager was hair of the dog for me while various ales and craft beers were
quaffed to much cheer.
Beginning to feel human again, no
less than five of the team chose the roast beef Sunday special (£12.50).
But when it arrived featuring a
giant Yorkshire pudding, three generous slices of beautiful beef, plus all the
trimmings, you could hear the mixed sighs of intestinal apprehension and visual
joy.
Despite the spacing worries, the
meals were polished off with aplomb.
I personally chose the crispy
duck leg, sat on an embankment of braised lettuce, peas and bacon (£15). More
juicy than crispy - just how I like it - the meat fell from the bone, was light
and tasty and set off by the tang of the lettuce and salty bacon.
The
Broad Chare was one of just two North East venues to receive a Bib Gourmand in
the 2013 Michelin Guide - its mouthwatering yet inexpensive snack selection tells
you all you need to know.
The
service remained excellent, despite the group of hung-over herberts who turned
up for a lunch session unannounced. I wouldn’t have wanted to serve us, let
alone smiled and chatted - all the while ignoring the obvious smell of Sambucca.
From
its mutton masala to the spicy black pudding and beer mustard, there is an air
of unashamed but spectacular dumbing down in the menu – as though a genius is teasing
us, just letting us in on a hint of the magic he has in his locker.
Using
just British classics, Eagle has spun a magical trap of pub fodder you might
have once eaten from a paper plate or atop a soggy beer mat.
Now
just stick me in a corner, pop the dunce’s hat on me
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