When it comes to food in the north, things are changing – fast. London has always been that city excelling in culinary excellence and paved with an array of Michelin stars but now its spreading across the whole of the UK and places like Newcastle and its surrounding areas now have some very notable restaurants. One of those restaurants is the dining room at Jesmond Dene House. The hotel is a sumptuous affair set in an arts & crafts building (which you can read all about HERE) and overlooks the lush green of Jesmond Dene park.
The restaurant here at the hotel boasts an impressive three AA Rosettes and is looked after by head chef, Michael Penaluna and his team. The dining room has been lovingly looked after with a nice modern edge, but classical muted colours and a warm orange glow parading the room. The dining area is split into two parts, with the main dining room at one side and an archway leading to a brighter, lighter al fresco feeling room on the other side – in the warmer months the doors are flung open, spilling out on to the patio. The sheer amount of menus here however turns what can be a rather relaxed and refined meal, into a slightly confusing one.
You can choose to eat here from the a la carte menu, dinner menu, house menu and tasting menu – all of which were very different offerings. We went for the house menu which is the hotels standard offering and more brasserie in style with its approach – lacking the creative flair from what we could see flying out of the kitchen (tasting menus). Our menu was priced at £6-12 for starters and £16-22 for mains. Sadly I didn’t get a photo of the bread here but it was really rather good – I couldn’t keep away. Of our starters there was a clear favourite too. A single native lobster raviolo with Iberico ham, samphire and bisque – it was just as good as it sounded. The pasta on the raviolo was excellent, the ham I didn’t quite detect but the bisque was so silky and rich in flavour it didn’t matter. Wild garlic soup with heritage potatoes and poached quails egg was very nice, but for me it was ever so slightly lacking in that real depth of garlic potency.
Firstly I should apologies for my photos now before we go any further. It’s rather dark inside the restaurant during the evening (the cosy & romantic dimly lit kind) and my camera was having absolutely none of it. Thankfully main courses were excellent and made for two very enjoyable dishes. Grilled flat-iron steak with watercress, thick cut chips and béarnaise sauce was a very good plate of food – apart from the reassembled bone marrow which was a little dry. The steak was beautifully cooked, tender and extremely juicy – carrying a good bite and lots of meaty flavour seeping out. A special mention goes out to the béarnaise sauce too, as it was one of the finest I’ve encountered in some time. The star dish of our evening here was actually the one which looked the most worst. A little generous on the gravy, the plating was rather messy but flavour wise it really let loose. The slices of breast chicken were very well cooked, the plentiful gravy had a lovely depth of flavour, while the topping of wild leeks and herb crumb turned this dish into an absolute stunner – not to mention that side of delicious pommes anna.
Desserts here as part of the House Menu for Jesmond Dene House were lovely creations, but we did struggle a little to get overly excited about them. Apple tart fine with vanilla cream and cider sorbet was a perfectly lovely dish. All the flavour was in this dish but that fine tart was for me, just a little too fine and didn’t have much substance to it, featuring more pastry – rather than apple. Much more accomplished of a dish was the dark chocolate tart with candied beetroot and beetroot sorbet. The tart itself was a chocolatey heaven, dark and rich. The beetroot flavours on the plate was mainly the attraction for me and they didn’t disappoint. Rich, earthy and deep in flavour, complementing that chocolatey slab perfectly.
Very full and ready for our bed, we luckily didn’t have far to go but just a few feet to our hotel room next door. The whole experience both at Jesmond Dene House’s restaurant and its hotel was a lovely relaxing weekend away. From what I could tell the kitchen certainly has some talent, but by the House Menu standards there is room for lots of improvement. If you visit Jesmond Dene House and want to experience the full flexing of the kitchen then go for the dinner menu or tasting menu – I’ve no doubt it will surpass all expectations you may have. This is a fine restaurant, in a beautiful dining room and one I highly recommend.
7/10
