Restaurants near Aydon Castle

Friday afternoon and the joint was jumping in a nice friendly way. Valentines special 5 course taster was chosen so we tried something different rather than choose our fabulous favourites like Souffle , Fresh seafood or Steak. The finesse and flavours are always spot on and this set menu was no different. Fabulous seafood , brilliant beef , and a show piece baked Alaska to finish with aplomb ! As usual the staff were flat out but always friendly and engaging. All in all , it is not cheap but it is way better quality wise and in fact is very good value compared to some of the local so called competitors to be honest. Well worth a try if you have never been. We think of it as a wee monthly treat that we look forward to , savour at the time , and look forward to the next visit.

Valentine’s Day Prix Fixe Menu- such a lovely choice of dishes, completely different to the normal Prix Fixe Lunch, I had vegetable tarte flambé , followed by goat’s cheese soufflé which was served with beetroot, walnuts and salad my chosen dessert was chocolate liegois, served with langues de chat biscuits. All three course were sublime and I enjoyed a kir aperitif followed by a glass of house rose wine accompany this special meal. My husband chose duck magre with salad and potato to start, followed by pork cheeks with pommes purée ( which he declared”melt in the mouth!)@ and he chose a dessert of. Pear and almond tart, served with crème fraiche, all of which he thoroughly enjoyed! We ended with our usual delicious espressos which provided the right touch for an exceptional lunch.. We have been visiting this “gem” of a restaurant for almost ten years now and it involves a round trip of almost forty miles! It is more than worth the travel!

We have lived local for 10 years and never really noticed this restaurant. Wow, fabulous. Excellent service, really good layout and quality food. I love when you go to a restaurant and the food is actually hot, not warm but hot. We shall definybe back.

We received a voucher for Blackfriars for Christmas. Booking was easy online. We arrived slightly early but our table was ready. The restaurant was not busy when we arrived and enjoyed the background music. Service was very good and we asked if we could mix and match between the menu’s and they said it was fine to do that. We ordered the fish platter to share which was really nice. I ordered the fillet steak, it was perfectly cooked to the way I like it and the chips were amazing, I ordered the beef dripping jus which was delicious. My husband ordered the corn fed chicken, again this was delicious. We had no room for desert so can’t comment on that. My husband also had the larger brewed onsite which he said was very nice. Only fault I would say is they put a service charge of 10% on your bill but it is explained it is not mandatory. Definitely will be back.

Stopped here for Sunday lunch...which was excellent. Service was slow but that was because of a lack of staff in my opinion. It did not spoil the meal though. The beef was beautifully cooked along with large helpings of veg. Lovely pub in a nice location.