The Black Horse, Beamish

Feb 14 2010 by Eddy Eats, Sunday Sun

I opted for game cassalade (£4.95), which was pheasant, rabbit and venison cooked in a garlic, creamy sauce. It came with a fantastic puff pastry top, which looked so good it seemed a shame to ruin it by delving in with my fork.

What a treat it turned out to be. It was absolutely delicious and I wolfed it down in one. It was a great start to the meal.

For the main we opted for the beef (£11.95) and lamb (£9.95) from the Sunday lunch menu.

It didn’t take long for these to arrive either which was great considering the pub had filled up even more by this time.

The lunch turned out to be a real feast.

There was a hearty helping of meat, served with two gigantic Yorkshire puds, roast parsnips, cheesey cauliflower, carrots and swede. Pots of gravy were also served alongside it.

I am a great fan of lamb and can never resist the opportunity to sample it in different pubs and found that this was one of the tastiest I have had. It was cooked to perfection and packed full of flavour.

Mrs Eats remarked that the beef was outstanding, too, and neither of us could find fault with the vegetables. This was a great selection, plenty of choice, as well as good-sized portions.

The Yorkshire puds were massive, so great for those who like to be well-fed and Mrs Eats remarked on how the creamy cauliflower was divine. Extra gravy was served when requested, too.

The main meal was a real pleasure.

The dessert menu was tempting, too. Choices included warm chocolate fondant (£4.95), sticky toffee pudding (£4.95), zingy lemon tart (£4.95) or cheese plate (£6.95). Mrs Eats is a big pudding fan so opted for sticky toffee while I had chocolate brownie, which came with ice-cream.

The brownie was beautiful, perfectly complemented by the pistachio ice-cream. I was a happy man.

Unfortunately things turned sour with Mrs Eats’ dessert.

The first mouthful tasted great but when she went in for a second spoonful it was rock hard. She tried again, but the pudding wouldn’t budge. We couldn’t understand it. Sticky toffee is usually soft with oozes of toffee, alas this was not in evidence.

It was a real disappointment and She Who Must Be Fed had to abandon the pudding virtually uneaten.

We decided, while it was a blip in an otherwise outstanding meal, it wouldn’t put us off going back.

We loved that the pub is so steeped in history, is in a beautiful location and the rest of our food was fantastic. It was just a shame the dessert hadn’t lived up to our expectations.

Mrs Eats is already planning a trip back there in the summer when we can sit outside and enjoy the view.

She’ll be steering clear of the sticky toffee pudding, though.