The Victoria Hotel, Bamburgh

Jan 28 2007 By Eddy Eats, The Sunday Sun

The Victoria Hotel, Bamburgh, Northumberland. Telephone: 01668-214431

The weeks after the annual festive bash are traditionally quiet times for our pubs, although we did not realise just how quiet until setting out on our latest quest.

We ventured into the wilds of North Northumberland following a coastal route, only venturing inland when Mrs Eats started developing hunger pangs.

Breathing a sigh of relief as we came across our first hostelry we entered only to find that they had stopped serving shortly after one o'clock, despite a sign on the door declaring meals were served until 3pm.

So, it was back into the Eatsmobile and off on the road again. Things got worse when our next port of call had a sign on the door declaring that they were shut until February.

By this time Mrs Eats' stomach was doing the rumba and she was becoming very dejected. The sky darkened in sympathy with her humour, and it began to rain. She had mentioned the possibility of a walk earlier but now all she was concerned about was a scran.

One old sayings declares that the darkest hour is always just before the dawn, and my little chink of light came in the form of The Victoria Hotel at Bamburgh.

A quick glance at the menu outside the door proved inviting enough for us to proceed indoors to be met by a pleasant man who showed us to a table in the restaurant.

It was very busy in the restaurant area, although there is also a brasserie which was not so full. The chap gave us our menus and told us to make a note of our table number before ordering food and drinks at the bar.

The Victoria is a very traditional building from the outside but inside it is clean and modern, although on the day we visited it could have done with being a tad warmer.

We settled down to look over the menu. Mrs Eats was extremely hungry by this time and decided to join me in a starter. We were tempted by the smoked peppered mackerel with horseradish cream sauce at £4.25, but she decided that we both needed warming up due to the inclement weather so we went for the turkey and ham broth served with crusty bread for £3.50.

For her main course She Who Must Be Fed opted for the roast lamb with roast potatoes and Yorkshire pudding.

For a moment I toyed with the idea of remaining on a hot and spicy theme by plumping for the chicken curry, rice and naan bread but eventually went for the Bamburgh banger on leek mash with an onion gravy. Both dishes cost £7.95.

I went to the bar to place our food order and took the opportunity to grab a pint of Guinness for me and a wine for the missus.

I couldn't help noticing the wine list chalked on a blackboard above the bar. I'm partial to the odd glass of red, and saw that the writer had a sense of humour as they claimed the shiraz had a taste of Titus Bramble. This was slightly disappointing as in my book that meant it may match the Newcastle defender . . . capable of being quite good, but not very often.

Our broth was a little slow in arriving but when it came it proved to be worth the wait. It was piping hot and tasted delicious. It contained more meat than some of the roasts we have had on our travels, great chunks of the stuff that really hit the spot.

Mrs Eats was over the moon at the quality, as she often skips a starter in favour of a big finish, but this time she made the right choice.

She was now feeling much better but became a little disgruntled when we had another wait for our main course, which eventually came with a side dish containing spring cabbage, turnips, carrots and new potatoes.

My sausage and mash was very tasty, but She Who Must Be Fed felt her roasties were a little hard and the lamb a touch fatty, although she managed to make the most of it.

Mrs Eats had mellowed a lot from when we first arrived and was now looking forward to a dessert. She had also decided to drive back so I went for another Guinness while she was pondering what her next course would be. I couldn't help noticing that the bar area looked very inviting with large sofas and a real fire, the sort of place that once you sat down - if the craic was good - you wouldn't want to leave.

Nothing on the sweet menu appealed to the missus so she went for the Doddington cheese with chilled grapes and oatcakes. You can't really go wrong with this local cheese and here again the varieties she tasted did not disappoint.

At the end of the day I think our visit can go down as a victory at The Victoria.

* From the main A1 turn off at Adderstone on the B1341 and it takes you right into the village. The Victoria is an imposing building on Front Street.