The Warkworth House Hotel

Mar 23 2008 by Sunday Sun

ON occasion, Mrs Eats can pull on her walking boots and set off at breakneck pace on what is meant to be a Sunday stroll.

When she feels invigorated, sensing spring is in the air — and in her step — then she often leaves me trailing in her wake.

She was in this sort of mood when we paid a visit to the picturesque village of Warkworth on the Northumberland coast.

This really is a beautiful spot, with a collection of interesting shops selling all sorts of arts and crafts. There are cosy little cafes and also a generous number of pubs and hotels.

But what dominates the skyline is the magnificent Warkworth Castle, which at this time of year looks particularly attractive as its banks are covered in a glorious array of daffodils.

We tried to get the Eatsmobile parked in the village square but this proved impossible and we were shepherded down a narrow lane towards the river.

Such is the village’s popularity that we were unable to find a spare parking space there either, but it did provide Mrs Eats with an idea for a walk.

We headed back into the square where a car was conveniently pulling out. Once we got parked up we headed along the street to the Warkworth House Hotel, where we’d noticed a blackboard outside the door advertising Sunday lunch.

The hotel is bright and spacious, although it should improve even further in the future as it is going through a refurbishment programme.

We turned into a bar on the left as you enter — the No16 bar, bistro and restaurant — and I ordered a pint of Guinness and a lime and soda for Mrs Eats. We found a seat and a waitress brought us the menu. A three-course meal costs £11.99, but the selection is extensive.

For starters, among other things, there was a choice of leek and potato soup with cream, or a duo of melon with pink grapefruit sorbet. Mrs Eats went for a warm salad of penne pasta and crispy bacon with croutons and pesto, while I chose the mixed seafood salad.

Our waitress returned to show us to our table in the restaurant. This is, again, a light, pleasant room that was already quite full of scranners enjoying their lunch.

When our starters arrived, Mrs Eats was very satisfied with her offering, while my seafood was particularly tasty, consisting of smoked salmon, roll mop herring, crayfish and anchovies.

Roasts of beef or pork were on offer for the main course, along with grilled fillet of salmon or risotto rice with braised peppers topped with mozzarella cheese.

All of these tempted us but, in the end, we both decided to plump for the alternative of braised venison with a rich red wine sauce.

Our meat arrived on a bed of parsnip, turnip, carrot, broccoli and roast potatoes. The thick slices of venison were covered in a rich, thick gravy and were tender and tasty.

The vegetables also met with our approval and were just the right texture.

The waitress, who did not seem to be enjoying one of her better days after making a couple of wine spillages, returned to our table to ask for our choice of dessert. After her pasta, followed by the main course, even Mrs Eats was starting to struggle, so she called for a time out.

After a short break she decided to go for the Northumberland cheese platter served with grape chutney and grapes, while I went for the apple crumble with custard.

Things went a little awry at this point as the cheese platter arrived minus the grapes and the apple crumble did not seem to have any crumble.

These oversights were unfortunate as everything had been going so well until then.

Fortified by our hearty meal, we ventured out into the fresh afternoon air.

I was happy to head back to the Eatsmobile but Mrs Eats was determined that we should walk off our lunch, so we headed back to the river and set off on a long but pleasant walk that took us right round the village.