Copperfields at the Grand Hotel, Tynemouth

Jun 8 2008 by Eddy Eats, Sunday Sun

IN my humble opinion, there are few sights more majestic than the North East coastline.

The ruggedness of the region’s cliffs and beaches never fails to lift one’s spirits.

I am a particular fan of Tynemouth and its combination of quaint village, scenic beauty and a delightful sociable, family atmosphere.

And, on a lovely spring Sunday like the one we were fortunate enough to visit the area, it is certainly a popular spot.

The Grand Hotel, originally built in 1872 as a home for the Duchess of Northumberland, is a well-known landmark thanks to its location perched right on the seafront.

It is a beautiful, imposing building and one could be forgiven for missing Copperfields, the little boozer tacked on to its side.

We stumbled across the cosy establishment while taking a shortcut from the promenade to Tynemouth village, and decided to pop in for a spot of scran. It was already quite busy and there seemed to be something of a scrum to get the first available table.

We enquired behind the bar whether we could put our names down, but were told to just grab a seat as soon as one came free . . . which was all very well but for the several other sets of diners all intent on doing the same and circling like predators.

The existing scranners were watched like hawks until they began to show signs of leaving.

As it turned out, we only waited around 10 minutes and whet our appetites with a pint of Black Sheep and a glass of chilled white wine for Mrs E.

Eventually, nestled in a corner, we studied the menu, mouths watering.

For starters there was just one choice, leek and ham broth, which sounded appealing enough but the Missus and I both decided to go straight for the mains and then see how a sweet grabbed us afterwards.

My choice was made in a split second . . . once I’d spotted braised lamb shanks on the menu there was really no contest.

She Who Must Be Fed, however, was torn between several options . . . not like her to be indecisive.

She liked the sound of the roast chicken, but also fancied the beer battered cod with mushy peas and chips, not to mention the lamb and mushroom pie . . . all very reasonably priced at either £5.95 or £6.95.

Eventually, she plumped for the traditional roast with all the trimmings.

It is a self-service arrangement, so I was dispatched to the bar forthwith to place our order. While we waited, we surveyed the place, which by now was bustling with a varied clientele.

There is nothing particularly remarkable about this little pub, but it’s cosy enough, although the Missus wasn’t keen on the footy being shown while people ate.

A short while later our dishes were delivered . . . and very nice they looked too.

I had an extremely generous portion of lamb and a selection of delicious looking veg, and Mrs Eats’ plate was piled high with tasty-looking chicken, carrots, cabbage, parsnips, roast and boiled spuds and mash.

I knew I had made the right choice as soon as I tasted the first mouthful of lamb . . . it was to die for, melt-in-the-mouth tender, with a gorgeous honey and mint flavour and beautifully lean.

Served on a bed of creamy mash, it was faultless scran as far as I was concerned.

She Who Must Be Fed was just as enamoured with her roast, and I enjoyed a blissful period of silence — albeit brief — while she wolfed down every single morsel, piping up only to state that she thought cabbage was a very underrated vegetable.

Our plates clean and our bellies full, we studied the desserts blackboard.

We were both fit to burst, mind, but it would have been criminal not to sample the offerings after such an impressive start.

There was a small choice, just two or three different puddings on offer at £3.95 each, but fortunately they sounded pretty tempting.

The Missus decided on the sticky toffee pudding with custard, while I chose the strawberry and clotted cream cheesecake.

Moments later they arrived. Mrs E’s was a perfect dome-shaped cake drizzled in yummy piping hot custard, although she did say she would have liked a little more. The cake was apparently simply perfect in consistency . . . spongy rather than stodgy, moist and light.

The cheesecake was also very nice . . . very subtle in flavour with neither the cream nor the strawberries overpowering one another, and a delicious biscuit base.

All in all, an excellent scran which could only be improved by a table booking system.