Brandling Arms, Gosforth

May 3 2009 by Sunday Sun

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I’VE long been a fan of The Forth Hotel on Newcastle’s Pink Lane. It’s a welcome refuge when Mrs Eats is involved in her pastime of shopping.

She gets a lift into town and back, and I can partake in my own pastime of inspecting ales, so everyone wins.

Knowing my interest in The Forth, it was actually She Who Must Be Fed who suggested a trip to its sister pub the Brandling Arms in leafy Gosforth.

I’m open to suggestions in this line of work, and when we rolled up on a sun-shiny day, my articles were certainly warmed by the sight of pints on tables in a pleasant beer garden on Gosforth High Street.

The Brandling Arms certainly has a whiff of the Forth about it. It’s not an old- fashioned, character pub but it feels traditional, with nice mismatching furniture, dark brown walls and a fair-sized bar. I am reliably informed by you know who that the décor is “pretty” with floral garnishes and little lights hanging about the place.

It’s a large pub, but very relaxed, and the Sunday that Mrs E and I were there, it wasn’t too busy. We got served straight away by friendly staff (possibly because of being a match day) but all the better for us.

I liked the look of the guest ales but decided to smooth over the edges of a late-ish night with an efficiently poured pint of Guinness and was surprised to see Mrs Eats collect a half of the same. She must have been having one of her turns.

I was delighted by the selection of food on offer, roasts of all varieties including one called Nut, served with all the trimmings, and a good solid plain menu of other stuff like fish and chips, sausages and mash, steak and lasagne.

The roast rib of beef (£7.90) tempted my taste buds and it was perfectly pleasing. A good thick cut of meat, Yorkshire pud, roast tatties, parsnips, mash and cabbage, not too much piled up on the plate but nicely organised with plenty of room for dipping and scraping.

Mrs Eats didn’t want a roast and opted instead for a lentil and spinach burger with salsa and sour cream (£6.90). She always starts off well with a burger but it quickly descends into a sloppy mess on account of her eating so slowly.

She didn’t check if the burger came with chips (it did) and she demanded an extra portion with Bloody Mary ketchup, which I was then ordered to eat. And you know, it pains me to see food left over.

The pudding menu was short but sweet, and I was relieved to see the bowls arrive with no pretensions or silliness about them. What’s the point of decoration that you can’t eat?

I plumped for a very satisfactory baked cheesecake with berries and she chose a great big hot chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream on the side. Puds are egalitarian all being priced at £3.

On the whole, I was pleased to discover that the Brandling Arms wasn’t letting the side down. On the contrary, in fact, it was very much holding its own with decent and substantial fare in pleasant surroundings.

Rating: 16/20