The Bonny Comet, Low Fell, Gateshead restaurant review

My gastronomic recollections of growing up in the Gateshead suburb of Low Fell over twenty years ago are rather thin on the ground.

There were the honkingly potent garlic prawns and flamboyantly flambéed crêpes suzette from the Italia, which seemed to be perennially stuck in the 70s.

There was also the Imperial Chinese restaurant, located upstairs from a branch of Greggs, where I over-enthusiastically ate too much crispy duck and spare ribs, making myself sick during a family celebration.

And let's not forget the Indian restaurant, whose name eludes me, which had a rather tatty stuffed bear guarding its entrance. It was definitely the most memorable thing about the place.

So, last year I was rather excited by the news that the Bonny Comet, a rather chi-chi sounding all day dining destination and bar, was opening along the Fell.

That was until The Guardian's Grace Dent popped along for a meal and had a rather disheartening experience, dampening my expectations in the process.

Still, not to be deterred, Mrs G and I popped along for dinner during one of our biannual visits to the Northeast after a few craft beers at the excellent Beer Drop.

The Bonny Comet is a rather stylish looking place. With its deep blue exterior and beautifully designed dining room, it certainly wouldn't look out of place in ritzier destinations.

Their eclectic all day menu features oysters and pheasant as well as fish finger sandwiches and haggis on toast. So whether you’re looking for a bit of posh or something more casual, there should be something to float your boat.

On the booze front, I enjoyed a half of Dortmunder Union Pils (£2.75) whilst Mrs G preferred a zesty alcohol-free margarita (£6) to a rather too sweet glass of prosecco (£7.50).

To start, a northern portion of meteorite-like cheese and mushroom croquettes (£6) had a good earthy mushroom hit and were filled with plenty of pieces of soft spud. But they were light on the billed cheese and a thick puddle of mushroom puree didn’t provide much in the way of flavour contrast.

An excellent piece of black pudding (£8) had a soft boudin noir like texture and was sat in a pokey mustard sauce alongside pieces of soft potato. It was a big flavoured bit of cooking which wouldn’t look out of place in the bouchons of Lyon.

Both of our mains looked rather home cooked compared to the refined versions on the Bonny Comet’s slick social media account. But, they delivered in terms of flavour.

A golden crusted pithivier (£17.50) was filled with a coarse mushroom and chestnut duxelles and served with crisp, caramelised-skinned Jerusalem artichokes, charred hispi cabbage, which was a bit too firm in texture, and a curiously tepid mushroom puree. Despite its flaws, it was a tasty bit of Autumnal cooking.

A whopping puck of slow-cooked shredded beef feather blade (£20) had a lovely soft texture and a good beefy flavour but was at its maximum limit for seasoning. Its accompaniments all hit the mark - a rich glossy beer reduction, smooth mustard mash, which could have taken a bigger hit of mustard, roasted sweet root vegetables and parsnip crisps.

Dessert was the star of the meal. Sticky toffee pudding (£7.50) so often misses the mark by being too dense or too cakey. This was an absolute belter, the pudding was light yet soft and squidgy with a liberal amount of toasty toffee sauce, and a scoop of excellent honeycomb ice cream.

We had a very enjoyable meal at The Bonny Comet in a lovely setting with really friendly service. Whilst the reality is rather more down to earth and rustic than its swanky appearance, it’s a welcome addition to Low Fell's constellation of restaurants.

The Details:

Address -  The Bonny Comet, 490 Durham Rd, Low Fell, Gateshead NE9 6HU

Web - https://thebonnycomet.com/

Telephone -  0191 816 2072

Chan's Noodle Bar, Cardiff Bay independent restaurant review

Whenever I’m asked to recommend an independent restaurant in Cardiff Bay, it’s always a bit of a head scratcher.

Whilst we’ve visited a few good places over the years, including Zaika, the Duchess of Deli and Yakitori #1 alongside more recent openings such as the Yorkshire Wrap at the Norwegian Church and Tiger Yard’s line-up of street food vendors, it’s still a part of Cardiff which is dominated by the blandest of chains.

So, Chan’s Noodle Bar in the heart of Mermaid Quay is a place which piqued my interest whilst walking past it on one of our regular bird spotting strolls around the Bay.

With its bright and functional dining space, their menu features Chinese takeaway classics, noodle soups, build your own noodle boxes, tray meals and Cantonese roast meats (sadly unavailable during our visit). On the weekday lunchtime we visited the place was full with office workers making the most of their lunch breaks.

There’s a cheap meal to be had as Chan’s meal boxes offer a choice of dishes, boiled rice and broccoli for £8.95 and their noodle boxes weigh in at a similar price point. But, it was their pricier Chan’s specials which sounded the most interesting, with dishes including salted egg yolk king prawn (£12.65), beef brisket and preserved bean curd stew (£12.65), and special pork chops with honey chilli sauce (£10.95).

We ordered a couple of smaller dishes and a pair of Chan’s specials to share and it was a heck of a big lunch.

I was told that crispy duck buns were unavailable after I’d ordered and paid for them and so chose chicken satay buns as an alternative. Strangely enough, the duck buns turned up at our table. A pair of soft and squidgy bao (£7.35) cosseted a classic combination of crisp and tender aromatic duck, cleansing cucumber and spring onion, and sweet and sticky hoi sin sauce. They were very tasty, if a little light on filling.

A quintet of thin-skinned dumplings (£7.35) were filled with tightly packed minced beef. They were pretty good, but slightly one note in their savoury seasoning, and so were elevated by a lovely dipping sauce with a nice balance of chilli, sweet and savoury.

Beef ho fun (£10.95) was the standout of the meal. The colossal portion of thick rice noodles, which were flecked with plentiful pieces of tender beef and crisp beansprouts, had an excellent smoky savouriness from the wok.

King prawn fried rice with XO sauce (£11.95) was just as generously proportioned but less successful on the flavour front. Whilst seven whopping sweet and tender king prawns were delicious they were let down by the fried rice, which was rather bland and almost totally lacking the compelling savoury hit of XO. It’s fortunate we had some chilli sauce leftover to pep the dish up a bit.

Overall, we had a good lunch at Chan’s Noodle Bar that wasn’t without its faults. I’d certainly go back for another bowl of their beef ho fun and would be interested to try some of their more keenly priced meal box options.

The Details:

Address - Chan's Noodle Bar, Unit 20, Mermaid Quay, Cardiff Bay, CF10 5BZ

Web - https://chansnoodle.com/
Telephone - 02920482688