On the eve of British Food Fortnight, KATHARINE CAPOCCI uncovers the restaurants flying the flag for our region in the newly-published Good Food Guide 2012

A DELVE through the pages of the eagerly awaited, newly-published Good Food Guide 2012 uncovers a thriving culinary scene in the North East.

And don’t just take Taste’s word for it – ‘flourishing’ and ‘thriving’ are the words of choice used by consultant editor Elizabeth Carter to describe the North East culinary scene. Although to be entirely fair, Yorkshire is also lumped in with the North East entry.

The good news from the respected restaurant guide, seen as a foodie bible, is that the standard of dining continues to rise in what we define as the true North East region, with seven new restaurant entries.

That’s 26 entries compared with 20 last year, (one new listing replaces another entry from last year), some of which include ‘Also Recommended’ submissions, deemed as eateries worth a visit.

New entries include Pan Haggerty in Newcastle, described as a ‘suave city eaterie with ambitious food’ and The Raby Hunt outside Darlington, a ‘delightful family-run restaurant’ where the chef offers ‘satisfying, imaginative cooking’ and The Bay Horse in Hurworth-on-Tees, described as a ‘village pub of substance’.

The Rat Inn at Anick, near Hexham, Terry Laybourne’s Caffe Vivo, and Sky Apple Cafe, both Newcastle, as well as The Bridgewater Arms, Durham, make up the other new entries.

Karen Errington who runs The Rat with partner Phil Mason, the chef, is delighted at their inclusion as an ‘Also Recommended’ entry. The pair, who have recently taken on another pub, The Crown at Catton, near Allendale, are proud of their local sourcing.

“Everything is freshly made on the premises, from the terrines through to the puds,” says Karen. “We use esclusively local meats. We have never bought meat outside of Northumberland in the four years we’ve had The Rat.”

Old favourites include Laybourne’s Cafe 21 in Newcastle, described as a buzzy, stylish brasserie, and multi-award-winning The Feathers Inn, at Hedley on the Hill, in Northumberland, where ‘local hero and foodie crusader Rhian Cradock’ heads up the kitchen. The Feathers has also just scooped the accolade of Great British Pub of the Year in the Great British Pub Awards 2011.

Appetites have been well and truly whetted by the publication of the much-anticipated restaurant guide, which came out last week.

The independent guide, in its 61st year, is seen as required reading when it comes to the pick of places to eat out, from restaurants, pubs and cafes across the UK.

Each year the Which? publication is rewritten and compiled from readers’ feedback and anonymous inspections.

Elizabeth Carter, consultant editor of The Good Food Guide, says: “Dining in the North East is flourishing – an impressive number of new entries in The Good Food Guide 2012 sit alongside some great fine dining experiences and seasoned favourites, all contributing to a thriving culinary scene in the region.”

The guide contains a respectable seven entries for Northumberland, The Rat Inn, a new ‘Also Recommended’ replacing one from last year; nine entries for County Durham, including new entries The Bay Horse at Hurworth-on-Tees, The Raby Hunt and The Bridgewater Arms and 10 entries for Tyne and Wear, including Sky Apple Café, David Kennedy’s Food Social and stalwarts Fisherman’s Lodge and Jesmond Dene House. See below for the full list of entries for each county.

The Good Food Guide is the UK’s best-selling restaurant guide. It does not accept advertising and reviewers pay for every meal reviewed.

The Good Food Guide 2012 is priced at £16.99. It can be ordered at www.thegoodfoodguide.co.uk/shop or bought in any good bookshop

NORTHUMBERLAND

New entry – The Rat Inn, Anick, Hexham. Appears as an ‘Also Recommended’.

Described as a homely inn with stone-flagged floors and real fires, one visitor was ‘blown away’ by the ‘simple, locally sourced’ food and strong up-front flavours.

The Barrasford Arms, Barrasford.

This smartly renovated 18th Century coaching inn does a good line in comforting, traditional fare.

The Feathers Inn, Hedley on the Hill.

Local hero and foodie crusader Rhian Cradock has injected some real oomph into this 200-year-old drovers’ inn.

Bouchon Bistrot, Hexham.

Inside this ‘sober-fronted stone town house’ is a bustling version of a French bistro offering excellent eating at a very reasonable cost.

Bridge Street Inn and Restaurant, Morpeth.

Revamped town centre venue. No expense spared on the interior of this town centre pub (formerly Black Door Bar & Dining Rooms).

Café Lowrey, Ponteland.

A friendly, unpretentious restaurant offering accessible, accomplished cooking, Café Lowrey sets the bar for neighbourhood restaurants.

Also recommended – The Ship Inn, Low Newton-by-the-Sea.

This cosy, whitewashed inn has a lot going for it – including its own microbrewery.

TYNE AND WEAR

New entry – Caffè Vivo, Newcastle.

Terry Laybourne’s bustling, glass-fronted café is dedicated to the freshest and most straightforward kind of Italian cooking.

New entry – Pan Haggerty, Newcastle.

Suave, metropolitan eaterie. Menu promises rustic British food but the reality is more ambitious.

New entry – Sky Apple Café, Newcastle, an ‘Also Recommended’.

‘Newcastle’s favourite left-field veggie’ notes a visitor who took a shine to this long-standing, shabby chic café, with its ‘cosy, homely feel’.

Eslington Villa, Gateshead.

Satisfying dishes in a civilised setting. Eslington Villa stands in two acres of landscaped grounds overlooking a leafy valley.

Blackfriars Restaurant, Newcastle.

The kitchen skillfully deploys a full quota of regional ingredients in its quest for unadulterated Britishness from potted Northumberland beef with rye bread to mains of belly pork with apple and celeriac dumplings.

David Kennedy’s Food Social, Biscuit Factory, Newcastle.

Previously Black Door Brasserie, this is described as a relaxed venue with prime food. Various menus promise generosity and value in the shape of social bites, set lunch and early evening deals.

Café 21, Quayside, Newcastle.

Terry Laybourne’s buzzy, stylish quayside brasserie remains a well-patronised dining and drinking venue for locals.

Fisherman’s Lodge, Jesmond Dene.

Country idyll on Tyneside is a charmer, ‘although it has had a rather shaky time since changing hands in 2009’.

Jesmond Dene House, Newcastle.

Arts and Crafts house has a kitchen full of craft and care. Impeccable staff do justice to chef Michael Penaluna’s precise but sometimes playful cooking.

Also recommended – Colmans, South Shields.

‘Famous for fish and chips since 1926,’ trumpets this evergreen family business. Unpretentious, no-nonsense, good-quality fish and properly fried chips is what they do.

COUNTY DURHAM

New entry – The Bay Horse, Hurworth-on-Tees.

Village pub of substance, complete with fire-warmed bar and civilised dining room. Service is smiley and warm and there’s an air of relaxed unpretentiousness.

New entry – The Raby Hunt, Summerhouse, near Darlington.

Charming staff give ‘very personal’ service and chef/proprietor James Close’s cooking is ‘bursting with good ideas’.

New entry –The Bridgewater Arms, Winston.

One-time school house on the edge of a pretty village. It has character, warmth and excellent ingredients.

Bistro 21, Durham.

Terry Laybourne’s friendly bistro with sturdy comfort food. ‘Interesting menu, food always exceptional, pleasant atmosphere and good service’ was one response to this relaxed and unpretentious bistro.

Gourmet Spot, Durham.

Showcases ambitious modern cooking in self-consciously ‘modern’ dining room. Described as an adventurous restaurant with big ideas.

Kenny Atkinson at the Orangery, Rockliffe Hall, Hurworth-on-Tees.

Kenny, a two-times winner of BBC’s Great British Menu culinary show, flies the flag for local produce. ‘Presiding culinary wizard hits the right buttons’.

The Oak Tree Inn, Hutton Magna.

Remarkably well-crafted dishes. A salad of fig, beetroot and blue cheese with honey truffle dressing was described as exceptional.

The Rose & Crown, Romaldkirk.

Old world village charmer. A repertoire of modern British cooking could open with sea bass, roasted fennel and Pernod cream, before pink breasts of wood pigeon. Finish with baked egg custard.

The White Room, Seaham Hall.

Boutique hotel with ambitious cooking. Head chef Ian Swainson, formerly at Le Becasse in Ludlow – his menus suggest stronger regional accent and a sense of fun.