http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-taste/restaurant-reviews/ JournalLive for North East news. Read the latest from The Journal newspaper covering Newcastle, Tyne and Wear, Northumberland all areas across the Northeast. en-gb JournalLive http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-taste/restaurant-reviews/2008/07/18/gourmet-spot-the-avenue-durham-city-61634-21360549/ Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-taste/restaurant-reviews/2008/07/18/gourmet-spot-the-avenue-durham-city-61634-21360549/ REVIEWING restaurants is like visiting major art galleries. I tend to focus on looking at specific pieces, because there are only so many I can take in at any one time before I feel saturated by the experience. http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-taste/restaurant-reviews/2008/07/11/daraz-4-holly-avenue-west-jesmond-61634-21322535/ Thu, 10 Jul 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-taste/restaurant-reviews/2008/07/11/daraz-4-holly-avenue-west-jesmond-61634-21322535/ I WAS at home one afternoon last week, when, at 3pm I heard the front door open as she returned from work. She’d planned a short working day, to be home for lunch, and had not taken any food with her. http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-taste/restaurant-reviews/2008/07/04/blackmore-s-of-alnwick-alnwick-northumberland-61634-21228265/ Thu, 03 Jul 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-taste/restaurant-reviews/2008/07/04/blackmore-s-of-alnwick-alnwick-northumberland-61634-21228265/ WE’VE a new regime in our household. It wasn’t a democratic process, just a sneaky suggestion that wormed its way in and has become the status quo. http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-taste/restaurant-reviews/2008/06/27/caff-vivo-newcastle-61634-21158791/ Thu, 26 Jun 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-taste/restaurant-reviews/2008/06/27/caff-vivo-newcastle-61634-21158791/ FOR many people Italian cuisine means pizza, pasta or pollo. In recent times, a multitude of quick and easy Italian restaurants have spread across the country like spaghetti spilling from a packet. http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-taste/restaurant-reviews/2008/06/20/mckenna-s-at-northern-stage-newcastle-61634-21108469/ Thu, 19 Jun 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-taste/restaurant-reviews/2008/06/20/mckenna-s-at-northern-stage-newcastle-61634-21108469/ THERE aren’t many laughs in an Ibsen play. His take on life starts in a dark place and travels, scene by scene, to an even bleaker one. http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-taste/restaurant-reviews/2008/06/13/matfen-hall-matfen-northumberland-61634-21065250/ Thu, 12 Jun 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-taste/restaurant-reviews/2008/06/13/matfen-hall-matfen-northumberland-61634-21065250/ IT was a perfect spring evening. The low sun was brushing the fields with long shadows as we drove to Matfen Hall in Northumberland. http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-taste/restaurant-reviews/2008/06/06/the-honest-lawyer-hotel-croxdale-co-durham-61634-21031539/ Thu, 05 Jun 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-taste/restaurant-reviews/2008/06/06/the-honest-lawyer-hotel-croxdale-co-durham-61634-21031539/ AT the risk of hazarding a libel suit, the name of the Honest Lawyer Hotel sounds contradictory. Not that lawyers aren’t honest, he added hastily, but it’s their job to argue the innocence of known crooks and ne’er-do-wells as well as defend the good names of upstanding citizens. http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-taste/restaurant-reviews/2008/05/30/tuscany-east-parade-whitley-bay-61634-20994639/ Thu, 29 May 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-taste/restaurant-reviews/2008/05/30/tuscany-east-parade-whitley-bay-61634-20994639/ LAST week I took part in the Bio Bank research study. It’s a fascinating process. First you answer a host of health-based questions via a touch screen computer. Then you give puff, pee and blood samples (all totally painless) and get measured in various ways. http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-taste/restaurant-reviews/2008/05/23/starters-puds-newcastle-61634-20962628/ Thu, 22 May 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-taste/restaurant-reviews/2008/05/23/starters-puds-newcastle-61634-20962628/ WE have the three statutory meals in our house. We also have a fourth: dib and dob. So named by our eldest son dib and dob is, as the name suggests, a meal where you do just that. http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-taste/restaurant-reviews/2008/05/16/utong-thai-restaurant-newcastle-61634-20917805/ Thu, 15 May 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-taste/restaurant-reviews/2008/05/16/utong-thai-restaurant-newcastle-61634-20917805/ DID you know that lots of people from the Far East are alcohol intolerant? For someone running a licensed restaurant this is like being a landscape gardener with hay fever or a pilot with vertigo. http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-taste/restaurant-reviews/2008/05/09/a-taste-of-persia-newcastle-61634-20882235/ Thu, 08 May 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-taste/restaurant-reviews/2008/05/09/a-taste-of-persia-newcastle-61634-20882235/ PERSIA sounds so exotic to me. My boyhood notion of what it was like came from images from the Arabian Nights merged in a luscious blend with camel caravans, date palm oases and the mysteries of the harem, best viewed through a gauzy film. http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-taste/restaurant-reviews/2008/05/02/gods-kitchen-chester-le-street-61634-20849665/ Thu, 01 May 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-taste/restaurant-reviews/2008/05/02/gods-kitchen-chester-le-street-61634-20849665/ IT’S the nature of life that we all go through changes. Buildings too have a life and they go through similar transitions. http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-taste/restaurant-reviews/2008/04/25/the-angel-of-corbridge-main-street-corbridge-61634-20816940/ Thu, 24 Apr 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-taste/restaurant-reviews/2008/04/25/the-angel-of-corbridge-main-street-corbridge-61634-20816940/ THE cult of the gastropub is developing apace. The combination of restaurant quality food with the informality of a pub reduces any dress-code starchiness, while offering potentially fine dining experiences. http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-taste/restaurant-reviews/2008/04/18/arami-leazes-park-road-newcastle-61634-20781553/ Thu, 17 Apr 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-taste/restaurant-reviews/2008/04/18/arami-leazes-park-road-newcastle-61634-20781553/ YOU can’t blame climate change for every seasonal shake-up. For example, the timing of Easter results from mysterious calculations relating to the number of full moons after a certain date. http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-taste/restaurant-reviews/2008/04/11/the-grafton-hotel-durham-61634-20748729/ Thu, 10 Apr 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-taste/restaurant-reviews/2008/04/11/the-grafton-hotel-durham-61634-20748729/ DURHAM City is one of the most picturesque around. Whether it’s the cobbled marketplace, the winding streets with bijoux houses or leafy riverside walks, it’s a city of great character. http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-taste/restaurant-reviews/2008/04/04/the-rat-inn-anick-northumberland-61634-20715840/ Thu, 03 Apr 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-taste/restaurant-reviews/2008/04/04/the-rat-inn-anick-northumberland-61634-20715840/ THE Green Room was a top-notch restaurant. When I heard it had closed, I regretted not going there more often. http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-taste/restaurant-reviews/2008/03/28/the-open-kitchen-gosforth-newcastle-61634-20684230/ Fri, 28 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-taste/restaurant-reviews/2008/03/28/the-open-kitchen-gosforth-newcastle-61634-20684230/ THEY say that travel broadens the mind, which is a good thing. The down- side is what it does to the ozone layer. Every journey we make punctures yet another hole in the protection it affords us from global warming. http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-taste/restaurant-reviews/2008/03/21/henri-s-59-bridge-street-61634-20654055/ Fri, 21 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-taste/restaurant-reviews/2008/03/21/henri-s-59-bridge-street-61634-20654055/ WHAT’S in a name? Apparently a rose smells as sweet no matter what it’s called. The same thing can be said of Henri’s. The last time I dined there the food flowed from one excellent course to another, until only a delicious memory remained. http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-taste/restaurant-reviews/2008/03/14/unit-91-north-tyne-industrial-estate-61634-20620110/ Fri, 14 Mar 2008 00:29:00 GMT http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-taste/restaurant-reviews/2008/03/14/unit-91-north-tyne-industrial-estate-61634-20620110/ CHEFS and waiters don’t appear overnight like a gooseberry bush miracle. It takes years of training to make the transition from beans on toast for one to a roast dinner for many, which is where Barnardo’s comes in. http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-taste/restaurant-reviews/2008/03/07/adriano-s-90-high-street-gosforth-61634-20570888/ Fri, 07 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-taste/restaurant-reviews/2008/03/07/adriano-s-90-high-street-gosforth-61634-20570888/ THESE months, when nights are barely shorter than days and days can be as gloomy as their counterparts, do drag on.