Manor House - Northumberland

The restaurant was a disappointment. The £18.95 meal was inedible, and the breakfast next door was cold and burnt. Staff were nowhere to be found, and the low lighting made it impossible to see just how bad everything was.

We made a reservation in advance as recommended by the owner of our guest house. We were seated by the window with a beautiful view of the sea. I decided to have a starter as my main course, opting for the steamed mussels with a side of sourdough bread for £12.95. While the mussels were a bit small, the dish was still good. Some of my companions ordered the balmoral chicken supreme with black pudding mash, carrots, and broccoli for £21.95. Although it seemed pricey, the dish was delicious both in appearance and taste. To finish off the meal, I treated myself to a sticky toffee pudding for £7.95, which was absolutely delicious.

I only wanted to know what the soup of the day was…. When you ask the server what the soup of the day is, to which she replies ‘I have no idea, the chefs are just making it now’. Do your chefs not know what soup they are making? I then asked how long do you think it will be, to which she replied ‘I don’t know, how long is a piece of string, I have no idea’. A chef then miraculously appears so she asks him what the soup of the day is and he (the chef who was in the kitchen whilst the soup was being made) also has no idea. I was quite concerned at this point…. No soup, but the food was great!

After spending the morning walking around the island of Lindisfarne visiting the priory, we picked this place at random for some lunch. It said food was served from midday onwards, and we only wanted something light (a sandwich and a drink) so decided it was as good a place as any to stop. The food was delicious, we had the beer battered fish finger sandwich I had a ciabatta and my husband had the brown option which appeared to be a hedgehog roll. These were not your average fish fingers they were delicious, thick chunks of fresh fish covered in a crispy batter. There was a side serving of salad and some Dorito crisps, it was a little pricey for what you got but I forgave that for the quality of the fish fingers.

Stopped at MHH after a walk around Lindisfarne. A pint and a roll, opted for the ham, cheese and tomato. £10.50, which I consider to be at the top end price wise. So, I got the roll but no salad garnish, crisps etc which you’d normally expect, certainly at that price. Roll was tasty but value for money was very poor. On the upside, the MHH ale was a decent pint.