It’s great, of course.
You may remember Coarse’s (Reform Place, North Road, Durham, DH1 4RZ) ambitious but unsuccessful crowdfund in late 2021. And as a stan of chef Ruari Mackay’s cooking, damn did I wanna see it succeed. Nonetheless, not even a year later the team managed to find a home in Durham city centre. Praise be!
I still feel like Durham is wildly underrepresented by great restaurants. Hopefully Coarse builds on the success of the likes of Barrio Comida to make Durham the dining destination it really should be. We shall see.
From the outset, Coarse’s mission was clear: ‘affordable, informal dining’. Totally achievable, but can that also be great food? My hope being that with a handy chef banging the pans, it’d be quality.
It took us long enough to get down to Durham but we finally visited last Thursday evening and the restaurant was surprisingly full. Presumably off the back of recent inclusion in the Michelin guide just four months after opening which is some achievement. Never mind for a brand new venture, and a small team.
We had the final hurrahs of the £40/5c February menu. I like the idea of a monthly menu, it doesn’t change so rapidly that you miss standout specials, but does enough to keep with the seasons. March’s already sounds like a banger. On top of that, lunch menu is a steal for twenty quid.
Even better is a +£30 wine pairing which for me just takes the value into crazy town. A similar experience in NCL will set you back £70 just for food, so I hope the ‘affordable’ bit manages to stay doable, given this climate.
Anyway, already out of date, but February menu vibes…
Snacks are substantial. A nugget of braised pork belly is somewhat carnitas-esque in the best and fattiest ‘I could eat 500 of these’ way possible. While a hangover from Burns’ Night is a punchy take on haggis, neeps, and whiskey onions with potato foam, obvs. Gutsy cooking, ideal for a cold February evening and probably indicative of a ‘nee tweezers’ sign in the kitchen.
I often find that Michelin-baiting wine pairings are often firmly ‘old world’. A little boring, really. But straight off the bat, it was delightful to slurp a natural vinho verde (Natcool Branco 2017) with these. That was as out-there as the wines got, but they were all shockingly well matched.
Beetroot, yoghurt, orange are best friends, and this was a prime example of how to elevate some simple ingredients into exactly what you want a first course to be. Fresh and light and peppy.
Interesting to note that none of the founding team was in the restaurant tonight but that didn’t upset service at all. It comes from a young but clued-up team who keep things lighthearted but attentive, and the pacing was about right.
Smoked haddock, leeks and curry sauce also isn’t a new concept, but it’s done with enough care and balance here to illicit plate-licking. A crunchy shallot bhaji rounds out the curry vibes, and it’s just one of those tasing menu dishes that you wish was main course sized.
I missed a bread course more than I thought I could. I appreciate that squeezing more value out of this price is difficult, but I bloody love some quality bread & fat. Especially when there’s so many lovely sauces that just beg to be mopped up off the plate.
The only lull was (optional +£8) truffled mac and cheese which I was really hyped for. I mean, it did what it says on the tin and absolutely satisfies Coarse’s playful menu approach, but I hoped for more truffle, more cheese, and more oomph. The accompanying riesling was bloody superb as well, which made it hurt even more.
February’s main featured local duck and broccoli. Expected the usual pan-fried breast but thigh(?) meat was confited to the point of being spoonable. Unctuous, satisfying and substantial, it’s textbook main course stuff. Lovely to see salsify too, which I sadly haven’t seen on a menu for yonks.
Quality sauces are the cornerstone of every great restaurant and you can feel the love that’s gone into these. A deep miso and sticky, shiny stock reduction tied things up.
Zero complaints about desserts which again featured classic combos. ‘Elvis’ fave’ peanut butter, banana and bacon tickled the sweet tooth, with rhubarb and meringue being a fresh reminder that winter in the UK does have some worthy ingredients too. Six superb courses, to be fair.
Having tried similar-ish restaurants Nest and Rebel fairly recently, I’d choose Coarse over those two. And not just for its wallet-friendliness, either. I wasn’t quite sure if Coarse might have overly embraced ‘cheap and cheerful’ or played it safe to pander to a Durham crowd. But not to worry. Maybe was the generous Sauternes pour but on the way out, I uttered ‘that was the best food I’ve eaten in a long while’. Success to me is wanting to return somewhere and I could have very happily eaten the whole menu again the next day.
It’s hard to believe Coarse has only been open for five months, though it perhaps feels like it’s been a lifetime in the making. If the brief was to make Coarse ‘affordable and fun’ then of course, it’s job done. And then some 👏🏼👏🏼
Contact: coarse.restaurant
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