Still great, obvs.
We’re back to normal. Almost. You might have to mask up a bit, and you will definitely need to book, but you can now sit down and get fed in a restaurant, which is good enough for me.
We had our first post-lockdown out-out tea at The Patricia (139 Jesmond Rd, Jesmond, NE2 1JY), and I’m pleased to report it’s still one of the best in the biz. C’mon, you knew that already, right?
I’ll give you some highlights rather than the a deep dive into the full experience. And it is an experience. One which is still just on the right side of formal, but somehow feels more like an intimate supper club in someone’s own home. The restaurant has understandably moved to a set menu of six courses, which is a sensible point between 3c à la carte and a ridiculous 19c extravaganza. The wine list has gotten serious. Natural, bio, skin contact, whatever you wanna call it. Some awesome bottles.
Best bits — obviously this lamb. I mean, what more do you want. Strongly flavoured shoulder that fell apart with the merest of glances, offset with a sharp tomatillo sauce. It’s the comfort food I’ve been waiting 18 months for someone to cook for me. And cod, below. I can’t recall a more accurately cooked piece of fish. And look at that brilliant pearlescent colour of it 😍 with a sweet & salty white soy sauce. This is what you dine out for.
Elsewhere it’s a journey across super-refreshing (melon & fermented pepper juice), innovative (raw prawn, strawberry & tomatoes), and comforting (the ripest Tunworth, followed by honey tart & miso ice cream).
I hope that one thing lockdown does is kickstart a trend away from tweezers, and back to just good old-fashioned hospitality. Make the customer feel welcome for just those few hours, cared for, and like they’re gonna have a great time in your safe hands. It’s a bit sad that this has to be a differentiator in the 2021 days of ‘Instagrammable Drinks‘ and whatever the holy fuck this is, but hopefully, the thing people have missed most is experiences like this. Having someone cook with some feeling and some finesse for them, not have to do the washing up, and try some of the best ingredients money can buy.
All of this isn’t cheap, but you know what, at this standard food isn’t cheap. Running a business isn’t cheap. Paying good staff isn’t cheap. Red prawns are categorically, not cheap. Are you still paying £2.50 for an Aldi chicken? 😑
I digress, but If The Patricia experience has eluded you for the past four years or so, forget going back to Miller & Carter for fucks sake (whose owners can also boast about runing O’Neills and Toby Carvery. Aye…) — there are real restaurants run by local people all over the region that support actual livelihoods and Newcastle staff and suppliers. Imagine that.
Other bits of note
The Patricia…at Home
Who did the best lockdown takeaway? The Patricia did. We had it a few times during those darker moments of 2020, and every time it managed to walk that line of doing the hard bits for you and requiring just enough cooking to make it feel like you were part of the show. The complementary Spotify playlist too, nice touch.
Whether it was a long-braised bit of beef that just needed warming, or something you wouldn’t find in a Covid-infested supermarket like Ortiz anchovies, there was enough to almost replicate the restaurant experience at home.
I’ve come out of lockdown with a particular love of The Patricia’s bloody phenomenal house focaccia, usually with a cultured butter but here doing mopping up duties on these Linda potatoes & burger sauce. We got a couple of decent bottles of wine, and yknow just for an hour, in those grim when-will-it-end days of December 2020, it felt like normality again.
TPAH is for now, still running each Saturday, and is the best way to get a peek into the full experience.
No Special Order
How do you pivot and diversify further when it’s another bank holiday spent during lockdown but people wanna be outside with a beer and a burger? Give them exactly that.
It isn’t just Noma that can start shovelling burgers when times are tough. As you’d expect, this was textbook. Flirting somewhere between posh burger and smash burger, it ticked all my cravings with a phenomenal bun, well seasoned patty, and something special about that burger sauce. We might never see it again, but like seeing Mark Knopfler playing Local Hero at the 30th Great North Run, I am thankful to say I was there at the time.
Collabs
I was less fortunate and missed out on Flint x The Patricia (below). Two of my favourites, and I sat on it too long and missed it. Still mad.
Especially between the more savvy, collabs between food & drink brands across the NE are so in at the moment. We saw in NYE 2021 with The Patricia x Barrio Comida which was every bit the flavour cannon you’d expect. What’s next, the Dot Bagels x The Patricia roasted spouts & aged parmesan with chilli jam on an everything bagel? 🥵 Please?
View this post on Instagram
So, less of a restaurant review this one, and more of a war cry to go and support your favourite local restaurant now that you can.
I’ve not even touched on what might be the best Sunday lunch in the North East here. Or the sister cafe/restaurants coming soon to Gosforth. Times change, restaurants, tastes and trends change. But thankfully, everything from The Patricia I knew and loved in 2017 remains the same. Better, even.
The Patricia has raised, and continues to prop up the overall standard of restaurants across the NE since its inception, and for that we should all be grateful.
Related Posts
