It’s great that Newcastle dominated the Restaurant Week ranks here in the North East for so long but now it’s our turn in with Dine InDurham Restaurant Week. Getting bigger and better, we were invited along to Marco Pierre White Steakhouse in Hotel Indigo to check out their Durham Restaurant Week offer.
Alongside the regular Dine InDurham scheme which runs on the 3rd weekend of the month, the good chaps and chapettes at Durham BID are ramping up the Dine InDurham Restaurant Week (#DurhamRestaurantWeek) and it’s about time!
Synonymous with good steaks, the Marco Pierre White Steakhouse is offering a Chateaubriand for 2 for £30 which is almost half price. You cannot get a better deal than that!
This is a lunch time only offer but the lovely folks at MPW kindly entertained us on an evening for review purposes and boy are we glad they did!
Tucked in to the rotunda in Hotel Indigo in Durham, the Marco Pierre White Steakhouse has a commanding, opulent presence in the historic building. Previously University offices, Old Shire Hall is a befitting home to the MPW brand.
Settling down to our light and airy table for 2, we were entertained by the beautiful soft jazz tones of a female singer on the mezzanine level of this wood panelled circular room. What a way to start our visit.
We are more savoury than sweet so we opted for a French Onion Soup with Gruyere Croutons (£7.95) which was a light based soup loaded with onions and gooey gruyere. Just as you’d expect and incredibly hearty.
If there’s a prawn cocktail on the menu, all the other starters can go home for me so of course I chose the to start along with a Classic 1970’s Prawn Cocktail (£9.95). I thought it was a little pricey but the fresh prawns were plentiful and accompanied by the obligatory buttered brown bread triangles.
The main event. The piece de resistence. The star of the show. The Chateaubriand.
The Chateaubriand (£58 but £30 during Durham Restaurant Week) is served with roasted vine tomatoes, English watercress and a choice of triple cooked chips, pommes frites, or green salad with truffle dressing. We opted for chips.
As Mr is on the blue / rare side of things and I err on the side of well done, we compromised on medium. It was seasons and charred enough for me and just about pink enough for him, with plenty of juices still retained.
We got 2 healthy slices of meat each and along with our individually served crispy, perfect chips and little boat of sauce, the £30 Chateaubriand was a really great value meal for 2.
We added on a Peppercorn + Brandy Sauce (£3.25) and a side of Creamed Spinach with Horseradish (£3.50). I’d like to show you a picture of that but it’s the Husbands favourite and he was tucking in to it before we’d even plated up our steak! Definitely recommend it though as the horseradish was a nice subtle kick, especially if you don’t like sauces with your meat.
With no room for dessert, we enjoyed a glass of wine and listened to the singer finish her set.
You can find all the Dine InDurham Restaurant Week deals HERE on the Durham BID website along with info on how to redeem.
You can read all our other local Food Reviews HERE