A couple of weeks ago, the kind folks at Brewer Fayre invited us along to check out their newly revamped Dunelm Ridge restaurant.
Thanks to the kids soft play area, it is somewhere very local that I have visited regularly with my friend and her children. Paul and I were keen to see what changes have been made as it is a mere 5 minutes across the fields from home to here.
Just off the main road in to Durham (A167) and next to the Arnison Centre retail park, it is a great place to stop for a post shopping pint or pub lunch. The added beer garden is a great bonus, even at this time of the year!
The bar area and dining spaces have been lightened with a new coat of off cream paint which offsets the flagstone flooring, exposed brickwork and tartan seat cushions. The whole area felt much airier, larger and brighter, which is complemented by chic new art work on the walls and the bistro-esque back drop to the buffet hotplate.
They have changed the seating layouts which too feels like the whole space has grown in size. I wasn’t impressed with the large round table placed right in front of the toilet doors though. I would be even less impressed if I had been given that table. The space was previously open to keep a straight through fare to the facilities, which themselves had not been updated.
The kids soft play is still there and the new self service drinks area is a fun thing for the kids to get involved with on their visit.
With the expansion of the neighbouring hotel, the car park has also grown so parking is a doddle and like us, many people enjoyed the late evening September sun with a drink in the beer garden after their meal.
The food the important part. Right? With new menu items and a refreshed choice of daily hot plate buffet evenings you are spoiled for choice.
We shared a plate of Loaded Nachos (£7.99) to get us started. Presented as you would expect, the tortilla chips were smothered in beef chilli which was rather tasty. The portion was incredibly generous, even for 2 hungry souls. It easily could have fed 3 or 4. We chose the hot option and the chilli was lipsmacking good…. But not quite hot enough – more chillies required!
Paul opted for the Brewers Fayre best seller – the Mixed Grill (£12.99). A whopping plate of meat and chips with steak, chicken, sausage and gammon(. A choice of how the steak was cooked impressed Paul as he had expected a “you’ll get what you are given” approach which is far from what the staff offer here at Dunelm Ridge. As a confirmed meat-a-holic, he thoroughly enjoyed the hearty portion of pub grub.
I tried one of the newest and hottest additions to the menu, a Chilli Cheese Dog (£8.99). Very on trend or what, nice to see the pub chain keeping up. Jam packed and oozing with topping, the chilli was again spot on. I wimped out of trying to pick it up and made my way through the mound with a fork. The sausage was as tasty as you’d expect for a hot dog and the added toppings really bulked the dish up.
The new look burgers also looked great – we will definitely be going back to try them.
After a thoroughly decadent, traditional Treacle Tart (£4.49) with 2 spoons, we made our way out to the beer garden with a pint from the great selection of real ales – coke for me of course!
It’s pub grub at Dunelm Ridge but it is good value and good quality. You can’t go wrong.
You can view more of our Food content HERE