Over the past five years the French Quarter has established a brilliant reputation for serving great quality French food served in a lovely relaxed setting.
This wonderful restaurant is the brainchild of genial host Cedric Bo-Ho and his wife Catherine who have gifted their knowledge of this beautiful cuisine to the great people of Newcastle.
My wife and I are huge fans of all things French having enjoyed many holidays on the Cote D’Azur and we had looked forward to visiting this local gem for some time.
The venue is located within Newcastle’s trendy railway arches and the team have created a stylish space with bare wood, bicycles and splashes of green whilst daily specials and “Wines of the Moment” adorn the walls.
Lisa opted to order from the business lunch menu which at £20.95 for three courses is phenomenal value.
In the interest of research I ordered from the extensive a la carte menu which offers small plate tapas form dishes with a variety of charcuterie, meat, fish and vegetarian options to be shared across multiple courses.
Lisa kicked off with a sumptuous chicken liver pate which she pronounced as delicious whilst I devoured crushed black olives flavoured with garlic, parsley and chilli. Magnifique!
If the starters were great then the mains were no less so. Lisa enjoyed a hearty chicken supreme, served with mashed potatoes and a tarragon sauce whilst I tackled an old favourite, Ratatouille, as well marinated king prawns served with aioli sauce.
After a suitable comfort break we even found room for dessert, a mouthwatering crème brulee for me and a scintillating chocolate mousse for Lisa.
We washed down all courses with a very agreeable bottle of Chateau Sainte Marguerite before rounding off a great afternoon with a round of coffees and liquers.
The French Quarter comes with the highest of Northern Insight recommendation and a return visit will certainly be one of our New Year resolutions. The perfect experience for those cold afternoons and dark winter nights.