Junipers at the Cavalier in Silksworth, Sunderland has been on our radar for a while, as we kept seeing tasty Facebook posts of the food served there.Ê Not having a huge appetite was the one thing that put me off a bit, because I am one of those people who, if a large plate of food is placed in front of me, I become over-faced and then don’t eat any of it.ÊLucky for me, I explained this to Paul, the Manager as soon as we arrived and he said he was happy to do smaller portions for me, which I was grateful for.
The place itself was very busy with families and groups of friends, the atmosphere buzzing with many people sitting outside in the beer garden watching their children play whilst having a drink and a bite to eat.
We sat in the conservatory with a view of the beer garden, which as it was a lovely warm night was great.ÊMenus in hand we chose starters.Ê I went for the king prawns, which were served with rice and salad.Ê I asked them to leave off the rice as I thought it would be too filling.ÊThere was five deliciously plump prawns, perfectly seasoned and the salad was lightly dressed so as not to overpower the main event.ÊHubby chose the soft boiled scotch egg, which looked delicious and was cooked to perfection.ÊCrunchy meat on the outside with perfect runny yoke in the middle.ÊBright orange in colour, the yolk was, clearly good stock.
For main course we decided to share the Chateau Briand for two, which when it came was amazing. We’d asked for it rare and rare it was. Four large, thick pieces of perfect fillet steak, seasoned perfectly and served with onion rings the size of saucers, coleslaw, fries, salad, tomatoes, mushrooms, bearnaise and peppercorn sauces. It melted in the mouth and even though there was a lot of food left over, we felt very satisfied.Ê
As hubby is a celiac Ð he asked what desserts were available and was pleased to say that there was a selection of gluten-free options on offer.Ê As we were a little full at this time, Paul offered us to take them home, which was perfect as we were off to friends’ house afterwards.ÊIt’s rare to get a light gluten-free dessert, but the chocolate cake was lovely hubby said, which Paul told us was made by the owners mum.Ê Well done David’s mum, the cake was delicious!
We washed the lovely food down with a bottle of Pinot Grigio, which was light, fresh and zingy, and a good price too.
As we left we thanked our host Paul, who is a credit to the place, and we’ll certainly be back. Homely, friendly, nice wine, cracking atmosphere and lovely food.Ê What more can you ask for?
