Newcastle's leisure sector received a huge boost recently with the opening of Victors - the city's swanky new bar and kitchen.
The high-end restaurant chain has carved out a fine reputation with sister venues in Manchester and Oxford and this new venture reflects the group’s investment in the North East.
Victors occupies a prime location on the city’s quayside by the Millenium Bridge and its deluxe offering of modern American-Asian fayre is befitting of its magnificent surroundings.
Inside, the venue offers a warm Tyneside welcome whilst the décor radiates that contemporary “WOW” factor. White-washed brick walls combine with rustic oak beams and wisteria trees to create an atmosphere of easy glamour which has to be one of the most ‘instagrammable’ restaurants in the city. Now, never did I ever think that word would enter my vocabulary!
The restaurant carries a buoyant atmosphere with throngs of couples, old friends, business folk and ladies who lunch populating the dining area.
On a late Summer’s afternoon, we quite literally sampled the last of the summer’s wine with an excellent bottle of Sauvignon Blanc to kick off whilst looking over an epic menu.
Victors offers a mix of sushi, small plates, steaks and larger plates which can be enjoyed in typical starter / main course form or as an all-out tapas style feast. We chose the latter and ordered with gusto. Dishes arrive in a steady stream of “as and when” and begun with a lovely selection of giant green nocellera olives and sourdough bread with salted butter and honey truffle.
We were advised to order three small plates per person and did so accordingly. My son Jack chose the seared scallops with pancetta jam and herb salad, the beef tataki with soy and white truffle dressing and the panko squid, enlivened by lime and BBQ Japanese mayo.
Yours truly meanwhile chose the chicken skewers with soy and sesame dressing, the shrimp tempua and the crab & yuzu tacos – something of a headline dish recommended by our server and featuring handpicked Devon crab, avocado and a tongue-tingling wasabi mayo.
These were a feast for the eyes as well as the tastebuds with each dish artfully presented in impressive fashion, drawing upon edible flowers, boutique crockery et al.
This was a meal of the highest calibre yet even for true trencherman like us, we had ordered far too much so swerved dessert.
Perhaps in true “insta-grammable” mode we did order a brace of afterdinner cocktails. Jack enjoyed the Japanese negroni, spun with Roku gin and plum sake whilst I opted for the “English Country Garden” – a gin-based treat with fresh lemon juice and elderflower tonic which fittingly evoked the splendour of British Summertime.
It would appear then that Victors has all the boxes ticked when it comes to food and drink. At this corner of Newcastle’s Quayside, the V is for victory!