St Mary's Inn Stannington | Saturday Lunch Menu Review (with kids)

*This is a collaborative post

I've visited St Mary's Inn a fair few times in the past and even stayed over for two nights during New Girl in Toon and Simon's wedding celebrations (Mrs Cool doesn't want to mention the fact that I took advantage of staying over and sampled one too many of the pub's fine ales during the pre-wedding dinner so we'll brush past that point). Anyway, I've always been a fan of the place and was disappointed to hear that it had closed for a year while the surrounding building work was able to gather pace. That didn't last long though and St Mary's Inn is now very much open and back in business again. We were invited over to sample their family lunch options last weekend.

Local lad Chris Cheek is the inn's new head chef and that isn't the only change we noticed. Notoriously difficult to find, St Mary's Inn is now very well signposted from the A1. Simply follow the signs. Drive past Whitehouse Farm and continue along the road for a mile or so and you won't miss it. As you enter the new housing estate, remember to bear left. 

The building is as welcoming as ever with super friendly staff who actually greet and acknowledge you, even when they're busy, real fires, plenty of cosy corners and dogs are welcome too. The main part of the restaurant where we have dined in the past seemed to be closed off (or at least nobody was sitting there) but as everyone was seated in the front part of the pub, there was a lovely buzz in the air and it had a real community/local feel to it.

We ordered our drinks (for some reason they don't serve 'full fat' soft drinks here - not sure if this is due to the sugar tax or they'd run out) and Mrs Cool was pleased to see you could order a Merlot by the glass. Lunch is available from 12noon on Saturdays and we decided to book a later table at 2pm so we could fill our boots before a trip to Durham to watch their panto. As mentioned above, St Mary's Inn is just off the A1 so an ideal place to stop for lunch if you're travelling around the North East. 

The kids menu is very good value at £6 for 3 courses. The kids all ordered Garlic Bread to start and got cracking with their St Mary's Inn colouring in competition while Mrs Cool went with the Crispy King Prawns with Mango Salsa and Sweet Chilli Sauce (£8.50) and I ordered the Mackerel Pate with Pickled Fennel on Sourdough which was a steal at £6. 

We all devoured our starters which were beautifully presented and provided flavour combinations not typically seen on pub menus. Mrs Cool highly rated the mango salsa and king prawn combo.

Onto our mains and the kids went with Fish and Chips for Jack, Chicken Nuggets for Harry and Pizza and Chips for recently-turned vegetarian Heidi. The nuggets and fish and chips seemed to be freshly prepared but I can't say the same for the pizza. Not that the kids cared, they all completely cleared their plates. You'd think we never feed them sometimes. Their meals really were great value at 3 courses for £6. Other main options for kids include Sausage and Mash and Bacon & Mushroom Pasta. Harry is that awkward age now where we never know to order him a kids meal or a grown-ups meal. 3 courses from the kids menu filled him here so we got it right on this occasion. 

As we were going for three courses, Mrs Cool wanted a lighter options for main and chose the Chicken and Bacon Club Sandwich. Sandwiches are served until 3pm daily and they aren't shy on their fillings. At £7.50 you get a lot of sandwich for your money. Mrs Cool was very happy with her choice and was pleased to see plenty of mayo and bacon inside of the toasted bread - often the parts that restaurants scrimp on. 

I had my eye on the Bacon Loin Chop with Handcut Chips, Pineapple Salsa and Poached Eggs. Normally when you order this kind of dish, you can choose wither Pineapple or Egg so I was chuffed to see that both were included. At £12 I thought this dish offered excellent value with perfectly cooked chips, eggs which still had runny yolks and hadn't been overdone and the pineapple salsa cut through the saltiness of the bacon chop perfectly. This felt like a proper pub lunch to me. 

The staff at St Mary's Inn are all really lovely and made the effort with the kids which was nice to see. It really makes a difference when the staff go above and beyond. The lady serving our table was lovely and even let the kids choose their own magic pea and bean spoons and brought Heidi over a magical 'Unicorn' colouring pencil.

After a bit of a rest, it was onto desserts. Children can choose either Chocolate Brownies or Ice Cream. The boys went with brownies and Heidi stuck with chocolate ice cream. Their brownies looked delicious but as usual, I wasn't allowed to try.

Mrs Cool has expensive tastes and could not resist Cherry and Almond Steamed Sponge Pudding with Custard. At £7.50 I think this is a little on the pricy side but Mrs Cool declares it was worth it so I'll just have to take her word for it. 

I opted for the more reasonable Lemon Posset (£6) which was elevated and taken to another level with the genius addition of honeycomb. I highly recommend this dessert and although it didn't have as much sharpness as I'd have liked, the whole combination was a great way to end my meal. 

We left St Mary's Inn even a little bit more in love with one of our favourite countryside pubs. I love that it's the kind of place you can pop in for a local pint and a chat by the fire (they sell homemade bar snacks too), enjoy a sandwich or a quick bite to eat over lunch for under a tenner or go all out and enjoy a special three course meal using fantastic local ingredients with dishes cooked and presented to a high standard. Whatever the reason for your visit, you'll be sure to receive a warm welcome and it's the ideal place to pop into for a bite to eat with the kids after a trip to nearby Morpeth or Whitehouse Farm.  

Like chatting about food? Why not join my North East Restaurant Reviews Facebook group here. It's a place to share your own mini reviews and ask others for recommendations.

Well, that's all for now.

S

You can find out more about St Mary's Inn, browse menus and book a table/room online here.

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