Last updated: January 14, 2024
The Roxburgh is Whitley Bay’s best kept foodie secret.
You’ve probably walked past the restaurant on Roxburgh Terrace in Whitley Bay a hundred times before and never known what magic is being conjured up inside – mainly because during the week the shutters are down. But come the weekend, this cult foodie hangout is producing dish after dish of incredibly well executed plates of locally sourced goodness.
Fridays and Saturdays offer up just one option and that’s the set five course tasting menu – each course perfectly executed and exquisite in flavour – let’s be honest, when it comes to Whitley Bay, there are plenty of great restaurants, but many that offer a bit of fine dining.
Among the delights, we feasted on light as air and beautifully flavoured whipped smoked cods roe on crisp bread with sorrel and borage. With very subtle roe the sharper tasting sorrel and less offensive pretty flowers of the borage were a fabulous combo and gave the dish a ten out of ten for presentation.
Marfona potatoes grown in Warkworth (about 40 minutes up the coast from Whitley) were served with creamy creme fraiche, fresh chives from the garden, and a thinly sliced lardo which had an incredibly distinctive meaty flavour profile for its transparent ribbon-like appearance. Avruga caviar added some nice contrasting texture.
40-day salt aged Limousine Beef Sirloin from Durham was served up with 14-hour cooked short rib – a divine offering of beef that pleased the palate all round. The sweetcorn madeline it was served with had the fork darting all over the plate to pick up the mashed up goodness of sweetcorn, tomato concasse, cannellini bean and spinach. Whether you like mushrooms or not, you’ve got to love the fact that the sprinkling of fairy ring mushrooms were locally foraged (from the Whitley Bay garden) and appear in many of The Roxburgh’s dishes.
Strawberry Soup with basil ice cream (one of the best things I’ve ever eaten!) was served with bite-sized Swiss Meringue treats and ‘The Stoners Delight’ Vol.3 (White chocolate parfait with chocolate delice and cocoa crumbs) was perhaps one of the tastiest desserts I’ve ever had. I’m yet to work out why!
All washed down with the best Old Fashioneds (maple syrup is the way forward!) and a bottle of juicy Beaujolais, our parting gift was a pair of over sized retro cola bottle made in house which just summed up this meal perfectly. Unexpected, enjoyable and nostalgic with a modern twist.
I won’t go into detail on the décor – it’s not important because the star of the show is most definitely the food. The menu changes every six weeks and there are only nine tables. That’s your cue to make that booking. Here.
