I was recently invited to review the newly made over restaurant inside The Radisson Blu Hotel on the water front at Durham.
The new restaurant is called Collage and it’s based on the work of famed pop artist, Peter Blake. The concept is a blend of great British food with a contemporary twist – something exciting and a little bit unexpected. You can view the full menu here – there are some great options to choose from and a number of the dishes are served with ‘signature moves’ by the waiting team – definitely something that keeps diners entertained and offers great interaction too!
On arrival we were greeted and shown to our table which overlooked the river. We were brought out the menu and left for a few moments to look and choose what we wanted. After ordering a gin and tonic plus a coke we opted for the bread and olives while we took our time looking over the menu.
For mains I chose the Pan fried scallops with pea puree and crispy pancetta which was cooked to perfection. The scallops were tender and worked well with the delicate taste of the pea puree, the salt from the pancetta brought out the ‘sea’ in the scallops and i think this was my favourite course of the meal.
My +1 chose the classic Prawn cocktail with rye bread which was presented in a frosted bowl and looked like every prawn cocktail we have at Christmas time – as i said…classic!
For the main S chose Rump of lamb with black cabbage, puy lentils and mash, not usually a lentil or bean person he said it was very tasty and made a great addition to the meal. The lamb was cooked well just as he likes it and the ju was very flavourful.
I went for the Slow roasted belly pork with apple puree and mash. Delicious little slices of pork on top of a beautifully sweet apple puree with a side bowl of mash. I loved the cabbage and lentils which provided a little pop of flavour with each bite. The pork was tender and really tasty – the only thing i would have liked more of was the gravy/sauce that came with it.
I am not a dessert lover but when it comes to Creme Brulee I consider myself a connoisseur – this one wasnt the best i have ever had but it was a light and easy way to finish the meal and did give a satisfying crack when the topping was broken.
A loves a good dessert so as usual it was Sticky toffee pudding with hot toffee sauce and ice cream, nothing to complain about here but he did say there could have been a little more ice cream to keep the ratio in proportion.
Based on the taste of the food, the atmosphere and the staff we would highly recommend Radisson Blues Collage restaurant for an easy and value for money meal out in Durham.
XOXO
Debbie
We were provided with the meal for the purposes of this review. All views and opinions are our own and genuine.
