Lunch at Elder and Wolf, Whitley Bay - Menu Review

As every great foodie in the North East knows, Whitley Bay has become a bit of a destination over the last year. The most amazing independent cafes, bars and restaurants have opened their doors all receiving glowing reviews on Trip Advisor (and we all know how difficult it is to impress people over there!) and making our tummies growl with delicious food photos on Instagram. It was only a matter of time before I headed to the coast myself to see what all the fuss is about, starting with lunch at Elder and Wolf.

A lot of people joke about how I'm yet to have a night "on the Toon" despite having lived in Newcastle for five years! Apparently it's a right of passage to get mortal on the Bigg Market before stuffing your face with a kebab.

To some the kebab is a bit of a Geordie right of passage, but I decided for my first (yep, I've never had one!) what better place to start than Elder and Wolf, winner of the Best Newcomer UK Kebab Restaurant!

We visited Elder and Wolf on a particularly grey and miserable day in the North East, fighting our way through the fog that had covered Whitley Bay we pushed our way through the doors to be greeted by the most delicious smells from the wood burning oven - we knew we were in for a treat.

The place was very busy for a wet Saturday at the coast, a true testament to how popular Elder and Wolf is, luckily they had a table for two available and we made our way through the maze of hanging greenery, colourful lights and exposed brick to our table. We immediately felt at home.

The menu at Elder and Wolf is small but an absolute dream with everything prepared using fresh local ingredients which are cooked to perfection on their wood burning oven. The temptation to cover our table in "one of everything please" was overwhelming but after seeing the size of the portions go past us we thought we'd best not be completely daft.

I ordered the Posh Lamb Kebab (£13.95) - Northumbrian Lamb served on a huge woodfired flatbread with homemade aioli, cocoa chilli sauce, salad, red cabbage, pomegranates and a side of Jalapeno Slaw. When it turned up I was amazed at its size, it was so huge it was falling off the wooden slab it came served on.

Simon was quick to point out that kebabs I'd find on a night out in the Toon were definitely nothing like this, and so I've decided that if that's the case I'm only ever going to eat kebabs from Elder and Wolf thank you very much! It was one of the best meals I've had in a long time - packed with so much flavour, beautiful tender meat and the sweetness of the pomegranates really added something special to it.

Simon decided on the Chilli Beef Taco Platter (£14.95) - three handmade tacos that came covered in chilli beef, cheese and garlic, chives and cocoa Mexican chilli sauce served with little dishes of salsa, slaw and roasted charr peppers.

Each dish at Elder and Wolf is dressed to impress, I don't think I've ever seen such colourful and eye catching food turn up at our table before and Simon's taco platter looked seriously impressive. I managed one delicious bite before he wolfed the rest down with a grin on his face and beard slightly covered in cheese!

As if we hadn't ordered enough food we couldn't resist sharing a portion of Halloumi Fries (£5.95) after hearing from so many people how good they are. Proof that you should always listen when endless people recommend something to you, they were to die for although unfortunately so filling on top of our dishes that we couldn't quite squeeze them all in (gutted!)

We were seriously impressed with our first visit to Elder and Wolf and can finally understand for ourselves why everyone has being so crazy for this special place. We don't like to follow the crowd, but Elder and Wolf fans, can we join your club please?

Find Elder and Wolf at:

171 Whitley Road
Whitley Bay
NE26 2DN

https://elderandwolf.com/