Route is a great addition to the Quayside - a trendy, romantic interior and a creative menu. My…read morehusband and I came for an extremely rare date night last weekend. We started with sprout fritters and a roast chicken and black pudding terrine. The terrine was great - sounded a bit strange but I'm so glad we went with it. Rich and savory with the truffle mayo and crisp toast alongside. You could really get the truffle flavour. The sprout fritters were nice, but there wasn't much to them - I was expecting/hoping for chopped up sprouts mashed together in a cake, but this was literally massive brussels sprouts cut in half and fried. They were tasty enough with the harissa mayo, but not something I'd go out of my way to order again.
For larger plates, we shared the Shetland scallop with apple and smoked eel, the ray with brown butter, and the ribeye of pork with crispy parsnips. Everything tasted great - I think the ray was my favourite, as it was cooked exquisitely. The fish just flaked off the bone, and the raisins and capers added a necessary zing. The scallop was huge and cooked beautifully, but my husband was incredulous that there was only one scallop for £12.50. Admittedly you do get apple puree, two pieces of smoked eel, and some sunchoke, but it did seem an expensive dish. The apple was a nice constrast to the rich, buttery scallop. The pork was the least memorable - as I am sat here only 2 days later struggling to remember it - but I remember the meat being well-cooked, and that I enjoyed the curry sauce but wasn't knocked out by it.
Dessert was a gooey chocolate fondant thing, with a small dollop of ice cream. I was amazed that I enjoyed it, as I normally find such desserts unbearably rich, but somehow, this one didn't overwhelm me and it was delicious. They have a great wine selection and a few interesting beers for those so inclined. The staff were friendly and happy to give recommendations. They were chatty and open, which always surprises me when dining in the UK as I find service here generally a bit more removed. The restaurant was busy on a Friday night, but happily the service was perfectly-paced. Dishes came out one at a time, so you could really enjoy them. Our table didn't get full of food, so we weren't overwhelmed. That made a really big difference, I think. Felt like a six-course meal! Overall most of what we had was very good, and any missteps weren't bad, just occasionally uninspired. But I'd happily come back, because the menu changes often and restaurants like this are rare in Newcastle.
