A few days before I was admitted into hospital unexpectedly, I had the pleasure of being invited to sample the menu at Marco’s, Newcastle. Marco’s is part of the Marco Pierre White Steakhouse Bar & Grill chain and is best known for its steaks (clue’s in the name). I’m not a huge steak eater so I wanted to test out whether it could cater for other tastes.
Starters
The starters menu looks delicious, with some of my favourites featuring: smoked salmon, goats cheese and the classic 1970s prawn cocktail. Unfortunately a few dishes were literally off the menu for a pregnant lady, so I went for the pork rillettes with sourdough (£8.95). FULL DISCLOSURE here, I thought pork rillettes were like pork medallions, so I was not prepared for the cold dish that arrived. Hey ho, that’s my bad. It wasn’t quite what I fancied (and I wasn’t 100% sure I was allowed to eat it) so I didn’t enjoy it as much as I could have.
If I was visiting again, I’d definitely be picking the smoked salmon (although for £9.50 for a starter, I’d hope it was a hefty portion) or maybe the crispy calamari (£8.95).
Mains
The mains menu has the usual suspects, including of course a selection of steaks, served with chips or salad (£28.95-£59 depending on cut). As I mentioned before, steaks aren’t really my bag, but I was tempted by the delicious sounding burgers. It was a close call between The American – a burger with cheese, bacon and pickled cucumber (£14.95) – and the dish I picked, wheeler’s coq and shrimp curry (£18.50).
The curry is a tasty, tangy and just the right amount of spicy dish. It was genuinely YUM. Served with rice, I think the only thing that would have improved it would be a nice crunchy poppadom for a bit of different texture.
I accompanied my main with a non-alcoholic cocktail, the strawberry and raspberry bee’s knees (£4.50), a sour fruity number. But if I go back next time I’ll take an espresso martini (£8.50).
There are a tonne of other dishes I fancied on the mains menu, in particular the steak and ale pie. You can check out everything else that’s on offer here.
Desserts
Give me a dessert menu these days and I ain’t saying no. Give me chocolate on a dessert menu and I definitely ain’t saying no. Again, it was difficult for me to choose between the dark chocolate mousse (£6.25), the crumble of the day (£6.25) and the billionaire shortbread (£7.50) but I plumped for the shortbread. If you want to see everything on offer, take a peek here.
Unfortunately, the shortbread wasn’t quite what I was expecting. It was light where I expected it to be dense and soft where I expected it to be crisp. I was hoping for a thick crunchy slab of biscuit, a smooth sweet caramel and a cool solid chocolate top. Now I did get a thick slab and a crunchy biscuit base, but the caramel was more like a crème caramel than a toffee and the chocolate wasn’t rich enough. The ice cream it came with was delicious.
Would I go back?
The all important question. Would I return? Well, I had a lovely evening with great company in a relaxed environment, which was a fabulous treat for a heavily pregnant lady. True the starter and dessert weren’t quite to my taste, but there was plenty more on that menu that I’d like to try. It is an expensive restaurant though, so I’ll be saving the a la carte for a special occasion. They do offer an early bird menu for £25, which could be a more maternity pay friendly option, and I also have my eye on the afternoon tea (£17.95).
♥ JH
We were treated to a complimentary meal in return for an honest review. Here it is!
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