Sunderland Restaurant Week preview (AD)
Sunderland Restaurant Week is back and I was invited to a preview to sample some of the tasty delights on offer during a bloggers safari supper evening.*
Being a proud Geordie it’s not that often that I venture over to Sunderland for anything other than work so I couldn’t wait to see what the city had to offer.
Avid readers will know I’m a big fan of Newcastle’s Restaurant Week and food in general so when the invite popped into my inbox I could hardly wait.
What is Sunderland Restaurant Week?
It’s a similar concept to what happens in my native Newcastle.
Organised by Sunderland BID, the popular event takes place twice a year – March and September – and for 2019 it’s on from Saturday 16 to Sunday 24 March and aims to showcase the variety of outlets in the city.
There’s more than 30 restaurants, cafes and bars on board, including national chains and independent bars and restaurants so there’s plenty of choice for where to try.
There are a number of deals on offer throughout the week, starting at just £5 or multiple courses for £10 or £15, which can be redeemed by downloading a voucher at www.sunderlandbid.co.uk.
The week is sponsored by Station Taxis so for those who want to make a night of it are encouraged to download the firm’s app at www.stationtaxis.com or call on 0191 555 5555.
Or, diners can make the most of free city centre parking in council car parks after 5pm.
There’s also the usual transport links – bus and Metro too.
Champion!
Bloggers Safari Supper
The evening kicked off with welcome drinks at Ps and Qs bar and lounge before we went in smaller groups on our safari supper adventure round the city.
As I was driving I had a beautiful bubblegum burst mocktail which was adapted from the impressive cocktail menu to not have the alcohol!
Ps and Qs is really quirky with booths that you can hire out for special occasions and they even have live entertainment too.
It’s got a really cool vibe and I loved the decor and twinkly lights. This would be a great venue for date night or ladies night!
Starters
I was in group 2 so the five of us headed for starters at Revolution Sunderland. The staff were really friendly and welcoming and my gosh did they bring out a feast!
We had three different types of loaded fries, nachos, sticky chicken balls, garlic bread, and a vegan platter to get stuck into.
I tried sweet potato fries for the first time and I’m sold!
The food was all delicious and I would absolutely recommend you pay a visit to Revolution Sunderland.
I actually prefer the layout of the Sunderland Revs to Newcastle – it’s wider, there’s more room and it’s better laid out.
Mains
For our mains we headed to Victors. This was a Whetherspoon chain pub before being taken over and being revamped.
For a rainy Tuesday evening it was really busy – it was showing the football.
We were shown to a table and after a short wait the friendly waiter brought out our feast of hearty pub grub.
We tucked into a really tasty meat feast pizza, pigs and blankets, a vegan “duck” wrap, Italian burger, mixed grill, mince and dumplings and Mackem speciality panackelty.
This food is homemade and the portions are large. It’s good honest food at fair prices and I can see why it’s so popular.
The pub has a beer garden and a cocktail bar and is family friendly – I’d recommend Victor’s to families, sports fans and as a good place to start a big night out.
Dessert
We were grateful for a bit of a walk to our final destination for dessert at 808 Bar and Kitchen after stuffing ourselves all evening!
This place is really Instagram friendly – lots of pretty foliage and quirky features throughout – including a pink ladies room!
We indulged in sweet and savoury pancakes but the strawberry and nutella were my favourite!
They introduced pancakes for Pancake Day and they’ve been such a hit they are including a good range for Restaurant Week.
The pancakes were light and fluffy and they didn’t scrimp on the nutella!
Their menu is varied and we saw a few couples clearly on a date and a few booths clearly on a girls night out. I’d definitely bring my friends and the hubby here.
I have to admit I was really pleasantly surprised at what the Sunderland restaurant scene has to offer and I will be telling all my fellow Geordie pals that the Mackems are giving us a run for our money!
Sunderland Restaurant Week is the ideal time to try out the quirky bars and restaurants and discover for yourself just what the city has to offer which is a lot!
I will be back Sunderland I feel like I’ve just scratched the surface with you.
Pin this
Where would you recommend I visit in Sunderland in the future? Have you tried Sunderland Restaurant Week before? Let me know in the comments below.
*Disclaimer
This review has been written with 100% honesty.
I was not financially compensated for this post. I was invited to attend this preview evening for review purposes. The opinions expressed in this post are completely my own based on my own experience.
If you would like your company/service featured on rachaelstray.com either in the form of review, sponsored post or an advertising slot, please feel free to contact me at rachaelstray@gmail.com
Please visit my contact/work with me page for more information.
Other North East food related posts
We kick-started the 30th celebrations with Bottomless Prosecco Afternoon Tea at Hudson
See our thoughts on The Miner’s Arms Medomsley
Sweet tooth fans should check out my thoughts on R Place donuts
See what we thought of tapas at El Coto in Newcastle
Keep in touch
You can also find me on Twitter @rachael_stray
Or follow my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/rachaelstrayblog/
You can see my random pictures on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/rachys2011/
And see what I’m pinning on Pinterest https://www.pinterest.co.uk/rachaelstray/
Love that cozy corner booth! <3
That’s a great idea, trying out all those places. A sample of everything sounds great 🙂
It was a great way to discover new places. I ate so much food!!
Yummm 😋
Everything looks so delicious, especially those pancakes!
They were amazing!
‘bloggers safari supper evening’ – I love that! All these pictures and talk of food… yum, definitely made me hungry. And I LOVE the ambiance in Ps and Qs with the twinkly lights, so sweet.xx
It was such a cool place I’d definitely want to go again and work my way through the cocktail menu! X
This is amazing. I’m moving to Newcastle in about a month so it’s great to see what the North East has to offer. I really must start to look into some of this.
Ah amazing! We have so much to offer in the North East – stunning coastline, great food, shopping, drinks the lot!
I don’t love the taste of most alcohol so I really appreciate when a restaurant has good mocktails and that bubblegum one looks amazing! The food all looks delicious too, those desserts have me drooling haha.
Soph – https://sophhearts.com x
The mocktail was delicious I’d definitely recommend.
This sounds like foodie heaven! I love that you get to try lots of things from a few different places, it sounds like a great event to discover somewhere new! Your photos all look incredible too. BUT, how have you never had sweet potato fries before?! Glad you’re on board with those now 😂 x
Sophie
It really was! I know I’m not sure how I haven’t tried sweet potato fries before but they are lush!!
Any vegan options?
Yes surprisingly quite a bit on offer for vegans at all the restaurants I visited. Definitely catering more for vegans which is brilliant to see!
Woo hoo it means I can go yay 🙂
I’d definitely recommend Revolution Sunderland they had quite a bit for vegans actually 😊
Have I missed out or has it finished?
It’s actually longer than a week. It’s on until Sunday 24 March 😊 you have to go on the Sunderland Bid website to get your vouchers.
Thank you 🙂
This all looks amazing!! Those pancakes!