Traköl, Newcastle

My graduation dinner was long awaited for. I booked Traköl 3 months in advance, and it became one of my most anticipated evenings of the summer holidays. My mum and I visited Traköl when it first opened, and long before it featured in any food reviews or magazines, let alone Waitrose’s highly-subscribed monthly magazine (!) and I have been dreaming about their charred padron peppers, whole charcoal cauliflower and tahini ever since.

So, it was one of my greatest pleasures to take my whole family there (the first time they had all visited Newcastle together) on the most lovely, sunny evening on the river. We had a gorgeous view over the Tyne and onto the hustle and bustle of the Quayside on the other side. One of the attractions of Traköl is its minimalist, Scandinavian architecture and design, which echoes its mantra of simple, primitive methods of open fire cooking, using local and seasonal ingredients.

Traköl are renown for their abundant sharing feasts, featuring salt-baked sea bream and a whole pigs head! However, as incredible as these looked, we didn’t feel quite indulgent enough to share those and instead each chose different mains so that we could try as many options on the menu as possible. For starters, we had baked Lindisfarne oysters, with a tomato and worcester sauce and bacon bits, which were very different to raw oysters but absolutely unique and delicious. We also had the sea trout ceviche, which my dad was particularly impressed by as the sea trout was wild not farmed - a rarity. This was served with the freshest of garden peas and watercress, as well as a fried curry leaf mayonnaise. What an innovative and delicate dish!

For mains, most of us ordered fish. I had the plaice which was whole, served in a bath of vegetable broth and sea vegetables. The fish slid off the bone with such ease and elegance. Although delightfully moist on its own, the broth was a lovely, flavoursome addition that you could use to baste the meat of the fish and the vegetables were also delicate and perfectly salty. I had this alongside the anticipated padron peppers, which were as delicious as I remembered. One of the most popular orders from the menu is the steak which comes with a gigantic slab of bone marrow. This is rather unexpected as when the menu features bone marrow, this usually comes in the form of a sliver to compliment the meat, rather than feature alongside it. Our family is particularly keen on bone marrow, so this was an absolute delight for the eyes and tastebuds. Another highlight was the summer courgettes and squash, which came with the sweetbreads. I absolutely love squash and find it is so underrated and underfeatured and so usually devour it with the utmost pleasure, when it is in season.

I am happy to say that Trakol not only lived up to but topped expectations and I wasn’t surprised, considering the remarkable reviews and attention it has received lately by the most esteemed of food critics and press. However, it is certainly a place for occasion, as the meal was far from cheap! The perfect place to celebrate and indulge for a particularly memorable life-event, such as this one…

#Fresh #Seasonal #Healthy #Newcastle #Dining #Trakol #ByTheRiverBrewCo