Sonny’s Delight
One of the things about the restaurant reviews you see in newspapers and magazines is that they are always for places like The Fat Duck which, while I would quite like to give it a go were I to become somewhat rich, are somewhat out of my price range at something like one hundred and thirty quid a head. I can only apologise therefore for being about to review an ordinary restaurant that doesn’t have things dipped in liquid nitrogen, but equally isn’t beyond the budget of most normal people.
I haven’t done a restaurant review for quite a long time (not since I wasn’t exactly impressed with the Eslington Villa, anyway). But I went to a restaurant the other night which I was sufficiently impressed with to think that it was worth sharing with you.
This was the Italian restaurant Sonny’s in Whickham. They don’t appear to have a website of their own, but you can find them on newcastle restaurant.com where it also reveals that there is another Sonny’s in Tynemouth. Oddly enough, both restaurants are in a street called ‘Front Street’ in their respective areas.
We’d been there on my wife’s recommendation, as she’d been twice before and — apparently — if you order the mussels you get an enormous great big tub thereof. She’d also described it as a ‘lovely little restaurant’ but she was concerned that it might not be doing particularly well because it hadn’t been busy either time she had been in.
So there was three adults (me, the wife, the elderly mother) and the two kids. Arriving at the restaurant, we were shown to a nice table. Unfortunately I can’t tell you much about the wine list as we didn’t really have any — bar one glass of house white. The menu however, I can give you a little more detail on as I picked up a copy on the way out…
Firstly, they offer a limited set menu, which is £9.90 for two courses. There isn’t a massive amount of choice, with only three starters and three main courses available, so we instead went à la carte.
We started with a couple of garlic bread pizzas (one with cheese, one with tomato). They were both very nice; presented pre-sliced with the slices nicely arranged. Admittedly, that’s hardly the most exciting sounding dish, but it was very nice, and the menu had offered a wider selection of starters with antipasto and gamberoni being only a couple of them on offer.
For the main course, while there was no specific kids menu (we would have just ordered one adult meal between ‘em), the restaurant were more than happy to make up kid-sized portions of the dishes. As it happened, the kids both went for spaghetti bolognese anyway.
The GLW ordered the Mussels alla champagne con pollo zuppa — mussels in a champagne and smoked chicken broth with home made chips. Now I had already heard that a large portion of mussels was involved, but even so I was quite surprised at the size of the dish. I would have tried this myself, only while I like mussels they don’t always seem to like me so I’m now generally wary of ‘em. However, I was told that it was very nice, and I can certainly attest to the fact that the pieces of smoked chicken with it were lovely.
Myself and the elderly mother both went for the Trifolata paradiscio which was simply gorgeous. This was ‘fillet beef strips with mushrooms, capsicums, Juliette pan flamed in vodka and gorgonzola cream with orborio rice’. This was also a little more expensive at £16.90 (compared to £10.80 for the mussels or £7.90 for an adult portion of spag bol..), but it was worth every penny. The sauce it was cooked in was exquisite — indeed when the waitress came over to ask if everything was okay, I made a point of telling her so.
This had an unexpected outcome: the chef came out of the kitchen and took the time to explain what was in the sauce, while I enthused about it to him. I think this made us both happy: him, that someone had enjoyed the sauce so much as to specifically comment on it and enthuse about it, and me, that he was willing to take the time and trouble to come out of the kitchen for a moment and talk to us about it.
The kids weren’t perfectly behaved, but as they were only causing a nuisance for us rather than for other diners, this was something we could live with, although it did illustrate the point that it was rapidly accelerating past their bedtime and so we decided not to stay for dessert.
The bill — not including tip — was around £55. When you consider the three adult main courses should have totalled over £40, then you had starters, food for the kids and drinks to add on top, I felt that this was more than reasonable; it was actually remarkably cheap when the quality of the food and the service is taken into consideration.
Oh, and while the restaurant wasn’t full, it was certainly not as empty as I had been led to believe (maybe about 60% full at 7:30pm?), and the atmosphere was fine — and the only other review of it I could find said that it had been packed when they had gone.
If you’re ever in Whickham, or presumably in Tynemouth, and you fancy popping out for an italian meal, I would certainly suggest that it is worth considering, particularly if you are willing to wander off the pizza/pasta trail. It’s easy enough to find!
At this point, I know some reviewers give ‘marks out of ten’ or ‘stars’ or something, but I would like to think that there is enough information in the text above to allow people work out what I thought of it without some numbers tacked on the end.
Jack's Mam says:
March 20th, 2009 at 12:42 am
Hey, what’s with this ‘elderly’ business? Grrrr!!!
1234test.com says:
August 31st, 2011 at 2:53 am
Test1234…
It’s a known truth that right knowledge can be very important when we are doing something new and even more it if is important to us….
san diego houses for rent says:
September 11th, 2011 at 8:16 am
Rentied Houses Blog…
…Having good skills you can successfully do at many more jobs while making less mistakes doing it.[...]…
sport psychologist says:
September 25th, 2011 at 4:06 pm
Blogging About Main Training For Cricket…
[...]When you have knowledge, skills and experience these are are crucial to make you happy at all things in life.[...]…
alertpay says:
October 2nd, 2011 at 9:40 am
Plug In Your Happiness…
Awesome work making this page. You are making awesome posts. Keep it coming!!…
portrait painting says:
October 4th, 2011 at 10:18 am
Started Discussion on Reviews…
[...]When you know when doing your work you will do more than when you have no ideas…[...]…
carrera gafas says:
October 23rd, 2011 at 2:05 pm
What Is Carrera Aviador…
…When you have knowledge, skills and experience these are are crucial to make you successful in any area of life.[...]…
moncler jacket women canada says:
November 1st, 2011 at 12:03 am
Shop Online And Save…
[...]When you know when doing your work you can do a lot more than when you have no skills…..
plastic surgery internet marketing says:
November 4th, 2011 at 3:14 am
Is Marketing Plastic Surgery Online Really That Hard…
[...]If you are conscious when working at your projects you will do more than if you have no ideas..[...]…
Miami plastic surgery advertising says:
November 7th, 2011 at 9:53 pm
Who Are Real Plastic Surgery Experts…
[...]The discussion started here that could be help full to readers[...]…
wayfarer ray ban says:
November 8th, 2011 at 12:02 pm
How To Find Good Ray Ban SunGlasses…
[...]When you know what is your job you can be a lot more successful than if you don’t have much skills.[...]…
dining solutions direct says:
November 8th, 2011 at 11:17 pm
Dining Solutions Direct…
[...]The discussion started here that could be help full to readers[...]…
Marketing says:
November 9th, 2011 at 11:32 pm
Everything You Have To Know About Effective Marketing Models…
[...]When you know when working at your projects you can be a lot more successful than if you have no ideas..[...]…
gucci replica says:
November 15th, 2011 at 11:27 pm
Where To Find Gucci Replica Handbag…
…If you are conscious when working at your projects you will do more than if you don’t have much skills…..
best earphoes says:
November 25th, 2011 at 6:09 pm
What Are Best Android Phones…
[...]We are absolutely sure that right skill is very useful when doing something new and especially if it’s important to us…[...]…
west virginia hat says:
December 7th, 2011 at 12:02 am
Where To Get Cheap T-Shirts…
[...]This is really cool. Thank you for writting this[...]…
submit free articles says:
December 10th, 2011 at 10:35 pm
Great Source Of Web Marketing Material…
[...]I’m not confident you are totally proper, but I can agree with the vast majority of it. Never ever forget there are other options[...]…
Sunset Cove Phangan says:
December 12th, 2011 at 9:02 pm
Best Info On Sunset Cove Koh Phangan…
[...]Awesome info that I’ve been seeking for some time! Maintain up using the superior writing.[...]…
solglasögon says:
December 15th, 2011 at 3:59 am
Billiga Solglasögon…
[...]Are you unquestionably positive this really is the suitable information. I head a thing else. You will find out extra about this topic[...]…
Beautiful Single Women says:
December 18th, 2011 at 9:05 pm
What Are The Best Methods To Meet Ladies…
[...]It’s wonderful that individuals even now know a lot about thing like that. Never ever forget you’ll find other options[...]…
funny videos online says:
December 20th, 2011 at 10:49 pm
Do You Want Real News?…
[...]I see you recognize a lot about what you are writing about. Interesting study. I got some intriguing concepts from this[...]…
Sharleena says:
December 21st, 2011 at 4:50 am
Hey, that’s a clever way of tihinnkg about it.
Atlanta Roofing says:
January 10th, 2012 at 11:07 pm
How To Find Roofing Sellers In Atlanta…
[...]Writing about a subject like that is really demanding. It really is good to know some individuals nevertheless care about this[...]…
Absolute Wealth says:
January 24th, 2012 at 1:55 pm
What Are Absolute Rights…
[...]Writing about a subject like this can be rather challenging. It really is fantastic to understand some individuals nevertheless care about this[...]…
women fragrance says:
February 4th, 2012 at 4:17 am
Perfumes For Women…
[...]It’s a known truth that right skill is very useful when doing something new and especially if it is something very important..[...]…
israeli sex says:
February 9th, 2012 at 4:23 pm
Israel And What’s Fun To Do There…
[...]Writing about a topic like this can be rather challenging. Maintain up using the great writing.[...]…
celular dual chip says:
February 10th, 2012 at 4:31 pm
Celulares Dual Chip…
[...]Writing about a subject like this really is rather difficult. I’ve just had yet another strategy pop into my mind[...]…
India Tourism says:
February 16th, 2012 at 11:10 pm
Complete Tour Of India…
[...]Are you totally confident that is the correct information. I head something else. I’ll check your web page inside the long term.[...]…
event says:
March 30th, 2012 at 11:29 pm
Real Paranormal Investigation…
[...]I see you know a whole lot about what you happen to be writing about. Fascinating study. I’ll check out your site inside the future.[...]…