Northumberland Park

Northumberland Park Station has only been knocking around for the last 10 years or so, so in Metro terms is relatively new. It was built to service the ever growing Northumberland Park housing estate and was the first new station to be built after the Sunderland expansion in 2002. It’s a popular commuter station offering good links into Newcastle on the yellow line with a massive car park to boot.

Come out of the station and turn left down Algernon Drive. Once you reach the end of the street you’ll see The Pavilion pub across the other side of the busy dual carriageway. The Sir John Fitzgerald pub chain seem to have the market sewn up when it comes to pubs near metro stations as the own the Pavilion, along with the Twin Farms at Bank Foot and the New Bridge at Manors.

I dragged Ang along on this visit as she lives round that way and we were long overdue a catch up and her arm usually takes minimal twisting to get into a pub. We went on a Sunday afternoon and I was nervous it would be heaving with families tucking into their Sunday dinner. While it was busy it wasn’t overwhelmingly so and we found a nice high table to tuck into our bottle of Pinot Grigio (£15). They also have a wide variety of cask ales and Peroni on tap, which is a refreshing change from constantly seeing Carling and Stella.

The decor is modern yet comfortable with a good range of ordinary tables, high bar tables and low sofa style seats. There’s a fully stocked square bar in the centre of the room which you can also sit around if you just wanted some casual drinks, and the bar staff are extremely friendly. In fact my stomach thought my throat had been cut as I waited ages for my drink while Ang chatted to the barmaid about their favourite rums.

The only downside of the Pavilion I would say is it’s very much a food pub erring on the side of being a full on restaurant and as such doesn’t feel like it’s all that well equipped as a session pub. Perhaps it’s different mid week or on a Friday night, but for me there’s just a tad too much open space and not enough nooks and crannies to feel like somewhere you;d go to while the hours away with your mates, no one likes a group of giggling wine soaked lasses while they’re trying to enjoy their burger board!

Find out more about the pubs we’ve visited on our adventure here.