I’ve been really enjoying reviewing all the bottomless brunch that Newcastle has to offer recently. I mean, why wouldn’t I? What’s not to love, I have twelve on the list so far which means I get to try nice food and drinks with my friends all in the name of content and research. June saw us visiting Bar & Block which is attached to the Premier Inn near the Gate complex. It’s not a venue that really ever comes to mind and every time I walk past it looked empty so was interested to see how their bottomless lunch deal would hold up.
The bottomless brunch menu is on the more generous side of the ones we’d tried up to this point and was the first one so far to offer two courses. It’s £35 for two courses and bottomless prosecco or lager for two hours and the menu is actually very varied so there’s plenty to choose from. I went for Mac n Cheese bites to start and the open club sandwich and Dave had the Korean chicken wings and the steak sandwich. Already you had more food available in the price than Las Iguanas which was the last place we went to. Drinks wise we both opted for prosecco since it’s slightly more quaffable than beer.
As someone who was a regular to a Premier Inn when I would travel for work before the pandemic, I didn’t have high hopes for the food, but it was actually surprisingly tasty. I can’t be 100% sure the mac n cheese bites weren’t done in the microwave however I was really impressed with the club – sandwich, which was extremely tasty – the smashed avo in it was a nice touch and the chips (which came with it – no extra cost) were crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. You also had the option to add a dessert on for only £2 extra which is reasonable – I was actually quite full though so saved room for the prosecco.
The problem we had with the whole experience really was that for the majority of the two hours, we were the only people in the whole place – which felt unusual considering it was a sunny Friday afternoon. So the atmosphere, considering it’s quite a large bar/restaurant, was somewhat lacking. Also, since we were both drinking prosecco, it would have been nice if they’d just left the bottle rather than just constantly bringing us new ones (the fresh glass each time definitely felt like overkill in terms of washing up!). That said however the staff were extremely attentive and pretty much offered us more drinks as soon as, or not long after we’d finished the previous one.
I think had it been busier it would have completely changed the experience because the food and the service wrapped up in the £35 deal was actually really decent. I think the fact that they’re attached to a Premier Inn probably means a lot of people just don’t consider it as an option. As far as bars attached to hotels though, it’s one of the better ones I’ve been to.
