The views are worthy of a course of their own, especially on a dazzlingly bright summer evening.
Windows on the Tyne at the Hilton Hotel, Newcastle Gateshead pretty much has pole position when it comes to location. Vast windows frame a waterside and cityscape view and the magnificent Tyne Bridge makes for a dramatic backdrop to your evening.
Our showcase gourmet evening started in some style with drinks and canapés at the fifth floor executive lounge where you need to do little more than gasp at that fine view.
Locals might not have made the most of this gem of a hotel yet, thinking it’s for dressy functions and out of town stays but the whispers are spreading and increasing numbers are gathering for the popular afternoon teas and cocktails which come with that view.
Supper Club is about showcasing the skills of the kitchen and inspirational, seasonal ingredients.
Chef Micky Nosk served up a six-course dinner with courses full of wit, style and detail.
Starter was a timbale of salmon rillette with pickled cucumber and radish.
A coarse pate-style mound of mixed smoked and fresh salmon was soft and sweet beneath a layer of rich and decadent seasoned butter.
The sharp slithers of pickled cucumber and perky radish were the ideal fresh counter to the richness of the rillette.
We ate this with a well-chosen crisp Sancerre before moving on to the next course, a silky and sweet butternut squash soup, bold in colour and taste, a mouthful of intense flavour with a crunch of toasted pumpkin seeds on top.
The main meat course was canon of lamb served beautifully pink with a traditional accompaniment of ratatouille of vegetables, those summery Provencal favourites of tomatoes and peppers. Adding a summery green flash to the plate was a soft frothy pea mousse and some bite-perfect asparagus. Fondant potatoes, one of those dishes that only seems to work in a restaurant, invited your knife to glide through with ease.
The perfect wine pairing for this dish – Chateauneuf du Pape, borne from sunny soil matched the Med flavours perfectly.
Our dinner was followed by a zesty apple trio. This brought to the table a try-me platter of dessert pleasure featuring a mini apple and cinnamon cheesecake, apple crumble and hit your senses green apple sorbet.
Then rounding off the summer experience on a plate, a – probably unwise – cocktail of elderflower liqueur, champagne, gin and strawberries. Naughty but so nice.
Windows on the Tyne Restaurant
Hilton Hotel Newcastle Gateshead
www.hilton.com/newcastle
