Mount Pleasant, Mickley, Stocksfield, (01661) 843 146 WE VENTURED to The Blue Bell on the recommendation of friends who had been boasting of a terrific meal there. Four of us arrived last Saturday with the intention of reviewing for this page, but all had the same meal (which we thoroughly enjoyed) so decided to come again this week and do a review proper. It was Wednesday night and the pub was quite busy (we had booked a table – always a good tip for The Blue Bell), and looked forward to another enjoyable meal. We were not disappointed and there was an extra surprise in store for us too: a pub quiz after the meal with three teams – we came third! Thankfully the standard of the food was of a higher quality than our question-answering efforts. What I like first and foremost about The Blue Bell is it has maintained a “proper” pub feel to it, even though the majority of its business is on the catering side. It also boasts perhaps the best beer garden I have ever seen (see above). A lot of thought has gone into this and it’s just a pity the weather hasn’t been good enough to make full use of it. As for the food, well that’s what has made The Blue Bell the (I suspect) word-of-mouth success it is. There are no menus to choose from, instead there are blackboards around the pub with both regular meals and specials to choose from These include roasts, savoury mince, lasagne, tuna salad, salmon, chicken kiev, buttered haddock and steak and ale pie. In other words, what I would call real pub grub – and I love it! Only three of us chose starters, and my Thai fish cakes with sweet chilli dip was a fine way to begin. The battered cakes, though small, were scrumptious, and the same was true of the garlic and prawns dish. The fried Camembert is usually served as a veggie main course, but a smaller portion was given to us for a starter. Here lay the only fault in the meal – the inside was still quite hard and not the melted cheese that was expected. My dining partner was very “British” and decided not to complain. For my main course I again opted for fish cakes, and it turned out to be completely the right choice. The cakes of smoked haddock and spring onion were bursting with flavour, and were by far the best I had ever tasted. I was going to compliment the chef but discovered the cakes were actually bought in from North Shields Fish Quay. So compliments to the chef indeed for sourcing such a wonderful dish – and I may be venturing to North Shields myself to get a few for the freezer at home! The dish came with chunky chips, veg and salad (including some kiwi fruit, which was an unusual accompaniment but one which worked remarkably well). I had debated as to the fish cakes or liver and onions, and I will probably give the latter a go next time on account of my dining friend raving about it. Liver can be a toughie to get right – literally. But here was a good portion of the meat cooked perfectly – lovely and tender and oozing flavour. It came with roasties and al dente veg. A hit all round. The cheese and leek flan was home-made, brimming with flavour, and not in the least bit stodgy. Another hit was the lamb chops, which were devoured by our friend. To really enjoy chops like these you need to pick them up with your fingers and get every last morsel off them – which she did proudly! Somehow, incredibly, we all had room for dessert. The fruit crumble of the day was rhubarb and I chose to have it with custard. My eyes were bigger than my belly, as I could only manage half, but the rhubarb itself was deliciously sweet and the whole dish came out piping hot. The lemon lush was, well, lush, as two of the party discovered. Light and fluffy, it had that certain tang that all lemon dishes should – a great way to round off the meal. As was the ice cream sundae, which freshened up the palate of the discerning diner. We washed down the meal with several bottles of the Captain Cook medium dry wine, which, thankfully, leant more on the drier side. You don’t want to rush a meal at The Blue Bell. It has a lovely atmosphere, which is why when we were asked to take part in the quiz we threw caution to the wind and stayed on for a good hour and a half longer than first intended. We were strangers to this little village pub, but made to feel more than welcome. A few words of note, though. The Blue Bell does not accept credit or debit cards – so make sure you have ample cash in your pockets before dining out there. The pub has a 3pm afternoon closing, to prepare for the evening stint, and food is not served on Sunday or Monday evenings. It is a little gem of a bar/restaurant, though. A cracking find for us, and we will be heading back. (And trying to better our quiz score too!) | 
