Monday is a dreaded word to most people with 9-5 jobs, in Newcastle it mostly consists of grey skies, traffic and roadworks. Me and the partner decided to take a lovely lunch out in Newcastle, to break the monotony up, and boy did it brighten our day. Unfortunately it started off with a bit of a disaster, we had booked in to the restaurant next door called The Sausage Emporium...... which we ended up walking out of.
We were greeted in Sausage Emporium with four members of staff standing around chatting, one of them reluctantly came over and showed us to a table upstairs. Safe to say they definitely had a relaxed attitude and weren't in a rush for anyone, unlike most of the customers who were trying to cram in a working lunch in the middle of their hectic rat race lives.
Upstairs was okay, a bit bland, with half the tables taken, but as we sat there staring at the dull menus we couldn't help but realise that everyone had either only a drink on their table or nothing at all. Staff didn't come to serve us at all in 25mins, and we eventually realised that everyone else were waiting too, or waiting for the food they had ordered. For 25mins not one member of staff came to take our order, or anyone else's for that matter, not even for a drink and not one meal was served in the restaurant. So disappointing, I'll never attempt to go back in there again, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. On another point after analysing the menus over and over again, I can confirm that anyone who leads a healthy nutritious diet and for anyone who is on a health kick, do not attempt to eat at The Sausage Emporium. If the name didn't give it away, the menu is loaded with processed meats, white bread and greasy sides.
So we walked out of there, leaving everyone else behind looking miserable and fed up. Not us...not when I'm hungry!
We took a chance and went next door to the Herb Garden, I've always wanted to eat in there, just because there a massive wooden horse outside.
The smell was divine as we walked in, chefs to the right of you cooking the stone baked pizzas and watching them make true master pieces (or pizza's)! The waitress was just lovely, really bubbly, kind and gave us loads of attention. Explaining the menu thoroughly and even giving me options when I told her I was trying to be healthy. I went for the Super Sexy, Super Healthy, Superfood Salad and added chicken to it, the partner had a Spicy Pepperoni, Garlic, Mozzarella, Basil Pizza. My salad was humongous! And filled me right up until 7pm that night, when normally salads have me snacking all day. The salad was stuffed with super delicious ingredients including alfalfa sprouts, seeds, spinach, a pic-a-mix of pure health, even with edible flowers on the top! It was a beautiful dish, and certainly didn't look better then it tasted (which normally happens with healthy food). My partners pizza, looked lovely, freshly made and not heavy like American style pizzas, this was light, but filling and not greasy.....just how pizza's should be! The stone baked style gives it such a wonderful taste to it, and he said he wants to go back to try the rest!
On a health rating, because of their great selection of salads, the staff are so welcoming, they don't mind when they are asked to add or take ingredients away from their dishes and cater for various intolerance's/allergies id give it a well deserved 5/5. Yes they do pizzas, but they are not greasy, double stuffed crust, deep pan gut abusing pizzas, they also do a vegan pizza which I can't wait to try, and because they don't use much cheese on their dishes (you can always ask them to not add it, don't knock it i think pizzas taste even better without it), also they don't deep fat fry things, this is a perfect place to have a healthy satisfying meal. Tasting exotic ingredients but also watching the waistline is very easily possible here!
Rating (Out of 5)
Quality of Food *****
Food Variety ****
Cater for intolerance's/allergies *****
Health rating ****
Restaurant & Staff *****
Cost ****
Here's a pic of my beautiful salad.....but it doesn't do it justice! And didn't quite get a picture of the pizza, as the partner gobbled it too quickly.
No comments
Post a Comment