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Bdaily visits Durham’s Mrs Mustard

Bdaily was recently invited to Mrs Mustard, a new restaurant in the historic surroundings of Durham’s Saddler Street. The eatery takes its inspiration from a former Saddler Street resident, Mrs Clements - the woman behind English mustard. Her first name remains a mystery, however she is credited with concocting the best-known recipe for the stuff, sometime in the 18th century.

So, in honour of this unsung hero of British cuisine, Mrs Mustard now stands as a modern restaurant in the heart of scenic Durham City. The format is somewhere between upmarket gastro-pub and relaxed restaurant. The traditional shop facia is inviting, and leads into a smart bar area, and onto two open dining rooms, humming with conversation. We were seated in the smaller dining room perched above the river, with great views of the rowing boats meandering along.

To the menu, and it’s a great one. Our 2pm table gave us chance to sample the lunch offering, which is chock-full of really tasty plates and offers just the type of food you want when eating out - from steaks, steak sandwiches, flatbread pizzas and roasts; to big salads, pies and beyond. Don’t let the breadth here put you off; all the dishes that wizzed passed our table looked excellent. Some of the most interesting choices included bacon and black pudding salad with poached egg and sautéd potatoes; smoked haddock scotch eggs; and pickled pear, walnut, rocket and blue cheese salad. We chose a couple of dishes from the small plates section to start with, and a main meal too.

We’d opted for a portion of battered whitebait, which was excellent. Given a little drizzle of lemon, and a quick dip in the fresh garlic mayo, these bites could have kept us quite happily occupied for the entire meal. It was a similar story with the deep-fried cauliflower with curried mayo. Chunks of cauliflower, lightly battered with a delicious curry dip.

Onto the mains, and here we looked forward to the arrival of fillet steak, and a flatbread pizza. The steak was a total winner; a prime piece of meat, beautifully cooked to order and full of flavour. On the side: heaped rocket and watercress salad, and bowl of thin-cut chips. Of course, it was mandatory to sample some of the homemade mustards on offer. The cider one in particular was interesting , but to be honest, the steak was so good it didn’t need it. The flatbread pizza, was delivered on a huge chopping board, loaded with fresh toppings. While fantastic, even a two-man effort was thwarted on the pizza, and we resigned to taking it home with us. Here, the staff could not have been more accommodating, and the relaxed atmosphere meant we felt comfortable in clutching our foil package on the way out.

Mrs Mustard is a great spot for a no-fuss eating out experience, ideal for when you’re looking for something a cut above a pub-grub, but don’t fancy putting on your Sunday best. Ideally situated in the lovely surroundings of Saddler Street, it also made a great excuse for a post-dinner wander through the City.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .