Bridge Street is in the centre of Berwick it provides access to the River Tweed and the beautifully preserved Elizabethan Town Walls. The street is filled with ancient buildings which house independent retailers, cafe’s and restaurants. Amongst the restaurants is Audela where we enjoyed a lovely lunch.
Audela focuses on creating good quality British Meals at a reasonable price, from the best locally produced seasonal ingredients. Northumberland and the Scottish Borders has an excellent food larder from its coast and countryside and Audela’s website lists the sources of the ingredients it uses to create its menu.
The restaurant was given the name Audela as a reminder of Berwick’s small but important maritime history – the last vessel to be built in Berwick’s shipyard was called Audela, it sailed from the Tweed in 1979.
Audela is open from around 9.30 am to 9pm, it serves Northumbrian breakfasts, lunches, dinner, afternoon tea, as well as snacks.
Bridge Street Public Car Park is close by, (less than a two minute walk), alternatively the town’s Hoppa bus Service can drop you off and pick you up at Bridge Street Car Park.
The restaurant is all ground floor, entering direct from the street, which is useful for those with mobility problems. An array of mouth watering home baking is displayed on a long counter which immediately catches the eye as you enter the building.
When we arrived the restaurant was busy, we had not made a reservation but we managed to get a table. The waitress greeted us, she gave us a typed paper menu, explaining it was typed out because it changed each day because the restaurant used seasonal local produce, the menu being created by what good fresh ingredients are available that day.
Our menu, not surprisingly, considering the coastal location of the town, contained a lot of fish, Salmon, Berwick Crab, Eyemouth Haddock, Craster Kippers, Trout, and varied in price from £6.95 for Craster Kipper with lemon and parsley butter and toast to a Seafood Platter at £15.95, but there was also meat dishes such as Sirloin Streak from a local farm at Fenwick, Borders Hare, Chicken, Bacon, Pork which varied in price from £7.95 to 19.95. Local cheeses featured in other dishes as did local eggs. There was vegetarian options too such as Rissoto of Garden Pea, Mint and Courgettes. There was soup of the day, sandwiches, toasties and sides of mixed leaf salads,, chips and onion rings.
For a starter I wanted something light so rather than order from the Starter Menu I ordered from the Side menu -Mixed Leaf Salad £2.25. My salad was lovely, fresh, crisp with a variety of leaves and a rather nice lemon dressing. Slices of apple were also added.
My main course of Eyemouth Smoked Haddok, locally produced potatoes, baby spinach, poached egg and hollandaise sauce at £8.95 was beautifully presented, tasted absolutely wonderful and was incredibly filling.My husband’s Seafood Platter of Berwick Crab, Smoked Haddock Smoked Salmon with salad and bread (£15.95) he said was delicious. Although the range of deserts looked tempting our plentiful meals allowed no space for desert.
For those who like afternoon tea, this was advertised at 11.50 per person.
The restaurant is decorated mainly in cream with quality, comfortable furnishings. Although busy when we visited it still had a relaxed atmosphere. It is conveniently located for car parking, and the facilities of the town centre, riverside walks, or a walk along the Elizabethan Town Walls, from which there are some magnificent coastal and riverside views.
