The Lindisfarne Inn is situated in the hamlet of Beal, just five miles south of the town of Berwick Upon Tweed and ten miles south of the border to Scotland. A former coaching Inn, it stands on a corner site with the A1 to the front and to the side the road to The Holy Island of Lindisfarne. This Inn offers rooms to stay in, a restaurant and a cosy bar. It’s restaurant and bar are open to non residents. We visited on a Sunday for lunch with our five year old granddaughter.
The Inn has a reasonable sized car park, situated at the side, facing the road to Holy Island. We did find it a little confusing as there appears to be just one entrance and exit just one car width.
We entered through the closest entrance to our car, it did involve some steps which I found a little difficult (as I have some mobility issues) but nevertheless we were soon at the Reception area which directly faces the restaurant. It is worth mentioning that at the side of the hotel there is a well signposted Main Entrance, but this too involves steps before a level access. At the front of the Inn there is a level, ramped access though this is not beside the car park, people can be dropped off here, but it is on the A1 slip road.
The restaurant serves food throughout the day, breakfasts, lunches dinner snacks so as it is placed on the A1 it is a good place to stop when travelling.
We had reserved a table and were soon shown to our seats. The restaurant has wood tables and chairs, the walls are part open brick, part wood panelling. It is well lit and light also streams in, through the windows which line two walls. The atmosphere is homely and friendly.
Food ordering is done at the bar by the customer. The restaurant uses seasonal and local ingredients. The menu offered a good variety. We did not want a starter so went straight to the main course. I chose the vegetarian option Pan Haggarty at £9.95 which turned out to be a very generous sized portion and tasty, but perhaps I could have done with a bit more of the advertised infused thyme. My husband chose the Sunday Lunch option – Roast Beef. There was a choice of standard or light portion, he chose the light portion at £7.95 and thought that it was still a good size meal with plenty of beef which he said was good and tasty. Our granddaughter ordered from the kids menu which I thought was good value for money – two courses for £6.50, she enjoyed Pizza, mashed potatoes and peas followed by sticky toffee pudding and ice cream. Hubby and I didn’t want a dessert, but there was a good menu choice.
We drank soft drinks which were reasonably priced. The wine list looked good and the bar also had a good selection of spirits, lagers and beers including local and craft beers.
The restaurant was busy, but the service was good. We did not wait too long for our meals and they were served with a smile. What would have been welcome would have been some crayons and paper to occupy our granddaughter whilst we waited for the meal.
The Lindisfarne Inn is child friendly and pet friendly. It lies on the new Sandstone Way and the Coast and Castle Cycle route. It is beside the walking trails of St Oswald and St Cuthbert. For cyclists there is a secure cycle storage area (at no extra cost). The causeway to The Holy Island of Lindisfarne is just minutes away by Car, as is the Elizabethan walled town of Berwick Upon Tweed. The Lindisfarne Inn is well located for visiting the castles of Northumberland such as Holy Island Castle, Bamburgh,Dunstanburgh Warkworth and Alnwick to name just a few of North Northumberland’s castles. Other attractions such as The Alnwick Garden, and Cragside House are within easy reach as well as the beautiful countryside and coastline that Northumberland offers.
“Lindisfarne Inn”:http://www.lindisfarneinn.co.uk/
