Eating out review of The Vinery, Raby Castle, County Durham

And so it is in Teesdale, where in June, Raby Castle opened a new café that holds at least 200 diners with room for scores and scores more on the south-facing grassy slopes outside.

And so it was on a chill September Saturday, when there was a never-ending flood of people flowing through the new Vinery café, filling most tables while the blue sky and sun beguiled many dozens into braving the exterior.

The Vinery, Raby CastleIt is a huge step-up from the castle’s previous café which had tens of seats crammed into an old stableblock where all I can remember is steamed-up windows and cold, open doors as people came and went.

This is now a destination in its own right.

But it is also a little confusing for the Vinery virgin.

There were two queues, one for cold food, cakes and coffees, and the other for hot food, cakes and coffees and probably some cold food, too.

Welcome to the Vinery at Raby CastleThere was a lady telling us where to go, but people were still standing around trying to figure it all out. Some were trying to read the small blackboards which explained each dish, and a few were getting annoyed when someone more confident dived in front in contravention of the British art of polite queuing.

Some people were also standing around mesmerised by the piles of salad. With the spotlights bringing out their vivid reds, yellows and greens, the salads looked spectacularly exciting.

The salad bar at The Vinery

We came to understand that you choose a main element to your dish and then pick three of the six salads to accompany it.

I chose a grilled chicken breast; Petra, my wife, after flirting with the leek and Emmental quiche went for the sweet pea and fennel frittata, made with hens’ eggs from High Beverley above Middleton-in-Teesdale. Theo, our son, chose Mac ‘n’ Cheese.

We could have had any number of pies, quiches or sausage rolls; we could have had baked potatoes with Raby Beef or Spiced Mushroom and Lentil Ragu (£11.50); we could have had sandwiches from the pantry dresser (£5.40) or artisan sandwiches containing things like “fig, honey and whipped Mascarpone on sourdough with a pistachio crumb” (£8.75).

Then we faced the difficult dilemma of selecting our salads. In one bowl there was broccoli and green beans with things like toasted hazelnuts drizzled through it. In another, there was butternut squash and courgette with a Tahini and Zoatar dressing. Another had some plain green leaves which were juiced up with balsamic. There was a Golden Beet made of crunchy carrot, cabbage and candy beetroot. There was Heritage Tomato, which featured smashed cucumber and torn basil. There was a tomato medley – yellow, red, green and all colours inbetween – with unsmashed cucumber. There was a continental concoction of watermelon, olives and Feta…

My grilled chicken along with loads of saladAt £14, my chicken was the most expensive item on the menu. It was still nicely juicy, although not particularly hot. It was adorned with a few artful pieces of onion, but it was pretty plain. Yes, the song-and-dance of the salads all around it enlivened it, but I would have liked some sort of sauce with it.

Petra's frittata surrounded by salad

Petra’s frittata (£12) was packed with peas and potatoes and again went well with the vibrant salads, but she would have liked a spoonful of pickle or chutney to ease it along.

Theo's macaroni cheese, plus salad

Theo’s Macaroni cheese (the menu suggest £11 but we were charged £4.50) was pipingly hot and had a good cheese topping, which he enjoyed. He doesn’t specialise in salad consumption, but was quite happy with cold green beans and broccoli, although he drew the line at the sweetness of the watermelon.

We each got vast quantities of salad – two prongfuls or spoonfuls from each of the three. It was all firm, crisp and juicy, with lots of different dressings and adornments, and it was fantastically fresh. And it was a lot.

Some of the cake selection with sandwiches above

Still, Theo and I felt we could investigate the cake queue. There were traybakes from £3.50, but there were also things like top-of-the-range Basque cheesecake, or lemon meringue pie or Yorkshire curd tart for £5.50, which is expensive for a bit of cake.

The black forest rouladeHowever, from the expensive section, Theo had harboured dreams of the Black Forest Roulade from moment he set eyes on it, and it was a nice, light chocolate sponge with cherry fondant through the middle.

Salted caramel tartI joined him in the £5.50 end with a salted caramel tart, which was sweet and cold with a hint of salt but not much caramel.

For three people, with several mochas and cappuccinos and those expensive cakes, our bill came to just under £60. Raby members would get 10 per cent off.

There was still the giftshop and a brilliant model of Teesdale to explore which meant, by the end of our hobble around, there was enough time for a quick ice cream and another coffee. We sat on a bench above the gardens and grassy slopes, down which children gleefully careered, and drank in a great view over them all and the Vanes’ venerable towers of their castle.

The view from one of the benches outside the Vinery towards the towers of Raby CastleAlthough there are tweaks to the management of the experience and the delivery of the food that could be made, it was amazing to see so many people flooding in and the Vinery soaking them up. The venue and the menu have a cachet of class about them as well as a lot of quiche and Biblical proportions of salad.

The Vinery, Raby Castle, Staindrop, DL2 3AH
Website: raby.co.uk

Ratings

Surroundings: 9
Service: 7
Food quality: 8
Value for money: 8