FOOD REVIEW
Michael McGeary reviews dinner at The King’s Arms in Great Stainton, on the outskirts
of Stockton – where award-winning chef Paul Bussey is cooking up his signature dishes...
Dining like Kings
A
lthough finding the King’s Arms
proved to be something of a
challenge, we eventually discovered
a gastropub that definitely deserves its place
on the North East’s food map.
It didn’t help that my wife and I headed
for neighbouring Bishopton instead of Great
Stainton, but even though this made us
slightly late, we were soon put at ease by the
warmth of the welcome on offer.
Head chef Paul Bussey and his wife,
restaurant manager Ycheng, opened their
new venture this summer with impressive
international CVs behind them, including
stints at Gordon Ramsay’s Dubai location
and London’s iconic The Ivy.
We arrived hungry and one look at the
menu had our mouths watering. I opted
to start with the seared North Sea scallops
accompanied by black pudding, pancetta
and apple vinaigrette and pea puree (£10.50).
The intense sweetness of the apple lifted the
whole dish, which was cooked to perfection.
My wife selected the Whitby dressed
crab with fennel, apple and radish salad
and brown crab mayonnaise (£10.50) – if
there’s crab on the menu, she’ll never choose
anything else. It was delicious, but she felt
the brown crab was so good that she would
have preferred a little more of it.
Ycheng reeled me in with her
recommendation for one of the night’s
specials, light-caught John Dory with a
prawn and mussel bouillabaisse and octopus
tempura (£23), and just as she promised, it
was truly superb.
My wife deliberated for some time
between her favoured saddle of lamb and
the locally shot venison with wilted rainbow
chard, chanterelle mushrooms, Medjool
dates and honey-roast black fig (£21).
Having plumped for the venison, she was
then dismayed to hear a neighbouring diner
report that the lamb was the best he had ever
tasted. However, once her own meal arrived,
any remaining disappointment vanished.
She was presented with a feast of perfectly
cooked, medium rare medallions of venison
that melted in her mouth.
Pudding rounded off a thoroughly
enjoyable evening in tasteful, understated
surroundings. For me, a white chocolate and
raspberry cheesecake with raspberry ripple
ice cream, while my wife selected an almond
and apple tarte Tatin with almond ice cream.
We were asked to wait patiently while the
tarte Tatin was cooked to order. Although it
completely delivered on flavour, the portion
size was more than generous and could have
satisfied both of us!
We finished the evening with the best
Railtown coffee and vowed to come back
to try some of the other dishes on offer–
with the King’s Arms classic fish pie with
parmesan crust and shellfish cream looking
to be an especially attractive offering from a
chef who clearly has such a flair for cooking
seafood dishes.
Ycheng told us that as well as being
popular with locals, they are also attracting
customers from Darlington, Stockton
and Newton Aycliffe. With dishes of this
standard, it won’t be long before foodies
from further afield make tracks for Great
Stainton to seek out the fare on offer.
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