The Lambton Worm

We only meant to stop briefly for lunch on our way to Edinburgh, but found delicious food made with local ingredients. It tasted like a homemade meal. If you can, give it a try.

Three of us came for lunch. I paid £16 for three 'small plates', but the portions were so generous that I couldn’t quite finish them. The customer service was excellent, the location is great, and it’s handy that dogs are welcome. I’d return.

We had an amazing stay. The rooms were clean, spacious and lovely, and the staff were friendly and very helpful. It’s also very close to Beamish museum. I recommend staying here.

The waitress was lovely, smiling and nice throughout, but the food was a mess. The potato skin starters came out burnt to a crisp and rock hard, so we sent them back. The fresh ones were all right, but still not amazing. Then the firecracker chicken burgers arrived with an awful, very vinegary sauce. The chicken wasn’t butterflied properly, and the chips were burnt. The corned beef pie was bland and dry, like cardboard, with more burnt chips. The chicken katsu curry sauce tasted sour, as if it were out of date. The chef denied it and said it had been delivered that day, but it was cold and tasted sour. We sent it back and got another corned beef pie, a completely different slice and type from the first. It looked as if it had been sitting around for ages, with pastry separated from the filling, and yet more burnt chips. The chef couldn’t take criticism and kept saying it was meant to be that way and was fine, when it really wasn’t. I wouldn’t come back.