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The New Theatre Restaurant
High Street West
Sunderland SR1 1HT
Tel: 0191 567 0611
www.theatrerestaurant.co.uk
Do you fancy a different kind of night out? That\\\'s the question that I posed to my other half a few weeks ago. It was coming up to our anniversary so I thought we could arrange to do something on the night of the said occasion.
Now it just so happened that our anniversary coincided with the opening night of a production called \\\'Motown Mania\\\' - a celebration of 50 years of Motown - at The New Theatre Restaurant in our home town of Sunderland. My other half, (being older than me :0) ) grew up listening to the dulcet tones of Diana Ross, The Commodores and The Four Tops and has always had a penchant for that type of music. It seemed quite fitting that within a few weeks of him celebrating his 50th birthday he could celebrate Motown\\\'s 50th year too.
So, I called the restaurant to make the booking. Cora-Anne, the new owner of the establishment since November 2008, took my call and explained that for 24.95 per person we would be treated to a 3-course meal and live entertainment in the form of a stage production. To ensure we got the food we wanted on the night, the menu for the event is available on the website, www.theatrerestaurant.co.uk, so that you are able to pre-order your three courses, then sit back, and wait for the night to arrive.
Whatever the production, the menu for the 3 courses is published at least a week prior to the commencement of the run of the show. There are three choices per course, including a vegetarian option. The hard part for \\\'Motown Mania\\\' was choosing... all of it sounded delicious! In the end, for starter, I opted for caramelised onion soup and the hubby chose southern fried, coated chicken wings. For main course, I went for the chicken breast with rice, whilst Michael plumbed for the braised steak and vegetables. Dessert was a \\\'stick a pin in a piece of paper\\\' exercise, as we couldn\\\'t choose - apple pie with cream, toffee and apple crumble or rich chocolate fudge cake? Decisions, decisions! It was the latter that we missed out on, with both of us siding with the two desserts made with the forbidden fruit! For a supplement of just 1.49 a cheeseboard was also on offer - for once though we resisted the temptation!
Finally, having deliberated over our choices, our order was placed with Cora-Anne on the Monday night and we eagerly awaited our Saturday night out that coming weekend.
Saturday arrived and as it was our anniversary, after very little arm-twisting, I was easily persuaded to leave the car at home in favour of a taxi. At 7.15pm, we were dropped off right outside the door; one of the few places in town where a car can actually do that these days! As we entered the premises, we were directed through some doors and advised to take the stairs up to the next floor. I noted that there was also a lift allowing for disabled access... maybe I\\\'d need that on the way down!
As we mounted the stairs, we could hear the nearing melodic strains of The Temptations filling the room ahead with probably their most famous tune, \\\'My Girl\\\'. Michael\\\'s smile reached his eyes... before we\\\'d even reached the room which was to play host to us for the evening, he was clicking his fingers and singing along! A sign of things to come.
The top of the stairs opens out into a small bar area and it was here where we were greeted by Denise Johnson, the Theatre Restaurant\\\'s manager. She welcomed us with a warm smile, confirmed our reservation and arranged for us to be shown to our seats.
The arrangement of the room was great - almost reminiscent of the cabaret clubs I\\\'d only ever seen in the movies - intimate little tables with chairs facing the stage, which ran along one side of the room. Black curtains adorned with large, sparkling diamantes were drawn across the stage, concealing the platform for the evening\\\'s performers.
Full waiter service at the table was a treat - we studied the tempting wine list and firstly chose a full-bodied and tasty Chilean cabernet sauvignon. It wasn\\\'t until I was almost at the bottom of my first glass of red when I conveniently remembered that I had ordered chicken for my main course... obviously that meant that it was only right and proper that we should order a bottle of white wine too! The house white - fruity and dry - fitted the bill. Naturally, now having a taste for white, we went on to order a second bottle. We further explored the wine list and settled on a stylish sauvignon blanc. All three wines served as ideal companions to our food throughout the evening.
The starters and main courses were served before the performance began. I was pleased with my choice of caramelised onion soup - full of flavour and seasoned to perfection. Michael smacked his lips as he proclaimed the southern fried chicken wings to be \\\'mmm\\\'! Praise indeed! There was freshly baked baguette & butter on our side plates to accompany our first course, perfectly crisp on the outside, soft in the centre.
Julie, our seemingly always happy, singing waitress with boundless enthusiasm cleared our table and brought our main meals. The chicken breast was moist and served with flavoursome rice and a sauce, which had a delicate and delicious spicy kick to it. The braised steak was tender. A Jack Daniels sauce really added to the flavour. The vegetable: carrots, cauliflower, broccoli and new potatoes were very much to Michael\\\'s discerning palate. They were firm and extra seasoning was not required. Truly delicious.
After the crockery from the first two courses had all been cleared away, the audience - made up of couples and groups of ladies of all ages, including one group celebrating a birthday and another a hen night - was treated to a trip to Motown\\\'s birthplace of Detroit with the compare for the evening \\\'Brad Barnaby\\\' played by Liam Olsen. He took us on a journey from the inception of Motown by Berry Gordy. It was an evening of song, dance and entertaining, as well as educational and comedy, chat... with the cast members assuming the roles of such characters as Diana Ross\\\' tea lady \\\'Cindy Chatsworth\\\', played by Sarah Richardson and Lionel Richie\\\'s camp hair stylist \\\'Francis Frillybottom\\\', played by Dan Johnson.
The intimate theatre and stage position, allowing close proximity to the audience, creates a fantastic atmosphere. This coupled with the fact that the audience was made up of people who really wanted to have a good time and join in meant that everyone was clapping, singing and sometimes dancing along to fantastic live renditions of Motown classics such as \\\'Baby Love\\\', \\\'Stop in the Name of Love\\\', \\\'Blame it on the Boogie\\\' and \\\'I heard it through the Grapevine\\\', to name but a few.
The evening was punctuated with a mid-performance interval. This is when we were brought our chosen dessert. The generous serving of warm, homemade apple pie with a helping of clotted cream was mouth-watering. The toffee and apple crumble was everything we thought it would be... sweet, sticky, moist... yum!
As the curtains closed signalling the end of the performance, we were reluctant to admit that the evening was over, but were surprised to see that the hands on my watch had moved to 11.15pm. Four hours had passed by since we had arrived at the venue! We had had an entertaining evening with super service and fabulous food.
The opening evening of Motown Mania was a success! It will continue through 11th July and is well worth a visit. The menu stays for the duration of the show-run. We\\\'ll definitely be keeping our eyes peeled for future productions and the delights on offer on the menu at The New Theatre Restaurant.
Jo Westworth, with some support from Michael
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Alan McColm is QFOL's Restaurant Critic and Travel reviewer. Alan is working all over the country ... more
