We had been recommended to try this pub many times over the years from a friend, so while near the…read morearea we stopped by for lunch. The pub itself is just outside Acklington village. According to the website just 4 miles from the A1. The food was lovely! I had Haggis Pakora to start and then Hunters Chicken. The portion size was very large! They do proper chips here too!! They had a huge choice of dishes on the blackboard as well as the normal sunday menu. The pub itself seems to have various events on nearly every night of the week for the locals, they are doing a fabulous job! They were advertising a new Mexican night on a Sunday which seemed fantastic value for money I would definitely return to this pub in the future. The lady behind the bar and all the staff were very friendly.

Stopped by this pub for a pint & bag of crisps a year ago and it looked pretty nice. This year…read morepassing again, decided to have a tea time meal. Not very busy, quality standard pub fayre. Staff very helpful & attentive. Not priced to badly for a lovely setting. Would recommend & if passing again would return. Nice size car park to rear.

The Coach Inn looks like someone has taken it off the front of a chocolate box and popped it down…read morein the equally charming village of Lesbury. It is so pretty in the summer when it is adorned with flowers that you just can't help but want to stop off there as you're passing through :-) Inside it is rather more modern than you might expect and quite smart for a pub. There is a bar area, and a room off to the side with leather chairs and sofas and a TV. At the other end of the pub there is an extensive dining area and the pub does seem heavily geared towards dining. We had just popped in for a beer and there was Black Sheep and Old Speckled Hen on both of which were very pleasant. The staff were welcoming and friendly and we spent a relaxing and very enjoyable hour there.

Have visited hear a few times over the years and have stayed on a cycling weekend in…read moreNorthumberland. This visit was for Sunday lunch with my mother. Rang up before hand as my mother needs to use a wheel chair wanted to make sure of access. Told to pop in when we arrived and they would open a fire exit to help access to the dining room. Duly arrived, very friendly staff let us in and we had a table very close to the entrance which meant we were not having to manoeuvre around the tables. Choice of two menus, Sunday lunch, 3 course for £16.95 or A la Carte. We went for the Sunday lunch option. Ham Hock salad starter, Roast pork with trimmings and a very tasty and light baileys cheese cake. all in all a nice meal, pork a little dry but couple with excellent and attentive service would go back.

Absolutely delicious food and the service was very good. Employees were especially friendly. It…read morelooks like a pub but definitely higher end plates. Our bed and breakfast host recommended it, and she was not wrong.

We are regular customers at The Rat because it is such a great place with great food…read more Last night's visit was for my wife's birthday and except for one minor thing it was as good as usual. The Rat is the very definition of an English country pub. Open fires and a cosy atmosphere are exactly what you want from a pub, add in the great food and it is hard to beat. We shared a starter of smoked haddock fritters which was delicious if a little parsimonious for £7. Main courses were superb; slow cooked belly pork and 3 cuts of lamb; delicious, deep savoury flavours that are so hard to accomplish at home. My wife's warm gingerbread dessert wasn't warm which was a disappointment in an otherwise delicious meal.

Love, love, love this place! Have taken four or five different groups of friends or family there…read morefor dinner and Sunday lunch, not one person has come away disappointed or feeling hungry! This is a real gem of a pub, tucked away up the hill just a few miles from Hexham. Have heard this is walkable from Hexham on a nice day but most will need a car - one thing to bear in mind is parking can be a bit limited and a bit of a free-for-all at busiest times, but you should usually get a space somewhere. Alternatively, taking a taxi is a good option, should only cost about £6-£8 from the centre of Hexham itself. First of all, the location and setting is simply stunning. If you park across the road, the views over the Tyne Valley are fantastic. You then go into the pub itself via a lovely garden area with a pergola. Inside is a proper Northumbrian country pub, great traditional decor, roaring fires, with some unusual wall and ceiling decorations (will leave that for you to discover!) Each time we've visited to eat, we've been welcomed by the friendly staff who offer the right level of service, i.e. keeping your table clear, everything in check without being overly attentive. The bar offers a good range of real ales, usually with a local brewery on offer, all of which are very well kept. They have an excellent range of wines and spirits as well, so you could easily go here for a relaxing drink, although the bar area is relatively small. However, if you are here, you really must try the food. Honestly, the Rat Inn has served up some of the best food I've ever eaten, nothing fussy or complicated, just locally sourced ingredients cooked to perfection. What is encouraging is that there are no menus on the tables, instead you'll find the day's menu on a chalkboard, which indicates freshness and illustrates how much they care about what ends up on your plate. In fact, you can find out where the meats and veg have come from as the suppliers are also chalked up on the wall. As the menu changes fairly regularly, it is not really worth recommending any particular dish on here for fear of it not being on next time, but the Sunday roast dinners are superb and the Sticky Toffee Pudding is top notch! Bear in mind you do get hearty Northumbrian-sized portions here, it is difficult to leave here without feeling a tad on the full side... As this place features in the top 50 UK gastropubs, it can get popular and they don't have an abundance of space, which adds to its charm but is also a slight disadvantage - definitely worth booking in advance to avoid missing out. In summary, the Rat Inn really is a wonderful place and one to which I can't wait to have an opportunity to go back soon.

Stayed here earlier this week. Rooms had recently been refurbished and you can tell. There was a…read morebig TV which welcomed us as soon as we entered. The room was a fair size and the bedding was very comfy. We decided to try a steak pie and the salmon... Again, we were very happy for what we paid. The chef made me a full English and my partner settled for an omelet. The owner Paul was very helpful when asking about other places to eat in the area which we did the following night. All in all... Excellent experience and we will be going back again next time we need a few days break from the family.

Top pub good ale food and great landladyread more

This is one of those places that you could drive past and never appreciate what a gem of a kitchen…read moreit has. Fresh, fresh, fresh... Oh, and local too. Stopped here a number of times now when driving up and down the A697, and NEVER been disappointed in the slightest.

Great village pub with a superb restaurant serving a changing selection of meals. Recommendedread more

We ended up stranded because the tide came in (we put an idiot in charge of the tide tables, lol)…read moreThe Ship was the only place open that day, and although they were extremely busy, the landlord and his staff went out of their way to look after four random strangers who walked through his door with nowhere else to go on a chilly rainy day. We cannot thank The Ship enough for their hospitality. We recommend a visit if you are on the island.

We come here in the winter, and although it closes at 4pm most weekdays, you can have a meal here…read moreon Friday and Saturday evenings. We rush back from where we have been visiting and grab a pint before closing time. They stock a complete array of local ales and if you look on the ceiling you will find all the different locally brewed brands they have had. The food is great, never had a meal we could complain about, lovely baked goats cheese starter, seafood broth, and of course, all locally caught. Recommended with a great and very brisk walk along the sands with views of Dunstanburgh castle. Fantastic photo opportunities abound here. In fact I hate to give this little place away, but don't worry you don't stand a chance of getting booked in anywhere around here, everyone else has discovered it well before we did.

A lovely setting next to the river Coquet. First class cuisine from bar meals to an a la carte menu…read moreserved in an old railway carriage. The bar meals are well priced and the portions are huge. The a la carte is expensive and you get what you pay for. It is served in an elegant setting in the railway carriage which looks lovely at night all lit up.Friendly staff and welcome children.

Have enjoyed the anglers on and off for years. Not exactly a regular but it's a friendly…read moreunpretentious sort of place with a proper pubby atmosphere. Found the service a bit slow when I went but this was years ago.

Whilst the setting may not be the most modern, the food did not disappoint. The service was…read morefriendly and helpful. I would certainly go back.

Don't judge a book by it's cover…read more.. I have to say I was really impressed with this place. My in-laws suggested we go here for an early dinner out during our recent stay in Kelso, and from the outside my initial thoughts were... meh, Wetherspoons-type food here we go! However when we stepped in to the bar/restaurant I was pleasantly surprised. The interior was warm, clean, and inviting, and the staff were instantly welcoming. The menu appeared fairly standard pub/restaurant fare... burgers, fish and chips, steak... There was a daily specials board with some lovely choices available. I opted for the chicken fajitas off the regular menu, and boy, I wan't disappointed. This dish was carried out of the kitchen sizzling and smoking on a three tiered stand with a hotplate jam-packed with deliciously tender and moist chicken strips with juicy onions peppers, chills, and coriander on the bottom shelf, soft tortillas on the middle, and sour cream and sweet chilli sauce on the top! These may be some of the best fajitas I have ever tasted, living up to the fajitas of my youth (from The Tidy Doffer in Lisburn, Co Antrim). My fellow diners were also impressed with their orders, all the food was freshly cooked, well presented, and super tasty! A great, no frills dining experience, which far surpassed my expectations!