New York Inn
2 Station Road Portstewart
BT55 7DA
028 7083 3594
OH I do like to be beside the seaside. Regardless of weather, the sight of the sea, be it sapphire blue and smooth like glass or rough and choppy in Irish sludge green, it soothes my mind and battered soul.
Work, children, increasingly untidy home with the odd political crisis thrown in for added drama, means all downtime is very much cherished. And so a wee trip up along the Causeway coast on a treasured day off sounded more inviting than a back rub by Roy Keane – pre-beard, obviously.
A windswept Portstewart with its coastal views and charm was a great choice to blow the cobwebs away after what was a stressful week, month, year, life. The New York Inn baffled me a little in that the name conveys something very different from what you're actually getting.
Known locally as just The York – which suits it better – it's nothing like the city that never sleeps but a quaint little hotel with a handful of rooms and a substantial sized restaurant with views of the sea, which was particularly wild and wonderful on the night we visited.
While outside was bitterly cold, inside and there was a warm welcome and cold beer waiting. As it was midweek, the restaurant was ticking over but not overly busy – I imagine it gets pretty hectic in the summer months. Also as it was midweek they were running a cracking deal with a free starter and dessert with every main.
Yes people, that's three plates of food for the price of one – it's amazing the deals you find when you take the time to get out of the city.
The menu was all satisfying and fairly carbtastic – this is not January diet food, but tasty plates for ravenous sightseers.
I ordered a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, because that's what I do, and got down to checking out how best to wreck my new year good intentions. There's lots of chicken, pork and lamb dishes, a selection of burgers, as you'd expect, really decent steaks and some tasty-sounding fish, both battered and pan fried.
With calories not being considered, we had some nachos and loaded wedges to munch on with a drink while waiting on the mains. Both were tasty and the kind of food would have been great to share if having a few beers with friends during a leisurely lunch.
The sesame chicken with Asian noodles for main was a colourful big bowl of food, full of fresh veg, egg noodles and sticky chicken, impossible to finish but hard to put the fork down, I kept telling myself I was done before sticking the fork back in for another mouthful.
A monster of a sirloin, blushing pink and seasoned well with a tasty chargrill on the outside, it was obviously a good cut of decent-quality beef. You'd think reviewing a steak was pointless but I've had some dreadful steaks over the years – this was an excellent one.
Full and happy, looking out into the stormy night while hugging an ice cold glass of wine, considerably more relaxed than I was on arrival, I'd have happily ended the meal at this point but, as I said, the dessert was also included in the deal.
A white chocolate cheesecake and enormous seaside-style ice cream sundae arrived just to demonstrate how rubbish I am at new year's resolutions. I ate as much as I could and with a massive sugar high, called it a night.
New year at the New York Inn may not be good for the diet but it was certainly good for the soul.
THE BILL
Chicken main £14.95
Sirloin £21.95
Starter and dessert free with midweek deal
Coors £2
Kopparberg £3.50
WakeTura Sauv Blanc £18.50
Total £60.90.
