There’s nothing I enjoy more than a weekend in Newcastle, and especially a Sunday Funday out and about in the city centre. For me that includes leaving the car at home, getting the metro up to town, a good, traditional Sunday dinner somewhere with an atmosphere, and plenty of cocktails! Last Sunday that’s exactly what we got when we went along to the launch of Soul on Sunday at Revolution, Newcastle.

Our table was booked at 4pm, so myself and Kieran met up with some friends and walked along to the beautiful old converted bank building that is Revolution, pride of place on one of the liveliest, and most popular streets in Newcastle.

We arrived and were taken straight away to our table, up the stairs overlooking the bar, right by the fire. The table was in a great spot, I love being able to see the whole place – great for people watching which let’s face it is always fun in this city! It was a very chilled afternoon, plenty of people enjoying either food or a few cocktails with partners or friends, and the resident Sunday live band, Watson and  the Elements playing soul tunes only added to this perfect weekend atmosphere.

We had a browse of the new Sunday menu, styled as though it was fresh off the print press and full of info on the history, concept and influences of this new Sunday experience at Revolution.

All the benefits of a Sunday Roast, without the hassle of cooking it yourself!’

It doesn’t ever take me longer than two seconds to decide what I want for a Sunday roast – beef always, but if beef isn’t your go to there are also pork or chicken chicken roasts, and a sweet potato and bean option for vegetarians. All come with goose fat roast potatoes (just how my little nana used to make them!), and honey roast carrots and parsnips. There are extra sides available as well, and I’m actually gutted and I didn’t spot these as I would definitely have had the cauliflower cheese. At the time I was too preoccupied by the cocktail menu.

I definitely got distracted by the giant BLOODIES/MIMOSAS headline splashed across the opposite page – absolute classics that are perfect to kick start a day out. And let me tell you, those Bloody Mary’s certainly had a kick! There were three versions available, which is great if you like to mix it up a bit. The classic Bloody Mary, the Red Snapper which switched the vodka with gin, and the Bloody Maria that switched the vodka for tequila, each one progressively stronger than the last!

We went for the Red Snappers which came served with celery and olives, and had a real bite to them. They might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but if they are you will love these versions. And if they’re not, the cocktail and other drinks menu is extensive and full of fabulous creations that you will be sure to find something to your taste.

Our starters arrived not long after our drinks, all beautifully presented and generous portions. I had the breaded halloumi with hummus and flatbreads which was very nice, I’ve not seen halloumi like that before, and it was a great way of serving it. The cheese was warm and tasty and didn’t get that rubbery texture that you sometimes get with halloumi when you’re talking too much and end up half a plate behind everyone else. We all enjoyed our starters, and Luc was particularly impressed with his ‘full of flavour’ pea soup.

By now we were working our way through the cocktails, so I moved on to an elderflower bellini. Elderflower is literally everywhere these days, it’s so fresh and takes the bite off most spirits making any drink it touches go down like juice. So delicious. I’d never had an elderflower bellini before but was very pleased to see it on the menu and obviously had to try it. It really didn’t disappoint! It was very easy to drink and if there weren’t so many others to try I could have kept going with them all afternoon. It was the perfect drink to accompany my beef roast which arrived not long after.

We all had the beef for main course, which arrived stacked high with a generous three slices laid over the honey roast carrots and those dream roasties, topped with a giant Yorkshire pud. Mine was gone pretty quickly, with nothing left on my plate.

If I had to find a fault I would say it could have done with a touch more gravy to lather over the Yorkshire pudding, and when Kieran asked for mint sauce there wasn’t any available. Nothing that put us off at all, and other than those two tiny things we really enjoyed it. The food was very nice, in terms of both quality and presentation, and as I said earlier I only wish I’d spotted the sides to try those too.

The staff at Revolution were excellent from start to finish, we didn’t feel either rushed, or like the service was slow, and they were more than happy to discuss the cocktails and the new Soul Sunday event with us when we had questions.

After a bit of a breather we ordered desert too, the chocolate brownie, the ice cream berry sundae and the cheesecake. All were the perfect way to round off our lovely meal, as well as another round of cocktails to wash it all down. I felt very content after all that food!

By this point, the band had stopped and was replaced by a DJ, as the evening set in and the atmosphere shifted to become a bit more lively. This was perfect timing for us, and we really felt like we got a great experience throughout the whole afternoon and early evening at Revolution.

I’ve been going to Rev’s for years, from packed out shot fuelled nights out with the girls, to casual bar snacks and chilled drinks in the afternoon, and now I’m very excited that they’re adding this Soul on Sunday experience into the mix. I think longstanding and ever popular places like Revolution can sometimes be thought of from only one perspective, so it’s really great to see that they’re branching out and can deliver well on new concepts and experiences. This is one I will be going back to again.

Practical Info

The Sunday menu includes 2 courses for £15, or 3 courses for £18. Sides are extra at £3 each or 4 for £10.

Cocktails are £7.95 each or 2 for 1 with a Revolution Card (defo worth it if you’re having a few!)

Disclaimer: We were invited to Revolution Soul on Sunday, and received complimentary food and drinks in return for an honest review. All opinions are of course genuine and honest.