Eating Out review at The Tack Room, Kirklevington, near Yarm

On the edge of Yarm, a new development is going up called “the Cornfields”. It sounds enticingly rural although there are no fields left in the Yarm area that can ever again be a blaze of golden wheat because every one of them has had roads laid across it and houses built upon it.

The Tack Room, Kirklevington, near Yarm (Image: Chris Lloyd)

About a mile down the A67 from The Cornfields is The Tack Room, which is genuinely rural and once was a tack room. It is tacked onto the side of an extremely functional agricultural hangar in which an indoor riding school operates. To reach The Tack Room, you have to walk through the school viewing area where clouds of dust waft up as the horses trot by.

Entrance to The Tack Room, Kirklevington, near Yarm (Image: Chris Lloyd)

To my wife, Petra, a horse lover, these are the most exciting sights and smells in the world. I, though, am very allergic to horses, partly because of the effect they have on my eyes and lungs, and partly because of the effect they have had on our bank account over the years.

The Tack Room, though, has been turned out very nicely. Festoons of colourful plastic flowers give it a smart feel, although it is noisy.

The specials board overlooking the indoor riding school at the Tack Room, Kirklevington, near Yarm (Image: Chris Lloyd)

There is a row of stools so that proud parents can have a coffee and cake while watching their daughters pilot their pony around the school, and there are covers for about 50 lunchtime diners – it is open from 9am to 4pm, closed on Mondays, but it is doing themed evenings on a Friday.

It was busy. We’d been advised to book for our Saturday lunchtime, and there was no room to accommodate the lady who had arranged to meet three friends there without securing a table.

The menu was short but surprisingly sophisticated for a riding school. There were four sandwiches – from Isle of Wight Heritage Tomato and Pesto to Shorthorn steak and homemade chimichurri – for between £12.95 and £14.95, and there were 10 main dishes, from soup (cauliflower velouté) to salad to a souffle, a pie, a burger and fish and chips, ranging from £7.95 to £19.95.

If I had been really brave, I would have gone for sardines on toast with fennel and rhubarb slaw (£15.95) from the specials blackboard.

As soon as we had placed our orders, Petra rushed off to look at horses doing horsey things which meant I was left to read the wall display about Thomas Bates, the great shorthorn cattle breeder from Kirklevington in the 1830s. Also on the walls were pleas to “back British farming” and to “drink Hawkstone”, which is Jeremy Clarkson’s beer.

Fittingly for such a pro-farming place, the meat was front and centre of the dishes myself and my son, Theo, had ordered.

Coronation chicken at The Tack Room, Kirklevington, near Yarm (Image: Chris Lloyd)

He had the Coronation Chicken (£18.95), a great piece of free range breast, its white, juicy meat gleaming against the darker curried coating. It sat on a very moist bed of curried butter and raita, and he had some (very good) chips. The menu suggested there should be some greenery in the form of spinach, but none arrived.

Pork Loin at The Tack Room, Kirklevington, near Yarm (Image: Chris Lloyd)

I had the even larger Pork Loin (£19.95) – it was so big and thick that, with its bone sticking out to be used a handle, it could have been an offensive weapon.

Free range, it came with sauteed potatoes and a pineapple salsa, which gave pinpricks of juicy sweet explosions with every mouthful. Like the chicken, it was perfectly cooked but, like the chicken, it could have done with a proper vegetable element.

We quickly got a bowl of house salad (£5) to share, and set to work – there were very generous amounts of meat to be eaten.

Coronation Cauliflower salad at The Tack Room, Kirklevington, near Yarm (Image: Chris Lloyd)

Meanwhile, Petra was purring over her Coronation Cauliflower, Chickpea and Couscous Salad (£13.95) from the specials board. The cauliflower had the same distinctive coronation curry flavour – no heat – as Theo’s chicken, and amid the lettuce, cucumber, onion, chickpeas and giant couscous there were hidden raisins which gave it an additional twist. With a dollop of raita on top, this was a very successful dish – and good value.

Rocky Road at The Tack Room, Kirklevington, near Yarm (Image: Chris Lloyd)

For dessert, there were plenty of scones and cakes (about £4.85). Theo went for a rocky road with giant marshmallows sticking out of it, Petra had a large piece of carrot cake while I had a pear and raspberry frangipane, the latter two being served with pouring cream. They were very good.

Frangipane at The Tack Room, Kirklevington, near Yarm (Image: Chris Lloyd)

The coffee was probably better, and a note of praise for the tapwater. In some places, it is grudgingly served, but here it came in a chilled carafe with glasses full of ice and a slice of lemon.

And a note about the atmosphere: by the end of my cakes, my nose, eyes and lungs were in need of some fresh, horse-free air. Next time I shall prepare with an antihistamine tablet because The Tack Room would be worth going back to.

The Tack Room, Kirklevington, near Yarm (Image: Chris Lloyd)

The Tack Room

Riding Centre, Town End Farm, Kirklevington, Yarm, TS15 9PZ

www.tackroomkirklevington.co.uk

Ratings (out of ten): Food quality 8 Surroundings 7 Value for money 8 Service 8