Ever had a hankering for a cold pint of beer that tastes just like a glazed jam doughnut? No, me neither.
But in The Golden Flake, the pub just opened by the seemingly unstoppable bakery chain, Greggs, anything is possible.
The quirky pop-up in Fenwick’s department store in Newcastle is the sort of place that might have been conceived by Willy Wonka – if he’d bought a little boozer on his retirement from the confectionery trade.
Certainly one of its signature beers, the Pink Jammie Pale Ale, brewed in honour of Greggs’ famous doughnuts of the same name, was just too weird for some customers – though to be fair, the more you drank the less you noticed the cloying sweetness.
There’s a more basic brew on the pumps alongside the Jammie – the Gosforth 1939 Stottie Lager, this one with a strong hint of another fabled Geordie delicacy, the stottie cake (a flat bread bun to those who have never had the pleasure).
Most customers, however, have come for the food, a gentrified version of the simple fare available in Greggs’ 2,600 stores across the UK.
I ordered a steak bake mixed grill (£12.50) which consisted of Greggs’ popular pasty, a fried egg draped over the top, a side order of chips and a grilled tomato. The arrival of a gravy boat was confusing – had it been brought by mistake to the wrong table?
Reassured by the smiling server, I found myself wondering when the last time had been that I poured gravy over a fried egg. Conclusion: Never, but don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. If this had come from Heston Blumenthal’s test kitchen we’d probably be hailing it as genius.
The next dish to arrive was the sausage roll and mash. This was not the “sickly sausage roll” that Gazza sang of in his post-World Cup rendition of Fog on the Tyne – no, this was a posh sausage roll. You knew it was posh because it was cut in two on the diagonal and propped up vertically against the mash, a scattering of dried sage leaves across the gravy giving a final flourish.
Those leaves were doing some heavy lifting because this dish cost £9, in comparison to the £1.50 you’d have paid for the same sausage roll in a paper bag from the non-fancy Greggs 20 yards away.
But was anyone carping about the price? Emphatically no – the tables started filling up as soon as the Golden Flake opened its doors at 11am on a sunny midweek morning.
Ryan and Lesley Coutts were having a date day, Ryan enjoying a Stottie Lager and Lesley an Orchard Pig cider. Had either tried the Pink Jammie? Ryan gives an involuntary shudder and confirms the bar staff were happy to give out samples to the briefly curious.
The young parents’ choice of venue was a nod to Ryan’s gran Mary Youern, aged 84, who was an employee at one of Greggs’ first stores, in Washington, Tyne and Wear.
Ryan, 32, said: “Greggs is such an institution in the North East and my Nana is proud of her association with it.
“She was offered shares many years ago but decided on a £1,000 bonus which took her and grandad off on a fantastic holiday to Italy.
“Given what’s happened since, the shares might have been a better option, but they were happy.
“They also get 50 per cent off Greggs food for life so you can’t complain about that either.”
Lesley, 31, said: “The Golden Flake is really nice, the decor reminds me a bit of Beamish Museum, it’s very quirky.”
With a nod to a collection of Toby jugs grinning down from a high shelf, she adds quietly: “And a bit weird.”
Pat Grainger, on a day out from the Grangewood Care Home in Shiney Row, near Sunderland, enjoyed her meal. She said: “We had a sharing platter between four of us and it was lovely, especially the sausage rolls, you can’t beat a Greggs and they’ve done this place up lovely.”
Malcolm Harrison, 72, and his wife were celebrating the 40th birthday of their youngest daughter, Stacey.
Malcolm said: “We’re having a family party tonight but this seemed a nice place to come for a bite during the day, we’ve just had sausage rolls and fish goujons and a drink.
”People in the North East are very proud of Greggs, it hasn’t just become a national concern, it’s now an international brand. We’re very proud of our sausage rolls in this part of the world.”
Ian Hall, 65, and wife Jean, 69, just had starters. Mr Hall said: ”We always come into town on a Tuesday and we’ve heard a lot about this place so we wanted to try it out. I’ve had the chicken goujons with chilli honey, it was very nice.
“Greggs just seems to be getting bigger and bigger and I really like the way they’ve done out their own pub.”
The Golden Flake will remain open until February next year and will operate like any other Newcastle pub, even hosting quiz nights on a Tuesday evening.
On Sundays it serves what it terms a “traditional” Sunday carvery, though at the centre of all the trimmings – cauliflower cheese, roast potatoes and Yorkshire puddings – will be a choice of steak bake, chicken bake or cheese and onion bake.
Fenwick’s store director, Kieran McBride, told The Independent: “It has been quite overwhelming in terms of response. It is our third collaborations with Greggs but this has been the biggest so far.
“Both Fenwick’s and Greggs are famous names in the North East and we’re delighted to be working together so well.”
