Mournful Seafood

Do you like what I did with the name of the restaurant there? Very clever. Or not.
Anyway, since it was mother's day and I'd heard good reports about Mourne Seafood in Dundrum, near Newcastle, I thought I'd push the boat out (there I'm at it again-such talent).

I'd booked a table for four and we were shown in. The place looked a trifle decrepit, though I assumed this was the 'rustic' look they were going for. The restaurant was quite small and the tables a little too close to each other, resulting in quite a high noise level.
We ordered drinks -- a couple of cokes and a bottle of sparkling water. We'd poured out two glasses before we realised that it was still water rather than sparkling. Not a great start.

Talking of starters, two of us went for these, while B wanted a dessert so he gave it a miss. C ordered the kids meal of sausage and chips which rather inconveniently arrived with the starters.
I had the toasted scallops with side salad and H went for the seafood chowder. Both were perfectly serviceable, but nothing special.

Having waited quite a while for the starters, we had another long wait for the mains. I visited the 'restroom', which was apparently unheated.
C continued to struggle through her kids meal. Not surprising really as the chips were so hard I nearly lost a filling when I tried one and the sausages were basic at best. Very poor indeed for £4.95.

The main courses were a revelation, though not unfortunately a good one.
B had ordered a steak, which he is something of a specialist in. He pronounced it to be the fattiest steak he had ever been served, together with more of the highly unappetising chips and no vegetables.
H had the seabass fillets, which were served frugally, to say the least. Two small servings on a large plate was just a joke.
At least my hake steak was a decent portion, even after removing 1000 bones, and it was nice tasty fish, though not as nice as I'd had in the Seasalt in Newcastle the previous year (for about half the price).

B ordered his dessert from a passing waiter while I was still eating, as we'd already been there nearly two hours and wanted to get going. Fifteen minutes later as the mains plates were being cleared, it still hadn't arrived, and he had to order again.

At least the chocolate cheesecake he had was worth the wait. He awarded it 9 out of 10 and didn't offer any of us a taste, so that was a thumbs up for the chef.

We had to ask for the bill twice, and it came to a hefty £65.50 for two starters, a dessert, three mains, a kids meal and a few soft drinks.

All in all, it was a case of 'never again.' I'd definitely recommend Frenchies in Clough or the Seasalt in Newcastle over this place.