The Hasting's Arms, Seaton Delaval

We were looking for somewhere to visit for lunch this weekend after our walk around Seaton Delaval Hall. A quick look at tripadvisor reignited my interest in The Hastings Arms in Seaton Delaval. I have wanted to visit for a while now and the glowing reviews sealed the deal.

We arrived at about 1:30pm and the pub wasn't too busy. It is traditional in style but feels homely and inviting. We found ourselves a table and had a look at the menu. I never understand why pub's have HUGE menu's as it takes so long to decipher them all and decide what to order - today we had the choice of a main menu, a light bites menu and a specials menu. I always think it works much easier if there is just a lunch menu then an evening menu plus a specials board, anyway I digress.....

We were extremely impressed with the prices and the deals on offer. Especially as food is homemade and locally sourced. We made our choices and our order was taken by a lovely barmaid who explained as everything was cooked to order there may be a little wait - that was fine by us.

There are no children's options on the menu and none of the usual colouring in sheets ect....you might normally receive in a pub however this made a welcome change and we all actually had a conversation.

Steve ordered from the extensive pie menu. The gourmet pies are locally sourced using fresh ingredients. Steve chose to go for the steak and cheese pie which won a Gold Award in the British Pie Awards. You choose a pie, a spud, a side and a sauce for only £5.95 which is amazing value! Steve opted for homemade hand cut chips, mushy peas and rich beef gravy which is generously served in it's own gravy boat. The food was fantastic and is what proper pub food should be like instead of all this microwaved crap you seem to get these days.

I went for 'The Northumberland Whirl' which has been handmade by The Northumbrian sausage company using over 85% Northumberland pork shoulder. I chose homemade chips and mushy peas too and was delighted when I was also provided with my own gravy boat. My dish was £5.95 and again fantastic value. The homemade chips were to die for and you could tell the sausage was of good quality. There was so much food though and I had to leave some. Gutting when you have to do that when the food is so nice!

Our 8 year old ordered the cod goujons - made with crisp homemade ale batter. This was also £5.95. His portion was huge and there were loads of chips which he kindly shared with his younger brother and sister. Harry asked if we could try and make homemade chips at home as he loved them - I do agree, they are a million times better than the Mccain oven chips we usually have. I am not sure about making them myself though and think we will just have to return to The Hastings Arms to get our fix.

Heidi and Jack both ordered a Northumbrian sausage butty which at £2.95 each was an absolute bargain.

There are some fab deals to be had Monday-Saturday 12noon-8pm including:-

• Any Sandwich, hand cut chips and a soft drink for £4.50
• Any Sandwich, hand cut chips and an alcoholic drink for £5.95
• Homemade soup of the day and any sandwich £4.95

We were assured that the fish finger sandwich (included in these deals) is amazing by a fellow customer - they recommended it to us as we were ordering and said it was all homemade and the best they'd ever had.

The Hastings Arms hold regular quiz night's on a Wednesday at 9pm and Sunday lunch is served between 12-4pm (also a bargain at £5.95).

Next time we are looking for a hearty, homemade pub lunch, The Hasting's Arms is going to be on the top of our list! Our lunch for 5 including drinks was less than £30. You can't get better value than that on a Saturday lunchtime.

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