Food and drink prices as Keel Tavern opens its doors in Sunderland

Sunderland's newest bar, Keel Tavern, has finally welcomed its first customers after opening in Keel Square.

Yesterday, Thursday, November 16, marked the opening of the first of four bars in Keel Square, with The Botanist and The Muddler set to join the new venue early next year.

Meanwhile, a fourth venue is expected to be announced soon in the unit which faces onto High Street West.

Open seven days a week from 12pm, Keel Tavern, brought to the city by North East hospitality group, Vaulkhard Group, is set to boost the hospitality offering in this corner of the city centre, and complement existing businesses, such as The Fire Station, The Peacock and more.

Keel Tavern, which has created 30 new jobs, seats around 200 inside across a range of seating, from bar stools to booths, with capacity for a further 100 outside.

It's dog friendly inside and out.

So what's on the menu?

Beers

There's 18 beer taps and six handpulls, so a choice of 24 in total, with cask and keg options on rotation, as well as guest cans and bottles.

Local breweries are represented well with options from Vaux, Great North Eastern Brewing Co, Northern Alchemy, Wylam and Maxim.

Pint prices, on draught, start from £4.80 for a pint of Thatchers Haze. Great Northern Lager is £4.95 a pint, Guinness is £5.30, Peroni is £5.95 and Asahi is £6.30.

Wines

There's a choice of five white wines, by the glass and bottle, starting at £4.60 for a small glass of Pinot Grigio.

There's also a choice of five reds, starting at £4.60 for a small glass of Malbec.

Cocktails

There's 12 cocktails on offer: Amaretto Sour, Bloody Mary, Bramble, Cucumber Gimlet, Espresso Martini, French Martini, Lemon Drop, Negroni, Old Fashioned, Tommy's Margarita, Vegan White Russian and Whiskey Sour.

All are priced £7.50.

Food

There's a hearty menu on offer, including vegan options.

The bar bait and small plates section includes options such as confit pork belly pinchos with a red chilli glaze (£9), Double Maxim Welsh rarebit (£7), Monkfish scampi with tartare sauce (£6) and more.

Mains include options such as vegan sausage and mash with onion gravy, kale and crispy onions (£12), beer battered fish and chips with mushy peas and tartare sauce (£15), Moroccan-style pulled lamb flatbread with harissa mayo and fries (£11), chicken schnitzel with lemon caper butter, fries and garden salad (£14) and more.

Get pie-eyed over the Pie Shop section, all priced £12.50, where you can pick a pie from steak; mince beef, Guinness & onion; chicken, leek and gammon or cheese, potato & onion. Then pick a potato from buttery mash, cheesy mash, bubble & squeak mash, celeriac & garlic mash or chips.

Add a vegetable from garden peas, mushy peas, braised red cabbage or chantenay carrots & honey roasted parsnips. Then a choice of either turkey & sage; Chinese-style curry sauce or onion & ale gravy.

Sharing platters: three choices of a chip shop platter (£22.50), vegetarian chip shop platter (£20) and Keel Tavern platter, including pork belly pinchos, smoked sausage and more (£20).

Sweet tooths can enjoy the dessert section of sticky toffee pudding (£7), traditional spotted dick (£7), bread and butter pudding (£7), dairy-free vanilla ice cream (£4) and chocolate brownie (£8).