Sunderland's new Chop House restaurant aims to raise the '˜steaks'

The Chop House, the city centre’s only dedicated steak house, has opened in the former Longhorns site, on the first floor of The Dun Cow, in High Street West.

Thousands of pounds have been ploughed into stripping the room of the former restaurant’s decor, returning it to its Edwardian splendour.

Restaurateur David Gill says he feels The Chop House is more in keeping with the historic pub, which dates back to 1901 and is celebrated nationally for its period features.

The chef, who used to head up the Juniper’s Pantry delis, before taking over the kitchen at The Cavalier, in Silksworth, said: “You can’t get more of a quintessential British pub than The Dun Cow.

“At Juniper’s we were all about British produce and I think Sunderland has been screaming out for a steak house.

“There isn’t a steak house in the city centre and I think it’s a natural progression from the BBQ meat trend, which kicked off last year.

“Location wise you can’t get better than here because it’s at the centre of all the work being done by the Mac Trust in the area.

“The Chop House is perfect for this site because of its history.

“Chop Houses really came into being in London in the Edwardian era, so it all ties together perfectly. ”

As well as front of house being transformed, David says he’s made changes behind the scenes to make the restaurant a success.

“We went to great lengths to extend the kitchen so we can make everything on site,”he explained.

Whilst the staple steaks are sourced from farms in Darlington, York and Northumberland, there will also be specials using more far-flung beef breeds, such as Galician Blond from Spain.

He added: “It was important to us that our regular steaks are locally-sourced, but we’ll also be trying different breeds for our specials.

“Some of them are more expensive because of the high quality, but we’ll see what works.”

Food will be served daily from 11am to 9pm in the main bar downstairs as well as the restaurant.

The full menu, as well as a pre-theatre offering, will be running from Monday.