Nobia & Sons review: Curried goat in Durham tearoom
Nobia & Sons is a Ghanaian tearoom, run by Nobia (who was back in Ghana when we visited) and her family. It is in the main street of Barnard Castle, in between SpecSavers and the Co-op, and it is a little incongruous.
In fact, it took quite a bit of arm twisting to get my family over the threshold. We had to have a dummy run on a previous trip to prove to ourselves that the scones and the cakes were acceptable to all palates.
A teaspoon from Rhyl on an African tablecloth
Then we returned to sit among the vibrant tablecloths – patterns of bright purple, green, yellow and red – and view the more exotic items on the menu.
They offer normal tearoom fare of toasties and wraps, but the main dishes are all very, well, Nobian: chicken curry, jerk chicken, bean stew and plantains or jollof rice, a spiced rice named after a 12th Century West African empire.
Some people still could not be tempted. The table next to us ordered three scones, and Theo, our son, decided a lunchtime curry was not for him and so went for a chicken and bacon wrap (£8.95) and a portion of chips (£3.85).
Chickpea and spinach
Petra, my wife, chose the spinach and chickpea stew (£11.95) while I went for the dish advertised first on the window which is the best seller: curried goat (£13.95).
We also chose a side dish of deep fried plantains (£3.95) because plantains – cooking bananas – are scattered throughout the menu. For breakfast, there’s plantain baked eggs or plantain sourdough, while the wraps include chorizo, plantain and prawn.
A side order of plantains
Theo’s wrap was generously stuffed and he tore happily into it. It came with a tomato salad and some coleslaw.
His chips were excellent, although I’m not really sure about plantains. They are slippery and slightly sweet, and don’t work well with ketchup.
Theo’s chicken and bacon wrap
However, our main dishes were superb. They each came with a fresh green salad, tomato salad, coleslaw and rice with beans in – these were well balanced dishes.
They had no heat to them – you don’t want a chilli blow-out on a Saturday lunchtime – which enabled the tastes of the ingredients to shine through.
Petra really enjoyed her chickpeas and spinach, and my slow cooked goat came in a dark, thick, signature sauce of spices.
It was a brave choice. I really don’t like goats cheese. It has an odd texture and a taste that is way too goaty. In the same way that you wouldn’t have plantains if you could have chips, you would not have goats cheese if there was any made from cows milk available.
But as a meat, the goat was great. Light like chicken, slightly fibrous like pulled pork, but dark in the sauce to look at so you’d probably guess you were eating braised beef. Beautifully cooked so that it was tender but still had a little give in it, it seems strange that it so rarely crops up on menus.
Curried goat
You get more rabbit dishes than you do goat ones, and there are not many English high street tearoom windows where “curried goat” is shouted about in letters large enough to read before you’ve gone to the optician next door.
We had tried, and approved, the cakes on a previous visit, especially the distinctive ones with rum in, and so, as there was more shopping to do, we settled our bill for three main courses, a couple of sides and plenty of cappuccinos and mochas at £53.
Indeed, the coffees were served with old spoons that, with coats-of-arms on the top, had once been souvenirs from tourist towns.
Recommended eating:
My spoon was from Rhyl and it was rather incongruous to see its Welsh dragon lying among the vivid African colours of the tablecloth, but then it is rather incongruous to find curried goat in a Durham market town tearoom – but it most certainly works.
Nobia & Sons
19 Horsemarket, Barnard Castle DL12 8LY
Tel: 07825-136421
Ratings (out of ten): Surroundings 6 Service 8 Food quality 8 Value for money 8