Rocking Horse Cafe & Gallery — Restaurant in England

Today my friends and I had a wonderful lunch at 'The Rocky'. We had a variety of choice from the menu; one had the All-Day Northumbrian Breakfast, three of us had lasagnes which come with a beautiful salad accompaniment and one of us had a jacket potato stuffed with cheese. None of us had any complaints and the cost was under £25 per head. Go hungry...you'll need the room as the portions are more than generous.

Far from being 'slop' as one reviewer has commented, food is freshly cooked on demand, using the best local ingredients. It is always beautifully presented, but because it is freshly made, service might be a bit slow when they are very busy...but then, if you want fast food, there's a MacDonald's down the road at the A1 service area in Alnwick. The coffee used at the Rocky is a roast from Holy Island and comes in all its forms from espresso to mocha. There's a wide variety of teas to choose from, including fruit teas. The cakes are home made and delicious. But the scones.....ohhh, the scones....absolutely my favourite, and quite the best I have ever tasted. Slightly crunchy on the outside, lovely and soft on the inside and served warm. With jam and cream if so desired (but probably not recommended with the cheese scones).

The greeting we get from the dogs is always friendly, and far from being feral, they are well-trained and they can be put into their beds when the café gets busy or there is a customer who isn't keen on dogs. (Although why anyone should visit a café which advertises itself both online and on the premises before you enter as 'dog-friendly' and then complain about the dogs beats me - if you don't like dogs, don't go! Simple!). I have never seen the resident three dogs get onto a table, either, and the owner cannot be held responsible for what other dog owners allow their pooches to do.

All in all, a perfect treat for my landmark birthday, and I would like to thank Andrew and the team for...

Just back from yet another visit to this little gem of a place. It’s a little bit hidden away but well worth a visit at any time. We call on our way home from Alnwick sometimes and have lunch or sometimes just drive over for a coffee and scones which incidentally are amazing. We always get a wonderful welcome from Andrew and Julie and not forgetting the gorgeous collie dog Sam. It’s wonderful that this cafe is so dog friendly. Our staffie Fizz loves trying the agility course out the back or just having a run round with Sam. The outside garden is just lovely with stunning views and lots of nice seating. All the food is cooked to order and everything we have tried has been outstanding. They also sell fabulous photos taken by the jockey Richard Dunwoody, they are stunning and would make a fabulous present for someone. Recently opened also are a couple of rooms with antiques and soft furnishings, well worth a look around. So as you can see, something for everyone and well worth a visit at any time of year. Open 7 days a week...

What a fantastic place! This was our second stay in the adjacent farmhouse and won't be our last, we stayed for 7 nights as it really is the perfect base for exploring the castles, beaches and national park that surround the area. The farmhouse is incredibly comfy and a great size, a small but well appointed kitchen (fridge, kettle, toaster, tea/coffee/sugar/milk etc.) is an added bonus on the previous stay. For the café, Andrew and all the team (including the very well behaved house dogs) are wonderful, always full of chat and smiles and it shows in the delicious array of food they offer, we had 3 lovely breakfasts (all locally sourced ingredients), a lunch (including the rather large sharing ploughmans) and plenty of cake and milkshakes. The variety of cakes taste as good as they look (carrot, banoffee, sticky toffee, choc fudge, cheesecake, flapjack, millionaires....probably missed a few too!!) A huge thanks to all at the Rocky for our wonderful stay that once again was over far too soon, hopefully see you...