The Earl of Pitt Street

Stumbled across this on a wander. Cracking pub, very nicely done out. Comfy sofa seating, good music, good selection of local ales. I had a Magus from Durham Brewery which was served in excellent condition.
I didn’t eat but looked like a good spot for food.

If The Earl of Pitt Street keeps it up, it may surpass the Broad Chare as my favorite gastropub. Or at least tie for first. We had a lush meal with friends here on Saturday night. Definitely book in advance, the upstairs dining room is small and the downstairs is packed with people having pints. The upstairs dining room is comfy and creatively decorated, with lush lighting and an atmosphere that makes you want to linger.
My husband and I shared the Korean king spiced prawns, and the sweetcorn and mussel chowder. For me, the chowder was the runaway favorite of the two. The prawns were nice, but they were also breaded, and the breading fell off a bit. The chowder was hearty, creamy, flavorful, and delicious with crusty bread served alongside. I’d be hard pressed to order another starter — it comes in a lovely hot crock that really hits the spot on a cold night.
We and our friends all got steaks. Everything else sounded nice, but once somebody got steak, nobody wanted to miss out. The boys got surf and turf off the specials menu, but the girls got chargrilled sirloin with mushrooms, tomatoes, truffle butter, and skin on chips for £19. Everything was lovely — my steak was cooked rare as I asked, and was very tender and flavorful. The chips could have been a touch more crispy, but they were delicious and I definitely finished them, so I ought not to complain. I think everyone agreed the steaks were well worth the money, and we basically needed to be rolled out of the restaurant.
A bottle of wine, a beer, 4 starters, and 4 steak-​based main courses, and I think it was about £35 per person? To me, that seems eminently reasonable.
We’ve been wanting to try this place for a long time, I’m so glad we did, and hope to be back soon!

I was surprised that this hadn’t already got a Unilocal page!
The Earl of Pitt Street used to be a highly doubtful pub called The Greyhound but Mark of the highly successful Barn series of restaurants (Barn, Barn at the Biscuit Factory, Barn Asia) has taken the old pub and given it a bang up to date refurb. The kitchen is now up and running and I’m happy to say didn’t disappoint.
It’s currently in an odd location but when the science park is finished it’ll be right next door.
It has a good range of «proper» beer, some very comfy chairs and tables and an interesting menu. My fish finger butty was a small plate. There are larger mains which sound very good.
The «landlady» was very nice and chatty too :-)
I’ll be back. It on my way home!