Last month I was lucky enough to find an email in my inbox inviting me along to River Bar in Washington to try their new menu. I’m always looking for new places to eat around the North East and having never been before, I jumped at the chance.

What’s great about River Bar first and foremost is that it’s dog-friendly! Whether you’re looking to end your dog walk in the pub, or you just don’t want to leave your pooch at home while you catch up with friends – they’ve got you covered.

I decided to invite my Auntie along with me for a catch up, and knowing that River Bar is dog friendly it meant that she could bring along my favourite member of the family… her dog Crunchie!

My cousins, Kathryn and Jessica, decided they’d tag along too so off the 5 of us went for a lovely little midweek lunch date. 

We parked up and walked into the riverside restaurant, Crunchie’s tail wagging as he smelled the delicious food that was coming from the kitchen. We were greeted by the lovely Danielle, who was incredibly welcoming and showed us to our booth by the window. The bar has a real contemporary feel to it with wooden panels and bare brick walls, which comes after a £250,000 refurb at the end of last year.

After ordering some drinks, including a doggy beer for Crunchie, we had ourselves a good look at the new menu. There were so many delicious sounding meals on there that it took me ages to decide what to order. I ended up going for the ‘Riverbar Fajita Sizzlers’ with chicken, as did my Auntie and Jessica. I’m usually quite dubious about ordering fajitas when I’m out because to me they just never taste the same as when you make them at home, but my goodness I’m SO glad that I did on this occasion!

The chicken, peppers and onion were cooked beautifully in a lovely sticky sauce that was packed full of flavour, like no other fajitas I’ve ever had before! The warm wraps were the perfect size to pack plenty of filling in including salsa, sour cream, guacamole and grated cheese! The three of us were in agreement that they’re the best fajitas we’ve ever eaten at a restaurant. 

Kathryn went for the ‘Veggie Deluxe Burger’ which was served in a toasted bun with salad, and it looked like a right ole chunky patty! It was served with a side of thick cut chips, which I happened to pinch one or two of, and they were so tasty and fluffy.

We decided to order a plate of Halloumi Fries from the Bites menu to share too and they were so good. They had a lovely crispy coating and were served with sweet chilli sauce which worked perfectly. Safe to say they were gone in minutes!

River Bar didn’t want to leave Crunchie out while we were eating so brought him a bowl full of freshly cooked chicken…and he wolfed it down!

All in all our lunch was an absolute delight, and I’ll absolutely be making a return. My Auntie was really impressed and said she’ll definitely be heading back with the girls for catch ups, especially as she can take Crunchie along!

Even though I didn’t get a chance to try a cocktail, I did have a sneaky look at the menu and I think I might have to head down for Happy Hour at some point because there are so many to choose from! They even do Cocktail Masterclasses for just £20pp, which is a great idea for parties. For those of you who love a quiz as well, they host a weekly quiz night every Tuesday. Oh and heads up, there’s 50% off food on Tuesdays too!

You can find River Bar at –
16 Bonemill Lane, Fatfield, Washington, Tyne & Wear, NE38 8AJ 

Opening Hours:
Monday – Wednesday : 12pm – 11pm
Thursday – Sunday : 12pm – 12am

Will you be heading along with your pooch/pals to try the new menu? Let me know what you think if you do…or if you’ve already been!

Main course and drinks were complimentary for myself and one guest thanks to River Bar and OPR, as was Crunchie’s doggy beer and chicken, in exchange for this honest review x

* Halloumi fries, two mains and other drinks were paid for by us.