The Truffled Hog in Saltburn: We tried out a seaside brunch spot which is worth travelling for

I’ve done it a few times; a standout memory is a restaurant on a beach on Spain’s Atlantic coast, where I actually had tuna twice in the same day.

During the day it was a cute, rustic shack but at night it morphed into a seductive, shimmering oasis, complete with fairy-lights and cool tunes.

There were actually people dancing on the beach in the moonlight. I might have been one of them, I couldn’t possibly say. Or remember.

One thing’s for sure, there wasn’t a snowball in hell’s chance of finding me grooving on the beach at Saltburn in January with Storm Eowyn flinging bins along the prom and launching small dogs into the air.

We question the sense of turning out but my car is a tank and we’re made of strong stuff, so off we set.

A chum has sung the virtues of brunch at The Truffled Hog in Saltburn – a handsome, workaday town rapidly becoming a ‘destination’ – and we settle down in the window of this cute caff-by-day and watch the bins scudding by.

Service is quick and sweet and in no time at all, Saltburn Eggs ‘Emma’s fav’, a huge dish of steaming borlotti beans and chickpeas in a rich tomatoey sauce lands in front of me.

I absolutely love this Ottolenghi-lite sort of thing, and whoever Emma is has good taste – there’s a dollop of thick Greek yoghurt on the top, a couple of perfect poached eggs and a fine shower of Gruyere over all of it.

Across the table ‘Shrooms on Toast’ arrives: bosky mushrooms in a creamy buttery sauce with a hit of pistachio pesto on house made foccacia – this is Brunchin’ fine style, as the menu has it.

Pistachio Poached Eggs Florentine had my attention too, along with Smashed Butternut Sweet Potato Stack with confit toms and wild mushrooms.

You can go the Whole Hog of course. I don’t need to explain, you’re ahead of me. I think you’ve guessed there’s quite a lot of play on the pig thing. The coffee is good, the cakes homemade and the vibe relaxed and chummy.

The ‘Hog’ as I think they’d like us to call it is open all day from 9.30am, brunch served from then til four. At five the place morphs into a slightly more sophisticated dinner joint.

Those of you needing to know if we stayed all day, we didn’t. A walk on the beach – or rather a non-chemical exfoliation was endured, followed by a life-giving nap in our own beds before venturing out again.

The evening menu, entitled ‘Elegant dining’ starts off with vegetable Gyoza, or Japanese dumplings, with a fiery soy dipping sauce, and duck liver parfait on brioche toast with red onion chutney which was flavoursome and nicely presented, the dumplings less so, and I raised an eyebrow at the ten quid price tag though it represented better value than 18 quid for scallops thermidor.

Mains included duck breast with chive mash, cavolo nero and celeriac puree - £30 ouch, and aged beef fillet with dauphinoise and peppercorn sauce, same.

I very much liked the sound of confit lamb cassoulet, but when you see ‘No Parmo Here’ on a menu, hell there’s no other option, and it’s a clever, tasty riff on the classic Middlesbrough heart attack on a plate version.

Underneath a perfect parmesan crisp is a soft, tender chicken breast studded with saffron garlic and it sits in a rich mustard béchamel. Crispy chicken skin is mentioned but I didn’t notice it, and the dauphinoise had been standing for too long somewhere – otherwise, a good plate of food.

Scottish salmon with chive mash and confit tomatoes comes with a split lobster sauce – it’s a bonny thing, the fish beautifully cooked and bursting with flavour and strangely comforting on this stormy night – generous too.

I’m drawing a veil over dessert – it didn’t work at all – I failed to distinguish any of the parts (lemon, crème brulee, candy) and it was fridge cold.

A footnote re Parmo.

We all know what it is but I couldn’t resist Googling it to find out its origin. It’s a good tale.

Legend has it that Linthorpe Road in Middlesbrough is the birthplace of the dish, but in reality it was America where it was born in the 1930s.

The godfather of the Teesside Parmo was Nicos Harris, a chef with the American army in the Second World War. Harris opened a restaurant in Middlesbrough called The American Grill, where he invented it, drawing inspiration from the American-Italian chicken parmesan. Every day’s a school day.

The Hog hasn’t quite hit its stride but its piggy heart is in the right place. I’m inclined to put it in my book as a great spot for lunch and I’ll be going back for dinner when they’ve been round the block a time or two and the wrinkles have been smoothed out.

Talking of which - can I put in a plea for fewer check-backs? The service staff are charming but I only need to see them once during each course – if that.

It’s some operation they’re attempting, open seven days a week, with a breakfast/brunch/dinner and Sunday lunch, and if they can make it work in these challenging times, hats off. They’re absolutely worth supporting – certainly during the day.

I’d travel some distance for those eggs – it’s a 5/5 for brunch.

Welcome 5/5

Food 3/5

Atmosphere 3/5

Prices 5/5

The Truffled Hog, 7 Dundas St E, Saltburn-by-the-Sea TS12 1AH t: 01287 624031 www. thetruffledhog.uk

Open 7 days a week Monday – Wednesday 9.30 - 4. Thursday to Saturday 9.30 – 11. Sunday 9.30 – 6.

Brunch: 2 courses £20. Dinner: 2 courses each + 1 dessert with 2 glasses of wine £97.02