Set inside a collection of sea containers, Trakol showcases seasonal and ethical cooking with a fresh focus on preservation, dry ageing and cooking over fire. The restaurant itself sits on the Gateshead side of the river and is also notable as it’s based inside a shipping container in the River Brew Co development - an independent container settlement that includes a number of businesses and shops.
Trakol’s industrial-chic dining room is bright and airy, thanks to lots of riverside windows that look out onto the Tyne. There’s plenty of room inside spread across tables and a long bar counter, and diners also get an interesting view into the open kitchen where chefs are busy at work. On top of that Trakol has a large outdoor riverside terrace that gets busy throughout the summer.
Trakol showcases live-fire cooking as well as preservation and dry ageing, and the menu focuses on seasonal and ethical dishes, reflecting the seasons as much as possible. As a result, the menu changes often, and it’s split into sections for vegetables, meat and fish, and shareable feasting plates. There are always Lindisfarne oysters on the menu, and dishes at the time of writing include beetroot, cherry plum vinegar, smoked curd and spruce, roe deer with leek scapes, black garlic, peas and shoots, and rib of beef with roasted bone marrow, fermented potatoes and caesar salad to share. Desserts include the likes of pine ice cream with nut brittle and oats, and white chocolate parfait with strawberries and elderflower.
Trakol also serves a popular Sunday roast menu, and the drinks menu includes a selection of wines as well as beers from nearby 15 BBL Micro Brewery.