Cross Keys Restaurant in County Durham

We ended up here after our Sunday MTB ride not realising it was quite small inside and that they just served Sunday lunch on that day. Despite bookings really being required the staff kindly managed to fit our table of 4 in. I'm not really a Sunday lunch fan as I'm not a big veg eater but having said that I enjoyed it despite the carrots being a tad hard, the presentation of the dish was great. I went for two courses and chose my favourite sticky toffee pudding and because it's my favourite it's therefore determined the 3 stars. Unfortunately the sticky toffee pudding itself was tastleless and the custard was the only flavour and quite frankly the custard was rubbish with a funny taste, I was tempted to just leave it which is unheard of. I wouldn't visit again based purely on the pudding which may seem harsh but I think if you can't get a staple pudding like that right then I may as well go elsewhere.

Lovely pub with a good atmosphere. We both tried the steak pie which was delicious. Only tiny thing was that the food could have been a bit hotter. Wouldn't stop us from going again though as the flavours were spot on.

Highly recommend Cross keys Country pub. Beautiful food,friendly staff and dog friendly. Perfect place

Lovely food at a reasonable price, nice atmosphere and friendly staff.

Fabulous find after a nice long dog walk at Hamsterley forest. Lovely home cooked food in a very well presented pub,friendly helpful staff. Dog friendly but also restrant area which is free of dogs if that's a concern.

Amazing pub very friendly staff you feel welcome and relaxed. Good quality and choice of drinks. The food is some of the best I've had the food is amazing. Its a proper countryside pub I will be back

Lovely food at this pub, friendly staff too and now it's our local 😀

We stayed in Hamsterley for a week on holiday so we ended up having 5 meals here. Spoilt for choice on the menu and all homemade. Would definitely recommend. Staff were very friendly and welcoming.

We enjoyed two excellent meals at the Cross Keys. The food is traditional with some interesting specials. It was delicious and well cooked. Service was excellent and the beer and wine very good too.

I had a Coronation Chicken sandwich for lunch which was very nice and great value for £7. They have plenty of parking and their own private dining room. A really enjoyable experience and I certainly would return.