Local bar and kitchen, Brown’s at The Exchange 1856, is extending its opening hours and launching a new seasonal menu, which includes a culinary tribute to local war hero, Thomas Brown.
The new exclusive menu features traditional recipes with a modern twist, made from the highest quality, locally sourced ingredients, freshly prepared onsite.
As well as an extensive range of favourite breakfast, lunch and dinner options, one of the new menu’s highlights includes ‘The Thomas Brown Sharing Board’ – a feast for two of some of the tastiest ingredients from Thomas’s era such as ham hock, corned beef scotch egg, classic pork pie, black pudding sausage and homemade pease pudding.
North Shields-born Thomas helped shorten World War II by retrieving the Enigma code books from a sinking German submarine. Thomas was only 16 when he rescued the code books and was awarded the George Medal for his efforts. Unfortunately, he died in another act of heroism trying to rescue his younger sister from a fire in 1945, before he could collect his medal.
Thomas’s life is honoured with a special room dedicated to his memory at The Exchange 1856 and Brown’s is also named after him.
Other new dishes on Brown’s menu include a rich celebration of local North Shields seafood such as locally caught cod loin, potted crab, crab cakes and fish and chips.
With extended opening hours from 7am until late and breakfast starting at 8am, people can now enjoy food and drinks at Brown’s for the entire day, from start to finish.
Managing director at The Exchange 1856, Stuart Egan, said: “We are thrilled to introduce our new menu at Brown’s, which tantalizes the taste buds and celebrates our local heritage.
“We’ve got everything from lighter bites such as hummus and flatbread and homemade soup to traditional comfort food such as bangers and mash or beef shin ragu with rigatoni. As part of our new selection of dishes, we also wanted to pay homage to Thomas Brown with simple, yet delicious ingredients that connect the nostalgia of a bygone era with comforting flavours enjoyed for generations. It’s a stand-out dish which we hope is worthy of a war hero.
“We’re now opening our doors from 7am and have added a range of breakfast options available from 8am such as the full English, French toast or North Shields Potted Crab Eggs Benedict for those who want to enjoy breakfast in comfortable surroundings in the heart of town, all washed down with a wide selection of hot and cold drinks.
“As the weather warms up, we’ve also got our pavement café and private outdoor terrace courtyard where people can enjoy the warmer nights with a cocktail, a coffee or some mouth-watering food.”