Not only is Park Lane one of Sunderland’s two city centre metro stations but it’s also (officially) the busiest bus station in the UK outside of London. It opened in 2002 as part of the Sunderland metro expansion however was a little after the rest of the Sunderland due to a delay in some wall panels being delivered. And you can’t have a metro station without any walls.
If you walk out of the metro station and turn right through the bus station you will come to Park Lane and the first port of call you come to will be 2 minutes down the road on the right called; Port of Call.
It was Saturday lunchtime when we arrived and just nicely busy, although it quickly filled up as the afternoon wore on. It has a really American bar-cum-restaurant vibe with high ceilings, high wooden tables and route 66 style memorabilia adorning the walls. There are two levels for if the downstairs (where all the cosy booths are) is full and there’s a large beer garden with heated Tipi out the back. They have a good range of craft ale and glasses of wine come in at a very reasonable £4..10 for a large glass. That said £6 for a pint of ale and a pint of lime & soda left us feeling a little salty – it would have been more economical for me to drink wine I think!
While the good selection of drinks was great, the real draw of this place is undoubtedly the food. It’s a hipster paradise with everything coming in a brioche bun with a side of ‘slaw – so very trendy. The choice and the portions are both plentiful however, Dave’s chicken skewer was a sight to behold for sure and at £18 for two mains it didn’t feel over priced for the amount you got. Must just be the lime and soda that costs the earth!
Port of Call is great city centre pub which can be all things to all people – someone for a bite to eat and a few drinks on a Saturday afternoon in between shopping trips, a session pub to watch the football or a cocktail bar to meet your friends in on a Friday or Saturday night. It certainly was a pleasant way to spend a Saturday afternoon in Sunderland
Contact:
1 Park Lane, Sunderland SR1 3NX
0191 514 5408
http://portofcall.co/
Find out where else we’ve been on our metro pub tour here
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