Running to Zapatista

As I'm sure you all know, yesterday was a very important day in Tyneside's calendar with the arrival of the Great North Run.   This years was particularly spectacular as it saw the 1,000,000th person to cross the finish line - something that makes the GNR the first of its kind.

We are lucky to live a very short walk away from Mile 3 of the course, so after watching the start of the race on the TV we hurried outside to find a good spot to stand and cheer on the runners.

This was my first ever experience of the GNR and I loved every second.  The atmosphere was amazing with lots of people out to show their support.  We had the most beautiful sunny day and watching Mo Farrah run right past us was so special.  

A little while later he was followed by crowds upon crowds of runners, I was so blown away by the sheer amount of people running past us and when the red arrows shot across the sky over our heads I felt so lucky to have such a fantastic race happen right on our doorstep.

Watching people running is pretty hungry work so after a while we decided to leave the competitors to it and amble down to the Quayside and up to Newcastle for an early lunch. 

We headed to Zapatista, a burrito bar just off Northumberland Street that I've heard so many good things about and have been wanting to try for a very long time.

Zapatista offers a fresh and delicious Mexican inspired menu with plenty of choice to allow you to  make your perfect burrito.   

Creating the perfect meal consists of 4 easy steps.   Step 1 is to chose between Burrito, Fajita, Tacos, Nachos or Salad Bowl to form the base of your dish.  Step 2 is to pick your filling with four different meats to choose from or sautéed vegetables.  Step 3 involves choosing your salsa and Step 4 is for those who can fit in some extras!

Simon and I both went for exactly the same lunch (great minds think alike!)   We chose the Fajita which was stuffed with coriander and lime rice, sautéed peppers and onions before adding our sweet shredded pork filling.   We topped our mountain of filling with sour cream and cheese before watching it get rolled up in foil with both ends nearly tucked in.

We decided to eat our food in the main restaurant upstairs which is a fantastic space full of brightly coloured furniture and fun murals. 

Just watching our food being prepared I was wondering how on earth we'd manage to eat such a beast of a Fajita.  I've never seen anything containing so much filling and the fact that you can get these mammoth feasts to take away is mind boggling. 

I have no idea how on earth you'd eat one of these on the go!

 

Sitting down with our food we were really happy to see that each table came with a guide to eat your burrito.   I didn't actually have a clue how to start so followed the instructions and took a firm hold, peeled the foil off one end and then began to tackle the food.

My lunch was absolutely delicious, there was a beautiful combination of flavours packed into a perfectly soft and floury tortilla.  I'm pretty sure lunches don't get any better than this!

Our meals were so fresh, tasty and filling.  We were really impressed and will definitely be returning next time we're out shopping and want a fantastic feast for lunch.

As for the Great  North Run, Simon spent quite a lot of the afternoon trying to convince me that next year I should try and run the 13.1 miles.   Luckily the 2015 date rather conveniently clashes with my little sister's wedding.   So for the moment I shall just have to stick to what I do best .... eating cake and going on adventures.   Darn!