Hardens Guide to the Best Restaurants in Gateshead
Hardens guides have spent 31 years compiling reviews of the best Gateshead restaurants. On Hardens.com you'll find details and reviews of 40 restaurants in Gateshead and our unique survey based approach to rating and reviewing Gateshead restaurants gives you the best insight into the top restaurants in every area and of every type of cuisine.
Featured Gateshead Restaurants
1. Valley Junction 397
Indian restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne
Old Jesmond Stn, Archbold Ter - NE2
2019 Review: “In an old signal box joined with an old carriage” – this quirkily located Indian comes heartily recommended by a small but enthusiastic fan club.
2. Dabbawal
Indian restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne
69-75 High Bridge - NE1
A pioneer of Indian street food in the Northeast when it opened near the Theatre Royal in 2008, this retro-styled venue has lost none of its verve in the intervening years, and still wins high ratings for its unusual and “really delicious” small plates.
3. Raval Luxury Indian Restaurant & Bar
Indian restaurant in Gateshead
Church Street, Gateshead Quays - NE8
2018 Review: Limited reports this year on this Gateshead Quays Indian with open kitchen, but feedback is all-round very good when it comes to its sophisticated cuisine and luxurious contemporary decor.
4. Trakol
British, Modern restaurant in Gateshead
Hillgate Quays - NE8
“Very good” reports again on this restaurant that’s part of the container village under the iconic Tyne Bridge, run by the ‘By The River Brew Co’. There’s also a covered terrace and outdoor market. Grills over open fire are at the heart of the menu, and there are many exotic local brews to wash down the food.
5. House of Tides
British, Modern restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne
28-30 The Close - NE1
“This alone is worth the journey to Newcastle”: this acclaimed venue – arguably the foremost in the city – occupies a former merchant’s townhouse on the Quayside, and is run by Kenny & Abbie Atkinson; the lunchtime and evening tasting menus (£85/£110) are “fabulous” by all accounts, with equally “lovely ambience and service”. Stop Press – in October 2021, the duo were set to launch Solstice, a seven-table sister restaurant for intimate fine dining on the site of their former Violets bistro.
6. Dobson and Parnell
British, Modern restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne
21 Queen St - NE1
On the Quayside, this location “has had several reinventions since the old days of 21 Queen Street and is a very worthy successor”. There’s a capable set menu, or you can push the boat out and have a five-course or seven-course tasting menu, all at very affordable prices. “I like the location, the decor, the food and the overall experience!”
7. Route
British, Modern restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne
35 Side - NE1
Newly crowned Best Local Restaurant – Northern England by the GFG, MasterChef: The Professionals finalist John Calton’s bistro-style second outpost (following North Shields gastroboozer Staith House, now RIP) is “fabulous” by absolutely all accounts. The small-plate menu features “wonderful”, globally accented dishes while “staff are knowledgeable and passionate about the food and wine they are selling”.
8. The Broad Chare
British, Traditional restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne
25 Broad Chare - NE1
A collaboration between local luminary Terry Laybourne's 21 Hospitality Group and Live Theatre, a new writing theatre based nearby, this proper old-school ale-house isn’t aiming for the skies, but it does what it does – well-kept beer and bar food – very well indeed; a further boon – “the new outdoor terrace makes it even better!”.
9. Sachins
Indian restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne
Forth Banks - NE1
This Punjabi curry house behind Central Station has become a Toon institution over almost 40 years. It has been owned since 2000 by chef Bob Arora, who was a regular customer before taking over.
10. Six, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Arts
British, Modern restaurant in Gateshead
Baltic (Sixth Floor), South Shore Road - NE8
Consistently inconsistent ratings on the food front were echoed again this year (reports ranging from “quite ordinary” and “pricey” to “very good”), but by common consent the “amazing views” and “plentiful outdoor seating” make this upscale art gallery restaurant “worth the visit”.
11. St Vincent
British, Modern restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne
29 Broad Chare - NE1
2021 Review: Terry Laybourne’s 21 Group closed the beloved Caffè Vivo in August 2018 to much local ire, but after a remarkably short interregnum, the space was “reinvented as an imaginative, wine-led tapas restaurant” (“still with an Italian slant”, and featuring a new bar and metro-chic décor). Reassuringly, head chef Emanuele Lattanzi, a carry-over from the Vivo days, oversees the menu, which dances about all over the place (mac ‘n’ cheese, black pudding, etc.) but so far it’s the “fascinating wine list” which draws all the comments.
12. 21
British, Modern restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne
Trinity Gardens, Quayside - NE1
“Top quality in all respects” – Terry Laybourne’s “reference point bistro” has often been acclaimed as “the best restaurant in the city” over many years and certainly remains its most commented-on since it first opened in 1988. “It’s buzzy, vibrant, modern and the food is slick and poised”. “Just the job for a meal, before walking across the millennium bridge to the Sage”.
13. Pani’s
Italian restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne
61-65 High Bridge - NE1
A Tyneside fixture for 26 years, Roberto & Walter Pani’s popular venue serves “real Italian dishes” – including a number of Sardinian specialities. It was marketed for sale in May 2021, but is still operating under the Pani brothers’ management.
14. Blackfriars Restaurant
British, Traditional restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne
Friars St - NE1
“Atmospheric” venue – a thirteenth-century friary’s rectory – that claims to be the UK’s oldest dining room, and which serves “good local food” from a bistro/brasserie-style menu.
15. Tyneside Coffee Rooms, Tyneside Cinema
British, Modern restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne
10 Pilgrim St - NE1
This Art Deco (1938) landmark (incorporating Newcastle's only surviving indie cinema) closed for much of the COVID-19 pandemic and started a phased reopening in August 2021. The coffee rooms are in the final phase following a new floor and refurbishment of furnishings throughout the building.
16. Tapas Revolution
Spanish restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne
Greys Quarter, Intu Eldon Square - NE1
2018 Review: The sixth branch of Spanish TV chef Omar Allibhoy’s growing UK tapas chain opened in Newcastle’s Eldon Square shopping centre in February 2017.
17. Smashburger
Burgers, etc restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne
Grey's Quarter, Eldon Sq - NE1
2018 Review: The third branch of this US burger chain – named for the grilling method of ‘smashing’ a meatball onto a hot, buttered grill – arrived in Newcastle in early-2017. Further roll-out plans are in the works for the brand, which is rapidly moving in on our homegrown posh burger chains with sites in Brighton, Milton Keynes, Bath, Glasgow, Wednesbury and Dunfermline.
18. Chilli Padi
Malaysian restaurant in Newcastle Upon Tyne
8-10 Leazes Park Road - NE1
2019 Review: “Top Malaysian food” plus the ability to BYO, both win praise for this simple, “cheap ’n’ cheerful” city-centre spot, which makes a feature of a selection of clay pot dishes.
19. Artisan, The Biscuit Factory
British, Modern restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne
Stoddard St - NE2
2019 Review: “Andrew Wilkinson consistently produces meals bursting with flavour from first rate, locally sourced, ingredients” in the “unique setting” of this converted Victorian warehouse (part of the UK’s largest arts and crafts galleries): “a banker of a restaurant, with interesting monthly tasting menus and ‘fish Friday’ options”.
20. Cook House
British, Modern restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne
Foundry Lane - NE6
“Anna Hedworth’s gem of a restaurant has gone from strength to strength” since moving from its initial location in a shipping container (with a little help from Kickstarter) in 2018. “What a treat” it is, especially on the terrace, where you can enjoy accomplished small plates and an “unusual drinks list, much of it made on the premises” before carting off wares from their deli.
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