Gateshead, Italian Restaurant Guide

With its “buzzy atmosphere, friendly staff” and “good Sardinian specialities”, Roberto & Walter Pani’s deceptively “cheap ’n’ cheerful” spot is quite possibly “the best, most consistent and interesting Italian in town”. Just short of 30 years after opening, it remains for many “the go-to place when I return to Newcastle”.

For a “cheap ’n’ cheerful” occasion, this Jesmond institution of decades standing is just the job. It bills itself as a pizzeria, but there are lots of other choices on its long menu.