Gosforth Restaurant Guide

2021 Review: A high street outfit ‘bringing a dash of Sardinian sunshine to Gosforth’, as their website proclaims – and which is well-regarded locally; they have now opened up an on-site deli, should you prefer to take away.

An “excellent Sunday lunch in the garden room” followed – after a decent pause – by “top scones and cakes” for afternoon tea are the kinds of occasion at which this boutique hotel, overlooking Jesmond Dene, excels. For a full meal in the ‘Fern’ dining room – which serves an à la carte menu – feedback remains more limited and somewhat mixed.

Scant reports – too few for a rating – on this ‘upmarket neighbourhood dining room’ from ex-House of Tides chef Danny Parker, in the venerable Jesmond Dene location once part-owned by Terry Laybourne. In addition to dinner service and Sunday lunch, daily afternoon tea is a feature.

“Delicious, interesting dishes” inspired by the street food delivered by Mumbai’s ‘dabbawala’ bicycle delivery men, are to be found on the menu at this brightly coloured Jesmond venue with an open kitchen and verandah. It’s a spinoff of the city-centre original.

2021 Review: Fans of this puntastic pizzeria may be going OTT when they hail it as “probably the best pizza in the UK”. But Jesmond-born former joiner Calvin Kitchin and his brother Kerry take their trade seriously – their “good-value pizzas” are accredited by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana and cooked in a wood-fired Stefano Ferrara oven imported from Naples.

This Jesmond institution has long attracted queues before opening time for its extensive but uncomplicated menu of pizza, pasta and other Italian classics. It’s the welcoming buzz, the generous portions and very reasonable prices that keep them coming back.

2021 Review: The “excellent Persian food” at this “friendly” Jesmond spot wins high ratings for “one of the cheapest restaurants in Newcastle for cooking of high quality”. A more central branch near the station has closed down.

Some of the “best-quality Indian” food in Newcastle is to be found at this showcase of vegan cuisine from the south-eastern state of Tamil Nadu, which graduated from pop-up to permanent status four years ago. Top Tip: the “Sunday lunch taster menu is a good-value introduction to the wide range of South Indian dishes available here”.

“Fantastic attention to detail and quality of cooking…”, “friendly and knowledgeable staff…”, “great-value tasting menu…” – recent converts rave about their “new favorite restaurant” at Dave Coulson’s agreeable Jesmond venture, which is nearing its tenth anniversary. Coulson trained under Michel Roux Jr and returned to his hometown to open the restaurant in 2013, mixing classic technique with local ingredients – including some foraged in nearby Jesmond Dene Park.

You wouldn’t necessarily expect it from the unassuming façade, but former River Café alum Nick Grieve's “small but adventurous” bistro on the main road through Jesmond turns out some “outstanding quality” food – currently in the format of a six-course, no-choice menu (£59).

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.

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.

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”.

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.

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.

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.

“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.

“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.