Newcastle Upon Tyne, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

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.

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”.

“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”.

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.

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”.

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!”

“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.

“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.

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”.

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).

“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.

“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.

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.

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.

2018 Review: “Convenient for Team Valley and Newcastle”, the “discrete” dining room of this stately Victorian hotel is a notably consistent sort of spot and “the set lunch menu is particularly good value”.

Kenny Atkinson's follow-up to House of Tides next door (and replacement for Violets) will offer a tasting menu for just 14 guests; opened June 2022.