Hardens Guide to the Best Restaurants in Tyne And Wear
Hardens guides have spent 32 years compiling reviews of the best Tyne And Wear restaurants. On Hardens.com you'll find details and reviews of 35 restaurants in Tyne And Wear and our unique survey based approach to rating and reviewing Tyne And Wear restaurants gives you the best insight into the top restaurants in every area and of every type of cuisine.
Featured Tyne And Wear Restaurants
1. Dabbawal
Indian restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne
69-75 High Bridge - NE1
“A full menu with lots of variety, and super staff” underpin the appeal of this street food pioneer, which opened in 2008, near the Theatre Royal. “The only downer is that it is sooooo popular now, it is hard to get a table!”.
2. Longsands Fish Kitchen
British, Traditional restaurant in Tynemouth
27 Front Street - NE30
2022 Review: “A great menu to suit all tastes, from basic fish ’n’ chips through to more adventurous dishes” is the order of the day at this polished chippy, which focuses on sustainable catch and shares a name with the resort’s most established blue-flag beach.
3. Colmans
Fish & chips restaurant in South Shields
182-186 Ocean Rd - NE33
“The menu is simple but they know what they are doing… as you would expect now they’re into their fourth generation running the place” at this Tyneside “local institution”, which first started out as a hut on the foreshore in 1905 – a “fantastic traditional chippy with a good selection of other dishes too. Always busy, but they always find room for you!”.
4. The Valley Junction 397
Indian restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne
Old Jesmond Station, Archbold Terrace - 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.
5. Colmans Seafood Temple
Fish & seafood restaurant in South Shields
Sea Road - NE33
“A great choice of seafood and lovely sea view” accompany a trip to this beachfront landmark (dating from 1921 and known locally as Gandhi’s Temple), which was relaunched as this descriptively-named spot in May 2017, by the family behind local well-known institution, Colmans (see also). “More up-market than their old established chippy in the town, this is a top venue with the same value for money combined with a great setting”. Top Menu Tips – “fabulous Lindisfarne oysters, the best king scallops Thermidor and smoked haddock soufflé”.
6. Six, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Arts
British, Modern restaurant in Gateshead
Baltic (Sixth Floor), South Shore Road - NE8
2022 Review: 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”.
7. Cook House
British, Modern restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne
Foundry Lane - NE6
A “really excellent find in a charming location”, “Anna Hedworth’s flagship restaurant in the Ouseburn serves an unusual and interesting menu” in “a quirky building just away from the city centre”. The former Quo Vadis and Rochelle Canteen chef started out here in a shipping container, before graduating to this upstairs, open-kitchen venue. (“Flawless… high praise from a veggie going to a ‘normal’ restaurant!”)
8. Trakol
British, Modern restaurant in Gateshead
Hillgate Quays - NE8
“Wood-fired wonders from one of Newcastle’s best!” – a “tremendous menu” of “raw-in-tooth-and-claw meat cooking over open flame” draws aficionados to this “wonderful location, right under the Tyne Bridge”. There’s “nothing here I could cook at home – many things I couldn’t even imagine. Risky, but it works!”
9. The Broad Chare
British, Traditional restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne
25 Broad Chare - NE1
“Quality locally sourced food” “in an excellent refurbished pub close to the Quayside” wins consistently high ratings across the board for this long-running collaboration (12 years and counting) between Terry Laybourne’s 21 Hospitality Group and the neighbouring Live Theatre, a theatre for new writing.
10. 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.
11. 21
British, Modern restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne
Trinity Gardens, Quayside - NE1
Terry Laybourne’s “buzzy Quayside fixture” is “clearly the place to be in the Toon” – “reliably pleasing and deservedly popular” after providing “top-quality dining at surprisingly affordable prices” for 35 years. Top Tip – “great pre-theatre prix-fixe menu” ahead of a visit to the Sage, just across the Millennium Bridge.
12. Dobson and Parnell
British, Modern restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne
21 Queen St - NE1
Casual fine dining is the style nowadays at this buzzy Quayside destination, which occupies an address made famous in its days as ‘21 Queen Street’ (long RIP). There is a conventional two-course/three-course menu, but also competitively priced 5-course and 7-courses options featuring more “unusual taste combinations”. All are well-reviewed as “always reliable” and “delicious” as is the “friendly and attentive service”. See also its siblings: Blackfriars Restaurant in Newcastle and Hinnies in Whitley Bay.
13. 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”.
14. House of Tides
British, Modern restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne
28-30 The Close - NE1
Kenny & Abbie Atkinson’s Grade I-listed sixteenth-century merchant’s house on the old Quayside is frequently hailed as Newcastle’s best restaurant, and it’s historically the most renowned of the city’s more ambitious culinary destinations. And its “lovely, informal, friendly atmosphere makes this haute cuisine dining experience an all-round joy”. The worst thing anyone said about the food this year? “The caviar was a bit soft and non-descript” [first world problems! Ed].
15. Pani’s
Italian restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne
61-65 High Bridge - NE1
Roberto & Walter Pani’s Tyneside fixture (est. 1995) is “still a very reliable venue after all these years”, serving an Italian menu with “interesting Sardinian specialities” – and there’s “always a great vibe both lunchtime and evenings”.
16. Sachins
Indian restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne
Forth Banks - NE1
2022 Review: 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.
17. Tyneside Coffee Rooms, Tyneside Cinema
British, Modern restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne
10 Pilgrim St - NE1
2022 Review: 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.
18. The Patricia
British, Modern restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne
139 Jesmond Road - NE2
2022 Review: 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).
19. Blackfriars Restaurant
British, Traditional restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne
Friars St - NE1
“An old building, with lots of candles and nooks and crannies” – “this beautiful 13th century former Dominican friary” is particularly “atmospheric in winter” (but it also has “a lovely courtyard area for summer dining”). From its bistro/brasserie-style menu, there’s “always a good choice of dishes based on good local produce” and its standards are “accomplished and reliable”.
20. Peace & Loaf
British, Modern restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne
217 Jesmond Road - NE2
“I’ve never had a bad meal here”. Local chef Dave Coulson trained at Le Gavroche in London, and returned to open his “outstanding” Jesmond restaurant 10 years ago, steadily building its reputation ever since for “adventurous and delicious” cuisine from its seasonal tasting menus. “Dave is renowned locally and deserves national recognition”. Top Tip – lunchtime and early evening, try it out more inexpensively with the ‘2, 1, 2, 1, 2’ menu for £35 per person.
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