Holy Cross Restaurant Guide

Dave Coulson, a former MasterChef: The Professionals finalist, ensures that this whimsically named split-level venture on a shopping parade in Jesmond is “great for a business meal as well as for leisure”. The “good value and delicious set lunch” (£25 for four courses) remains the top draw, though the classically inflected cooking also takes in a more decadent £90 tasting menu – all “top rate” and with “excellent” service to boot…no wonder reporters “love it”.

“A hidden gem” in Jesmond – “we used to bring our children and now bring our grandchildren: the menu (by no means only pizza) hasn’t changed much but along with the classics there are good daily specials (search out the blackboard!)”. “Food is good and tasty, service very quick, with a jolly vibe” – and it’s “walk-ins only, which means we give it a miss on Saturdays, when queues can be in the street”. Top Menu Tip – “the best garlic king prawns”.

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).

“You can always guarantee something a bit different or unusual” at Anna Hedworth’s Ouseburn operation, which upsized from its original shipping containers site seven years ago. “Not obviously romantic, but it’s cool and quirky with excellent cooking”. The changing menu offers the likes of “Cheese & Sauerkraut Doughnuts, Beetroot Borani with Walnuts, or Pan-Fried Hake & Sag Aloo with Curried Mussel Sauce” – making it “imaginative and generous, particularly considering the price point”.

This “lovely hotel” in a “beautiful” Grade II-listed Arts and Crafts house remains a satisfying getaway, being particularly “perfect for afternoon tea”. There are several dining spaces, ranging from a bar offering light snacks to the dedicated Fern Dining Room for heartier meals.

2022 Review: 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.

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.

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.

2023 Review: “A very pleasant change from some of the run-of-the-mill Asian offerings elsewhere in Newcastle” – this “very nice South Indian restaurant” which doesn’t have the greatest entrance (“entry is via a door on a different street and up a flight of stairs”). “An excellent range of dosas” is the highlight of its “excellent value and very consistent food”. Top Tip – “Sunday buffet is especially good value and a great introduction to South Indian cuisine for those unfamiliar and/or unsure what to order”.

2022 Review: “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.

This “excellent takeaway on Tynemouth’s busy Front Street” – with “adjacent restaurant also popular with locals for its extended menu” of “attractively presented, super-fresh seafood” – was founded 10 years ago by Simon Walsh, a chef with a background in fine-dining. Top Tip – “expect queues at weekends”.

“On a great location just off the Quayside”, this is “not really a traditional pub, but with Terry Laybourne at the helm you can be assured of the highest standards of both food and beer”. “They promise ‘honest, home-cooked food like pubs used to serve’ (well, none of the pubs I used to go to served food as good or as varied as this!)”. It’s also “perfect for the Live Theatre next door” (which it helps to fund). Top Menu Tip – “get a selection of the pub snacks (which should include the Lindisfarne oysters) to share: it’s like having special pub-themed tapas”.

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.

“Great atmosphere, great cooking, great concept” – Terry Laybourne’s busy wine bar/restaurant just off Newcastle’s Quayside offers an enticing menu inspired by the south of France and Italy. It’s next door to the Live Theatre, so perfect for pre-theatre wining and dining.