Hardens Guide to the Best Restaurants in Newcastle Upon Tyne
Hardens guides have spent 33 years compiling reviews of the best Newcastle Upon Tyne restaurants. On Hardens.com you'll find details and reviews of 34 restaurants in Newcastle Upon Tyne and our unique survey based approach to rating and reviewing Newcastle Upon Tyne restaurants gives you the best insight into the top restaurants in every area and of every type of cuisine.
Featured Newcastle Upon Tyne Restaurants
1. Colmans Seafood Temple
Fish & seafood restaurant in South Shields
Sea Road - NE33
“Ask for a table overlooking sea” when you visit this beachfront landmark (known locally as Gandhi’s Temple and dating from 1921), which was relaunched in 2017 as the flagship of local institution Colmans (see also): “excellent fish is served in a dining room with wonderful views”.
2. SIX Rooftop
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”.
3. The Valley Junction 397
Indian restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne
Old Jesmond Station, Archbold Terrace - NE2
The Valley Restaurants promise a unique and pleasurable dining experience in luxurious surroundings. Superbly presented authentic dishes from Bangladesh and the Indian subcontinent are served with impeccable style by attentive waiters. The Valley Restaurants are proud to have ...
4. Dabbawal
Indian restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne
69-75 High Bridge - NE1
Near the Theatre Royal, this early pioneer of Indian street food (which opened in 2008) continues to generate upbeat (if limited) feedback on its “delicious curries”.
5. 21
British, Modern restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne
Trinity Gardens, Quayside - NE1
The venue where it all began for local restaurant hero and 21 Hospitality Group owner Terry Laybourne; even well into its third decade, the Quayside icon (though not as commented-on as it once was) is still a “very dependable destination” (“good for celebration meals” especially), and turning out “well prepared and beautifully presented” food that owes a debt to French classics.
6. Colmans
Fish & chips restaurant in South Shields
182-186 Ocean Rd - NE33
Not all chippies can boast 100 years of operation (the business started as a hut on the foreshore in 1905) – this traditional operation is one of the few that can, but has moved with the times and only uses wild fish from sustainable fishing grounds, fried in additive-free vegetable oil. Nowadays its ‘Temple’ spin-off generates more interest in our poll, but the original remains highly rated for what it does.
7. 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.
8. Pani’s
Italian restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne
61-65 High Bridge - NE1
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”.
9. Blackfriars Restaurant
British, Traditional restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne
Friars St - NE1
A “very historic dining room” – set in a thirteenth-century former refectory that may be the oldest of its kind in the UK – adds a sense of occasion to a visit to this “atmospheric” outfit, but it’s arguably even better in summer “when you can eat outside in the courtyard garden”. The brasserie menu is “quality” (think “good seasonal produce such as game”) and “you can hear yourself talk, so it’s good for taking your parents too if they like traditional with a slight twist”.
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. Dobson and Parnell
British, Modern restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne
21 Queen St - NE1
Troy Terrington’s casual fine-dining venue (sibling to Blackfriars and Hinnies in Whitley Bay) occupies the well-known Quayside address which became famous as ‘21 Queen Street’ (long RIP) in days gone by. There was the odd “disappointing” experience this year, but for the most part feedback praises its “excellent” cuisine, including the optional five-course and seven-course tasting menus (£40/£65 per person lunches and Thursday, £60/£75 per person at weekend dinners) praised for “some exceptional dishes”.
12. The Broad Chare
British, Traditional restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne
25 Broad Chare - NE1
“This lively pub close to Newcastle’s waterfront” has an “excellent bar downstairs where local brewery offerings can be tried with proper pork scratchings, scotch eggs or a pint of prawns. Upstairs offers more choice and a good wine list” – “I’m looking for an excuse to visit Newcastle again so I can return” to this “great venue”. Through a unique arrangement, a proportion of its profits helps fund the Live Theatre next door, a haven for new dramatic writing.
13. Dosa Kitchen
Indian, Southern restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne
7 Osborne Road (rear) - NE2
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”.
14. House of Tides
British, Modern restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne
28-30 The Close - NE1
“A historic building with some lovely original features” – Kenny & Abbie Atkinson’s Grade I-listed sixteenth-century merchant’s house on the Quayside remains one of the city’s ‘crown jewel’ eateries. It inspired less feedback than its sibling this year, but all rated it as “outstanding”: “the cuisine was delicious and presented very precisely; the sommelier was very knowledgeable and engaging. I would certainly recommend”.
15. 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).
16. A Taste of Persia
Persian restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne
34 Osborne Road - NE2
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.
17. Cook House
British, Modern restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne
Foundry Lane - NE6
This Ouseburn outfit is “worth seeking out, even though it is off the beaten track”, for its “quirky but delicious food and really good service”. Founder Anna Hedworth worked at Quo Vadis and Rochelle Canteen in London before setting up in a shipping container in Newcastle, and moved on to the current open-kitchen venue six years ago.
18. Sachins
Indian restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne
Forth Banks - NE1
“Always a favourite” – this smart Punjabi curry house is “still one of the best Indian restaurants in town”, even approaching its fourth decade; the “traditional food” is “very dependable”, having been overseen by chef-owner Bob Arora (a former regular) since the millennium.
19. Peace & Loaf
British, Modern restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne
217 Jesmond Road - NE2
Le Gavroche-trained chef Dave Coulson came home to open this “firm favourite” in Jesmond, with a winningly puntastic name; the “very good” seasonal tasting menus “mostly favour grown-up tastes” – and if you want to try them for less, there’s a “great-value lunch deal called ‘2,1,2,1,2’”.
20. Dabbawal
Indian restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne
1 Brentwood Mews - NE2
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.
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