Newcastle Upon Tyne Restaurant Guide

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.

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: “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.

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.

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”.

“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.

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!”

A collaboration between local luminary Terry Laybourne's 21 Hospitality Group and Live Theatre, a new writing theatre based nearby, this proper old-school ale-house isn’t aiming for the skies, but it does what it does – well-kept beer and bar food – very well indeed; a further boon – “the new outdoor terrace makes it even better!”.

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”.

“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).

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.