Where to eat

Best restaurants in Newcastle
Published 08 December 2023

Newcastle boasts a rich and dynamic food scene that seamlessly blends history with innovation. The best restaurants in Newcastle span a diverse range, from historic venues like Blackfriars, the oldest purpose-built dining room in the UK, to modern dining experiences from renowned chefs. The city's culinary landscape also features cosy neighbourhood spots and destination restaurants, offering a variety of atmospheres and menus to suit all tastes. The best restaurants in Newcastle highlight both local tradition and contemporary creativity, making the city a must-visit for food lovers.

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Blackfriars

Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear ££

In what could be the oldest purpose-built dining room in the UK – there's a claim! – Newcastle has a real gem. It started life in the early 13th century as the refectory of a Dominican friary, and still radiates m… Read more

Friars Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear NE1 4XN

Cook House

Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear ££

Creative modern eatery serving on-trend global dishes

Firmly bedded in at Foundry Lane Studios (a series of spaces for creatives and artists), chef and food writer Anna Hedworth’s Cook House continues to grow by leaps and bounds. Spread over two floors, the premises now include… Read more

Foundry Lane Studios, Foundry Lane, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear NE6 1LH

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Dobson & Parnell

Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear ££

‘We have been regular customers for a while, and it seems to be getting better each time,’ noted a reader who plunged into the ‘exceptional’ seven-course tasting menu at this grown-up metropolitan brasserie… Read more

21 Queen Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear NE1 3UG

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Dosa Kitchen

Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear

Hugely popular, not least for its 'super-fair' pricing and vibrant, inclusive atmosphere, this South Indian favourite takes a masterly approach to carbs. Dosas, which can be roasted with homemade ghee or stuffed with the house pot… Read more

7 Osborne Road, Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear NE2 2AE

House of Tides

Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear ££££

Opened in 2014, House of Tides is the original flagship of Kenny Atkinson (of Great British Menu and Saturday Kitchen fame). It's a capacious venue occupying a 16th-century former merchant’s house by the Tyne and incorporate… Read more

Opened in 2014, House of Tides is the original flagship of Kenny Atkinson (of Great British Menu and Saturday Kitchen fame). It's a capacious venue occupying a 16th-century former merchant’s house by the Tyne and incorporates an atmospheric ground-floor bar and anteroom with a flagstone floor, plus a first-floor dining room more comfortably furnished with wooden flooring and modern art on white walls. The tasting menu can be modified for various diets (and vegetarians have their own list), but otherwise there’s no choice. To start, a tempting gougère with warming baba ganoush and harissa filling (served downstairs) indicated the delicacy this kitchen can achieve. Many dishes contain a multitude of ingredients, several unmentioned on the terse menu, but it's questionable whether every component deserves its place. Did the sharp, pickled vegetable topping simply overwhelm a lovely creamy tasting of celeriac velouté? Was the tiny cube of smoked eel needed on the meltingly satisfying rissole of pulled pork matched with tart apple? And wouldn’t salt crystals have been preferable to caviar, topping a tender roundel of venison tartare (cleverly combined with crunchy smoked beetroot and tiny pickled shimeji mushrooms)? The jury is out. In contrast, praise is unalloyed for the sourdough bread and cultured butter (both are bought in), and at inspection, the fish and meat ‘main courses’ showed flashes of brilliance and a mastery of technique. ‘Stone bass, mussels, salsify and dill’ featured a sublime oblong of fish (seared skin, succulent flesh), with a crunchy roasted salsify log in a dill and fish sauce – creativity manifested in an eye-opening blob of intense (and disarmingly sweet) lemon verbena gel. Likewise, a pink, juicy helping of duck was complemented by squash (both puréed and roasted), resilient hen of the woods mushrooms and a piquant blob of black garlic. Puddings – as with every dish – are beautiful to behold: a luxurious cube of orange chocolate covered with melting roasted chestnut shavings (a nice wintry touch) and set off by tiny leaves of Thai basil; and a blackberry and fig tart topped with croissant ice cream, tangy apple caramel and candied pecans, made prettier still with marigold flowers. The wine list is extensive and service from a young team is eager (if uncertain). Yet with the sun shining brightly at Atkinson’s latest venture, Solstice, it seems that this one-time front-runner is starting to fade.

28-30 The Close, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear NE1 3RF

New Review

Best Local Restaurant

Long Friday

Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear ££

A small-plates dream ticket for Jesmond locals

A mercifully short stroll from Jesmond metro station for the benefit of those not lucky enough to call it their local, Long Friday’s friendly welcome sets the tone for casual, light-touch hospitality which can effortlessly p… Read more

46 Brentwood Avenue, Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear NE2 3DH

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Rebel

Newcastle upon Tyne , Tyne & Wear £££

'Hospitality is done superbly well' at this ambitious but easy-going spot, incongruous on a student street in suburban Heaton. The biggest act of rebellion here is in making old-fashioned standards of service and technique feel so… Read more

150 Heaton Park Road, Newcastle upon Tyne , Tyne & Wear NE6 5NR

Solstice by Kenny Atkinson

Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear ££££

To ask for £175 per diner upfront sets the bar high for any restaurant, so it’s difficult to enter Kenny and Abbie Atkinson’s new Quayside venture without demanding (at least notionally) ‘prove yourself!’ Slowly, via up to 19 tasting dishes on a no-choice menu, Solstice does exactly that. Scott Hodgson is head chef, though Kenny Atkinson (who gained fame on the Great British Menu) was orchestrating proceedings in the kitchen when we visited, emerging to explain dishes to his customers. And what dishes they are! Guests are presented with a bare-bones menu on arrival: ‘caviar’, ‘cod roe’ and ‘mackerel’ being the first three items on our line-up (shortly before the winter solstice). Elaborate verbal descriptions are provided at table, and you’re given a detailed account on paper at the end. A meal here is characterised by beautifully presented, complex morsels of artistry, where contrasting textures and tiny bursts of concentrated flavour excite the taste buds. Highlights? Seafood is certainly a star: Lindisfarne oyster, poached in its shell then covered with an oyster and bonito beurre blanc, topped with oscietra caviar set off by drops of walnut oil (applied at the table); langoustine tail roasted in its oil yet still translucent, served with a citrus yuzu koshu butter sauce and fennel flower; steamed pollock, wrapped in nori and stuffed with a fish and mussel mousse, the masterstroke being its intense Craster kipper sauce. Shortfalls? Perhaps a sweet Parker House roll (itself perfect) wasn’t the ideal accompaniment to a main course of venison, which came with a glorious gravy of red verjus and smoked bone marrow. But that’s a minor gripe. Puddings? Northumberland heather honey parfait won the prize. Don’t be daunted by the number of dishes: portions are well-judged and the final four (including chocolate with sansho pepper ganache) are petits fours, served together. The setting for all of this is a split-level room (with limited kitchen views) seating only 14 diners; colours are subdued but note the sunburst wall lights replicating the restaurant’s logo. Staff are young but well-versed in the menu (and charming too). The suitably voluminous wine list is presented on an iPad; flights cost £95, though there’s ample choice by the glass, starting with a palatable Albariño. It’s clear Solstice is setting its sights at a level still higher than its older sibling House of Tides. If it succeeds, and on this evidence it will, it should become the brightest star in the Newcastle firmament.

5-7 The Side, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear NE1 3JE

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The Broad Chare

Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear ££

Proper pub, proper food, proper beer

Terry Laybourne's self-styled ‘proper pub’ stands not far from the north bank of the Tyne. It looks the part too, with a polished oak bar furnished with high stools, a plain wood floor and inviting banquettes. The dini… Read more

25 Broad Chare, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear NE1 3DQ

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