Washington Restaurant Guide

“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.

“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”.

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”.

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.

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.

“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.

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”.

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.

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”.

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).

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’”.

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”.

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.

For a “cheap ’n’ cheerful” occasion, this Jesmond institution of decades standing is just the job. It bills itself as a pizzeria, but there are lots of other choices on its long menu.