The Backyard Bike Shop has a perfectly formed menu of amazing locally-sourced food. The traditional breakfast is, quite frankly, epic. The café is under the arch of the Tyne Bridge with seating outside if the weather is on your side. Heads up: it becomes a cocktail bar after 5pm. Hic!
Newcastle has plenty of free attractions. We visited local favourite The Great North Museum to indulge our love of Roman history. The Laing Art Gallery is central and small enough for a quick detour. And then on to the Baltic – we came for the art, stayed for the vista.
The Staiths Café is perfect if you need the steps. It’s about a mile from the Quayside, nestled by an iconic wooden structure on the Tyne. The grub is delicious with plenty of hipster-friendly dishes. And the traybakes, cakes and sweet treats are well worth the walk. All of them. Fenwick, smack bang in the heart of the city, bucks the trend of forgettable department store food halls – inside, Porterhouse is the ultimate meat stop where we custom built a mixed grill for the ages. Vegan weekender? The Journey, near the Laing Gallery is among the pick of the meat-free bunch.
The By The River Brew Company offers a splendid array of beer to quench your thirst and the city centre is awash with theatres and venues. We took in a movie at the fiercely independent Tyneside Cinema on the Saturday. Then sought out the famed views from the The Free Trade Inn. This traditional, well-worn pub is on the fringes of Ouseburn, close to gig mecca The Cluny, good pubs, cafes and maker places.
You can’t move for eateries in central Newcastle. One metro stop from Haymarket, in Jesmond, you’ll find our favourite. Peace and Loaf combines a relaxed vibe, creative twists on classic dishes and frequent menu updates for a perfect date night. It’s also walkable to the city centre and near Jesmond Dene, an exquisite and expansive oasis of greenery. Alternatively, head to the Gateshead south bank of the Tyne and the Hawker Market, open from 6pm at the business end of the week. It’s Tyneside’s answer to Shoreditch.
Nitehawks is hidden in plain sight, attached to the Theatre Royal. It’s tiny, trendy and buzzes with great DJ sets, friendly bar staff and good cocktails. The Poison Cabinet is the perfect place to end your evening. The entrance to this secret cocktail bar is like something straight out of Diagon Alley – a hefty timber door located on the way to the underground loos of Intermezzo, formerly Bierrex. Inside you’re treated to a speakeasy vibe, classy cocktails and arguably the best late-night hangout in the city.
Starting at Monument Metro and winding down Grey Street into Dean Street through splendid Grainger Town takes you to the Quayside. A left on Sunday morning brings you into the hangover cure heaven of the Sunday market food stalls. In a leisurely loop you can take in the Baltic, come back over the Swing bridge and you’re back in town. Lunch anyone?
The new king of Sunday dinners in the Toon is the Earl of Pitt Street. Extra duck fat roasties all round, please! This posh boozer is near St James’s Park – a towering landmark symbolising the city’s football obsession. Historic Blackfriars and Newcastle’s compact Chinatown centred on Stowell Street are also close by
while restaurant Träkol on the south bank of the river has won rave reviews.
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