Tallulah Mae pizza / red pepper & linseed starter soup
There’s usually great music during the day at Dat Bar (chilled out, funky older tunes), quirky decor, friendly hipster service.
Pizza standards vary, but when it’s good, it’s fantabulous! The proper thin sourdough base is always spot on.
The burger on the lunch menu isn’t special when compared to Fat Hippo, which is just around the corner.
All starters are pretty dope, only once out of the about 50 orders I’ve placed here the soup has been sub-standard (too runny).
Dat Bar gets rammed at weekends (bar area especially) and before theatre performances (in the same building as Theatre Royal).
The music is too loud for my liking in the evenings, can’t have a normal conversation.
They currently (3-2017) do a 2 course lunch for £7.95, or 3 courses (coffee or ice cream for dessert) for £8.95. Great value 👍🏻
Oh, and to add this is a great place for vegetarian pizza lovers.
Despite a few visits not having been ideal (very few toppings on the pizza, and once we waited for food for 40 minutes before the theatre so had to leave and pay without having time to eat the food) we’ve been regulars here for a couple of years.
I think it’s the staff that keep us going back, even after a dodgy visit. Well, and the Tallulah Mae pizza…. hoping it is made like it was today ⬇️ DELICIOUS 😋
Dabbawal was a nice experience, great considerate service and lovely food.
Their website states it’s UK’s best casual dining restaurant (not sure about the credentials, but that’s what it says)
They do tapas style selections or full ‘big eat’ curries,
and their lunch/pre-theatre/evening menus are nice and affordable.
It seems that as well as their city centre location, they also have a restaurant in Jesmond. That’d be a lovely day out, going to Jesmond Dene on a sunny day and finishing up with nice Indian meal afterwards.
Fab fries from British potatoes! £4 for medium fries
Free nuts 🥜 ✅
Tasty burgers BUT
WELLLLLLL overpriced in general for a McDonald’s kind of experience, particularly the milkshakes (no table service so no justification for nearly a fiver for not even a large banana & Oreo milkshake that I could replicate ten times at home for that money. Fresh banana was nice but couldn’t taste the Oreo apart from the very end)
Music was banging wayyyyy too loudly, more like a nightclub at 2 in the afternoon (Saturday though)
Wouldn’t go again unless I wanted delicious chips on their own to take away
Such great simple meals, and signing up for the family card is a must as you’ll get unlimited free coffee and tea 😀
Ikea also does a super cheap breakfast, hot dogs and lovely milkshakes just before you leave the shop.
It’s just a shame you have to walk past all of the stuff Ikea sells on the way to the restaurant, and I don’t think I’ve ever left empty handed!! They’ve got a great business going on there. Well done, Sweden, you’ve done the world a favour. Well done.
I am full and satisfied after having a Salmon Black Pepper takeaway from Nudo. About the same calories for my portion as in a Big Mac, but loads more filling. First time I’ve been to Nudo, actually.
I went in to get sushi to begin with, but value for money seemed a lot better with this rice based meal.
The girl at the till tried to upsell more sauce, saying she thinks the meal is too dry otherwise. My thoughts were that if the portion is shit at the price it’s sold at then I won’t go again. I want an upsell to be a luxury, not a necessity.
I did add some soya sauce to the rice at home but thought the meal was ok without. Nothing too special, but not bad.
I’ll go again when I’m on my own on a shopping trip and fancy rice under £7.
Next on the list of similar places is Shi Jo at Haymarket, a friend swears by it and after I saw a pic of her meal from there today I got a bit food jealous 😬
Central is a new joint in Newcastle specialising pizzas and cocktails, and it’s just opposite the central station. We headed over after visiting the science centre Centre for Life for a few hours beforehand to check out their new Lego exhibition. (Check it out if you can! They’ve built the amazing North East sights: Angel of the North out of 8,000 Lego pieces, the Tyne bridge, St. James’ Park and even Team Valley. And the DNA helix, and a load of other cool stuff.)
Central is a bit of a silly name for a restaurant though, don’t you think? Googling “Central Newcastle” or “Central Newcastle restaurant” doesn’t really get you results for this place. I suppose they’re relying on the central location to get them visitors, especially tourists. And bloody hell, the place is open until 2-3am! Hopefully that won’t mean it’ll turn into another Revolution and stink of old booze at lunchtime after a while. Not the nicest environment to have food…
I saw a picture of a pizza they make (on the NE1 Restaurant Week brochure) and that made me instantly want to visit. I love proper thin Italian handmade pizza made with fresh ingredients.
Pretty good vibes on the inside. We were freezing and requested to sit somewhere warm, and they took us next to the kitchen. It was a chilled out spot, warm enough. Loved observing the chefs, many of them Italian.
And I also loved the toilet :D. I have a bit of a thing for toilets. I love it when thought has gone into them and they’re kept clean, tidy and stocked up. Loooooved the full wall mirrors. But no soap. Sob sob.
Here’s the menu… It’s nice and concise, but the fact that Pesto Chicken doesn’t seem to include chicken and Broccoli And Sausage looks vegetarian… They’ll need to include all the important ingredients in the next version of their menus. The waitress did say they get asked about it all the time.
I ordered the Pesto Chicken pizza but swapped goat’s cheese for mozzarella (or ‘fior di latte’, as they called it), and asked for some chillies to add a bit of heat to the pizza. Really great service here, she even brought me some extra chilli oil to the table.
My husband got the Heat and Meat pizza, wasn’t too keen on the fennel sausages but I’m sure that’s down to preference instead of the quality of the meat. He even ditched some bacon and I’ve never seen that before! My friend Hannah ordered the Roast Veg pizza, which I thought looked fabulous. But what’s pizza without meat…..
I also ordered the Heritage side salad (nice, but not worth the money), James got Central fries (one of the best chips I’ve had, and loved the dips too [very strong garlic and a nice kick to the tomato dip]) and Hannah got a chocolate mousse (lacked richness, wouldn’t order again) for dessert.
Overall, the pizzas were nice and juicy. I wish they had extra virgin olive oil and balsamico on the tables for dipping the crusts in. I managed to have half of mine, and took the rest home in a doggy bag (I pretty much never manage a full pizza on my own). I hate wasting food, and the rest of the pizza was a nice lunch on the next day. Sometimes I feel like apologising for not wanting to stuff myself to bits, but the staff happily boxed the leftovers up, which was nice.
Table service was spot on throughout our visit. We got served by two different people.
One thing bothered me towards the end of the lunch, unfortunately. Coming out of the toilet a few staff members were having a chat at the top of the stairs. They saw me but didn’t acknowledge me in any way (no smile, no ‘sorry we’re in the way’, no moving in any direction), so I had to squeeze past them apologising for existing. I can (usually) somewhat tolerate people on the street doing it, but I would never expect it from people working in hospitality. Any professional wearing their uniform should be courteous and give paying customers the service they deserve.
I think I’ll be likely to visit again, especially if there’s good deals on. But the best pizzas in Newcastle are still made by Herb Garden.
I’d love to hear what you thought of Central Oven + Shaker if you visit… Just leave a comment below 🙂
I eat out regularly eat out in central Newcastle. I’ve had my favourite ever burger, pizza, pie, parsnip soup and an entire dining experience in this beautiful and vibrant city. There are hundreds of restaurants to choose from. And so I thought it may be useful to share my experiences instead of just letting the photos disappear over time in my photo stream. I want to keep my posts short and to the point, share some pictures and talk about my experiences – the quality of the food and the service I receive.
I most often dine out at lunch time during the week. I’m not a fan of crowds and busy places in my spare time. I love chilling out and not feeling rushed. Sitting in the corner and watching the world go by, sucking in all the positive vibes. Sometimes eating out is purely practical though as myself, my husband and daughter need quick feeding before I get too hangry (a mixture of hunger and angry). You don’t want to make me hangry. (On clever days I take my own advise and always make sure to have a healthy snack to hand at all times… but you know… I have my weaknesses and as long as I can control my weight there is no problem.)
I work with nutrition on a daily basis. I am a personal trainer and nutritionist, and I can’t emphasise enough how important it is to have a sweet balance in life and nutrition. So I don’t hide the fact from people that I eat often eat out. I love my food and manage to keep myself at my optimum weight year round, despite occasionally grazing on some beautiful scran that’ll easily take me over the national recommended daily allowance on fats and sodium. Balance, it’s all about balance. And flexible dieting allows it.
I do wish there were more deliciously healthy food joints in the city (and everywhere in the world, for that matter). So if you know of one, please let me know!
I rarely go with the unhealthiest choice on the menu, sometimes even check the calorie content of different meals so I can be 100% sure to maintain my weight.
In the past year I’ve worked hard on reducing the amount of red meat I eat (mostly by not buying much for the house). But when I eat out, I do allow myself to order anything on the menu.
If you’re interested in following my journey, you can subscribe to the blog posts on the right hand side of this page. I’ll give you my suggestions on the best and worst places to go for some serious scran in Newcastle upon Tyne, the city of love ❤
Cook for me, Newcastle! 