Local Pubs & Restaurants

Local Pubs & Restaurants

Lollo Rosso, Bridge Street, Morpeth NE61 1PQ Tel – 01670 514111

Giovanni from Marabinis has opened this restaurant and wherever he goes clients follow. The only trouble is it is tricky to get in so booking is essential. Quite noisy – in a Geordie-Italian sort of way. On Friday and Saturday nights there is a singer and people start dancing. Busy at lunch time as well, every day. It is rather fun and most guests love it.

Bar Luga, Sandersons Arcade, Morpeth

This has outside seating, a smallish attractive area downstairs and a very attractive large restaurant upstairs. There is a lift. Booking not required. They down good rare roast beef on Sunday. This is somewhere that will suit a lot of tastes. Booking not essential as it is large.

Tandoor Mahal, Morpeth. Bridge Street, Morpeth Tel  01670 512420.

We are regular visitors here and I recommend the Tandoori King Prawn and the excellent yellow mint sauce. Also does take-away meals.

Nandon Thai, 12A Newgate St, Morpeth, NE61 1BA Tel – 01670 458151

A relatively new edition in Morpeth and well worth a visit if you like Thai food, equally good for takeaways. I am not keen on Thai cuisine but Christopher likes it!

Giannis, Market Place, Morpeth NE61 1HG Tel  01670 503040

Long standing Morpeth stalwart, recently upgraded. Good value and a great place for children. Upstairs in the Market Place.

The Old Boathouse, The Harbour, Amble. 01665 711232

Excellent fish restaurant, open all day in the summer. Superb seafood in a lovely location (which is saying something in Amble!) Highly recommended! Booking essential. Fish and Chips is great value in a restaurant of this standard. Also good meat dishes and wood fired Pizzas

Spurellis, The Harbour, Amble.

Just along from the Old Boathouse, this has been voted the best ice cream parlour in the UK by Trip Advisor. Really super ice cream. Masses of exotic flavours and hardly any calories!

The Old Blacksmiths Shop, Belsay.

This is the best tea/room café in the county. It is just off the road at the gates to Belsay Hall. Great for a lunch or afternoon tea. Tie it in with a visit to Belsay Hall, my favourite garden in the County  I usually visit about 12 times a year. I have been to Cragside once in 12 years!

Morwick Farm Ice Cream Parlour, Morwick.

Morwick Farm is between Acklington and Warkworth. If one turns off the A1 for Felton then take the right turn at the top of the hill towards Acklington, then turn left in Acklington one will come across this superb farm based ice cream parlour. We LOVE this ice cream. The directions here are the quickest way to get to
Warkworth, Alnmouth and the coastal road leading all the way to Bamburgh. One would not go to Amble if it were not for the restaurants I recommend.

Sea & Soil, Queen Street, Amble. NE65 0DQ Tel 01665 713569

Excellent fish restaurant towards the harbour. I have had some great meals here. Great fish and great meat. Highly recommended. Booking essential.

Northumberland Arms, The Peth, Felton, NE65 9EE Tel -01670 787370

Renovated and rejuvenated, this is a great pub to visit serving wholesome locally sourced food. Exceptionally popular so booking is essential.

The Red Lion, 22 Northumberland St, Alnmouth, NE66 2RJ Tel – 01665 830584

Quaint little pub down a side lane. One of our favourites, this place serves great food and has a wide selection of real ales. There is an excellent outside seating area overlooking the estuary for summer times and open fires and hospitable atmosphere in the winters.

The Anglers Arms, Weldon Bridge, Longframlington, NE65 8AX Tel – 01665 570655.

An old coaching inn with a good atmosphere. Restaurant and bar meals are available. I have had some good reports about this pub. It is a very pleasant place to pop out for a pint whilst your husband is preparing supper. Fish is normally excellent. The best place near here, not in Morpeth, by common consent.

Tankerville Arms, 15 The Village, Eglingham, NE66 2TX Tel – 01665 578444.

Make sure you get the right village…not Ellington or Edlingham! This village is north west of Alnwick. Go north up the A697 then turn right in Powburn after the garage, or approach from Alnwick.

Cook and Barker, Newton on the Moor, Alnwick, NE65 9JY Tel – 01665 575234.

Very popular with Beacon Hill guests. The bar meals are excellent. Essential to book for restaurant meals. They have a good value offer on Mondays to Thursdays.

Shoulder of Mutton, East Road, Longhorsley, Tel – 01670 788236

Convenient for an evening drink. The food has improved but I have never really like this pub! Many guests seem to enjoy it and it is the closest pub to Beacon Hill. Not for me! I just dont like anything about it.

The Granby Inn, Front St, Longframlington. Tel – 01665 570228

Very reliable, good quality bar food. No children under 14.

The Ship Inn, Low Newton by-the-Sea, Alnwick, NE66 3EL. Tel – 01665 576262

An excellent spot on a great bay. Simple lunches but more elaborate cooking in the evening.

The Jolly Fisherman, Haven Hill, Craster, NE66 3TR. Tel – 01665 576461.

This is a greatly improved pub and it has become very popular. I would avoid it at weekends. It looks over Craster Harbour and Dunstanburgh Castle.

The Olde Ship Inn, Main St, Seahouses NE68 7RD. Tel – 01665 720200.

A real old nautical pub. This is a great pub full of authentic fishing miscellany. The bar meals are fine as well. I like this place.

Café 21, Trinity Gardens, Quayside Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 2HH 0191 222 0755.

Excellent restaurant. In The Good Food Guide. Very special place.

Bouchon Bistro, Hexham. 01434 609943

My favourite restaurant in Northumberland. Winners of Gordon Ramseys The F word in the French restaurant category. I detest Gordon Ramsay… he is a vulgar, loud mouthed oaf.

The Angel, Main St, Corbridge, NE45 5LA Tel – 01434 632119

Smashing hotel/pub in the lovely village of Corbridge. Always lively and has a great menu. Just round the corner is a very interesting shop RE. Have a look also at the brilliant shoe shop next to the Corbridge Larder.

Newcastle Restaurants

Newcastle is famous for its night life; it is a great city, with some stunning Georgian streets. T. Dan Smith and Jack Cunningham, corrupt councillors, both subsequently imprisoned, bulldozed a motorway straight through its Georgian heartland and building Eldon Square shopping centre over the original Eldon Square, a Georgian square which would now have attracted a Grade 1 listing. This sort of thing happened to a lot of towns in the 1960s. There is still a lot of Georgian Newcastle left and Grey Street which curves down to the River Tyne, is a great street to walk down. Greys Monument dominates the Georgian centre of the city and it is down this wonderful street that you will find Jamie Oliver, Carluccios, La Vina, Marco Pollo, Zizzis, The Café Royal, Browns, Bar Luga&and lots more. When one reaches the river there is a fantastic vista with the international concert hall, The Sage, Gateshead, The Baltic Gallery and the 6 bridges over the Tyne including the iconic winking eye footbridge. This area has a number of restaurants of all standards. Please consult Google or ask myself or Christopher if you need specific advice.
In writing this guide I have been fairly anodyne in my descriptions; I have given up recommending restaurants to friends because they seem to take a delight in rubbishing my recommendation!
People who come here have such varying tastes and requirements. Please write about your eating out experiences in the Red book; this will be a great help to others. (Guests often rip out blank pages from Red book for shopping lists which is a bit irritating)
Pubs everywhere serve food now; nearly all welcome children and lots are good value and very pleasant. Guests here venture far and wide and take pot luck, which can often be very successful.

Happy Eating!