[uggboylovestravel]

May 2017, our lunch experiences

A week before our holiday in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, UK my fiancé found out there was a 1 Michelin starred restaurant located there by the river Tyne. We decided to try our luck and booked a table for two in such a relatively short time frame. We could even choose our preferred time online.

Lunch at the House of Tides is only available on Fridays and Saturdays. We went on a Friday in May 2017.

We liked the Vegetarian Tasting Menu, because it fit our needs best and sounded on the one side grounded, but also a bit adventurous and was another all vegetarian experience after having had lunch and dinner at the Zirbelstube, which holds 1 Michelin star, in Stuttgart, Germany, which was very Avant-garde and exciting by Chef Sebastian Prüßmann who left this restaurant recently for personal reasons.

The House of Tides is located in a 16th century building near the Tyne river and below the High Level Bridge. The chef patron is Kenny Atkinson.

When we arrived we could spy a bit into the kitchen. It was similar to our experience at Sant Pau in Tokyo, where the structure is postmodern and diners can’t look into the kitchen, but pedestrians can.

When entering the restaurant we were warmly greeted and our jackets were taken. The bar on the ground floor was cosy.

We were asked if we wanted to go up to the dining room on the first floor or preferred to have a drink at the bar. We decided to go ahead with lunch, so we were brought immediately upstairs.

The restaurant had kept the original beams and other features. We liked the feel of the dining room.

House of Tides was nearly booked out. Our fellow diners were mostly older and British, but there were some Asian and younger guests too which added to the atmosphere IMHO.

Service was impeccable, warm and welcoming. Having provided our dietary requirements before, they just double checked who couldn’t eat what.

We decided to have the complete vegetarian tasting menu excluding the cheese course.

Our still water was sourced from the area [Northumberland] and was called Marlish and suited our meal.

Our signature House of Tides cocktails were Rum Re-Fashioned (rum, brown sugar and ginger bread syrup) and Tropical Tides, made with Durham Vodka, which comes from nearby, plus Passoa, Passionfruit and Mango.

Both cocktails were very delicious and the Tropical Tides specifically brought back memories of sunny and warm holidays.

The meal started with Ewes Curd, Linseed, Apple; Carrot, Fennel, Meringue; Onion, Cream Cheese, Truffle and Feta, Gooseberry, Mustard.

There was cheese on a thin disc, a cone filled with ewes curd and linseeds, a macaroon and a lightly fried cheese with micro greens. All of it was treated as finger food. It was delicious and the different textures and flavors were to our taste and we would have no problems to have it all over again.

Next was a more traditional dish of Fermented Rye Bread and Cultured Butter. Both were excellent.

One of our favorite dishes was the Parmesan Royal, Quail Egg. It was a pastry filled with poached quail egg and a fluid Parmesan sauce. It was quite large and a bit messy to eat, but had great taste and was fun.

This was followed by more traditional courses of Asparagus, Jersey Royal Potatoes, Morels (The mushrooms in his dish were replaced by Tenderstem Broccoli.) and Ragstone [goat cheese] Gnocchi, Spring Vegetables.

Both made us think of the season. They were beautiful to look at and tasty. The gnocchi were among the finest we enjoyed so far during our culinary experiences.

The Gariguette Strawberries and Curry Leaves came in an artistic globe and was a palate cleanser.

The crowning glory was Dark Chocolate, Hazelnut, Gold Leaf – a fantastic light signature cake. The design of the gold leaf on the cake matched the plate perfectly.

My fiancé enjoyed a glass of Royal Tokaj Blue Label 2009 with the desserts which he found wonderful and moreish.

The crockery was equally sourced from Newcastle upon Tyne and surroundings, which we actually liked a lot.

To round up our meal we decided to have green tea and treats, which were caramel chocolates. They were like the Parmesan Royal, large and better eaten in one go. Otherwise the fluid caramel center would spill.

We spent 2.5 hours at House of Tides and were rather sorry to leave after paying our bill of ca. 164 GBP (ca. 191.20 Euro / ca. 212.20 USD) including 12.5 % Service Charge.

We would return again, because we liked the atmosphere, the architecture, friendliness of the young and good looking staff and the memorable dishes. We believe the lunch menu is indeed good value at 55 GBP (ca. 64.10 Euro / ca. 71.20 USD) plus Service Charge, considering the superb ingredients used.

Would we recommend this restaurant to a friend? YES!
Would we want to enjoy again lunch/dinner at this restaurant in our future? YES!

[FDOS_UK]

You went to Newcastle upon Tyne, on holiday?

Words fail me 😉

[capetonianm]

Newcastle is one of the UK’s more pleasant cities, with a lot of history, culture and character, and it’s a great base for seeing some of the UK’s most attractive scenery and villages, for example along Hadrian’s Wall (or the Geordie Wall as some call it.) People are friendly and I always enjoy visits there. That said, I wouldn’t want to be out on the town on a Friday or Saturday night unless I wanted to see acres of overweight and underdressed drunken females, but that applies just about anywhere.

[toonfan62]

[quote quote=808352]…. That said, I wouldn’t want to be out on the town on a Friday or Saturday night unless I wanted to see acres of overweight and underdressed drunken females, but that applies just about anywhere.

[/quote]

The last part is one of the reasons I’m looking forward to my upcoming trip back home…. 🙂

[Charles-P]

When visiting for business in Newcastle last year I was taken to the interestingly named ‘Peace and Loaf’ in Jesmond Road, Newcastle. Turned out to be absolutely marvelous despite being vegan friendly. Well worth a visit.

http://www.peaceandloaf.co.uk

[uggboylovestravel]

House of Tides was memorable, highly recommended.

Thanks all for your insights. We enjoyed our visit to Newcastle upon Tyne and would visit again in our future.

Cheers & Safe Travels.

[Intheair]

Newcastle in a lovely place, as is the whole of the North East.

A great place for visit to watch the football, a night out or a weekend away

[PhilipHart]

FYI, the head chef at the restaurant, Danny Parker, is one of the competitors in the North East regional heat for this year’s Great British Menu.

[ichtop1%]

Amazing how narrow minded some people can be. I’m assuming any negative comments about Newcastle are based on someones experience 40 years ago, or possibly NO experience whatsoever, or possibly someone who’s never been to anywhere with a population of over 200, 3 Geese and an Ox! As for Friday or Saturday night, again, yes, 30-40 years ago i would have thought twice, but like any modern city anywhere in the world, you pick your places. Newcastle is no different to any other city, ANYWHERE! In the UK alone i could think of many places i’d prefer not to go to, but i would balance that with ‘there will always be bad bits’.

Not only is the City now a fantastic place to go to day or night, within an hour in any direction you have Northumberland and some of the best coastlines in northern Europe, Durham, a Roman history you wouldnt have time to scrape the surface of, the lake District, the North York Moors……i feel sorry for those with only a day or two!

Yes, i’m from Newcastle, Yes i got a tad wound up by a couple of probably well meaning(!) comments, and yes i’ve probably over reacted, but someone has to stand up for a home town.

Come and visit and i’ll show you round. You never know, you may escape with a well positioned nose and without the need to wash the coal dust from your clothes!!

Howay man.

[penfold69]

I literally don’t see any negative comments on this thread. A little bit of obvious light banter at worst.

[ichtop1%]

I’m sensitive. Apologies! I just saw a stereotypical view/comment or two next to a sarcastic (light banter) one and lost it!

Just tell me to “Giveowa”!

[K1ngston]

I agree with penfold69 went looking for the negative stereotypical comments that had clearly wound you up and I found none!

I would push back relax with a lovely bottle of the Newcie Brown and think of better things you’ve clearly had a bad day!

If your’e a footy fan there’s plenty of optimism there?
Thank your lucky stars you’re not a Sunderland or Middlesborough fan!

As you say Giveowa….. 🙂

[toonfan62]

Prefer Haddaway myself….

I loved the Immigration Officer’s face the last time I was “home” and handed over my blue American passport. Don’t think “I’m here to see me mutha” was quite the response she expected to purpose of visit……

[Author]

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