On Friday 22nd August at 4pm, the much awaited Tyneside Bar Cafe opened its doors to the public! I went along with my friend Julie in the evening, thinking we’d just stay for an hour… we liked it so much that we didn’t budge for 3 hours!

Part of the Tyneside Cinema (read my post here) on Pilgrim Street, the cafe is fully licensed and all food is made fresh to order using locally sourced ingredients. It was pretty busy when we got there and people seemed quite settled, but after sitting by the window for half an hour we managed to nab a table in the centre of the room. The bar area is pretty but as it was so busy I was a bit hesitant to take a lot of photos. There are plenty of tables with enough space to walk around to the bar/loos etc and at the back of the room is an open seating area with a curtained screen.

Open from 8am-late, the menu is pretty extensive (the breakfast and weekend brunch menus look delicious) and of course we ordered something to eat. Julie got the Royale with cheese and I got the Tyneside Cinema hot dog in a brioche bun. (I was getting some funny looks for photographing the hot dog). I drove into town so was on the soft drinks, I had the most delicious black cherry flavoured american soda, while Julie had Poretti beer.  I will not be driving next time 🙂

We bumped into the lovely Chloe and boyfriend Simon, who like us had popped in to see the newly opened establishment. They had a quick drink with us before heading off as they had other plans.

At 9pm, a Geordie rockabilly band (yes really) took to the stage and we absolutely LOVED it. The band – Sir Jac’s Bantamacs – are quite newly formed and are brilliant! The crowd were loving them too, we saw a couple of couples having a little dance – they really lifted an already great atmosphere. Took a few photos, looked a bit like a groupie.

There seem to be lots of event being hosted here too – live music on a Friday and Saturday night, every Sunday morning a movie classic will be screened to accompany brunch (what an amazing idea) and the weekly quiz night which used to be held in the old cinema bar, will move to the bar cafe. Anyone interested in giving quiz night a shot? I’m rubbish at quizzes but am willing to humiliate myself.

Time for some photos!

It’s nice to be able to go out into town on a Friday night to somewhere super cool where the crowd is friendly, you can have a nice chat with your friends and don’t have to worry about being underdressed. I loved it and will definitely be back to try the brunch menu, but also for drinks in the evening. Let me know if you’ve been in over the Bank Holiday weekend, or if you plan to!