Antoninus Barn 2

Vast and characterful, this rustic restaurant is housed in a former merchant’s house on the historic quayside. Flagged floors, cast iron pillars and exposed brickwork feature downstairs, with equal amounts of character upstairs courtesy of sloping floors, wonky ceilings and carved beams. Detailed, original dishes – such as chicken strozzapreti with spinach, peas and parmesan – are based around fine produce and offer punchy flavours, while also maintaining a lightness of touch. The Sunday Feast menu offers a refined, well-priced take on the traditional Sunday roast.

This intimate, personably run restaurant is just around the corner from the eponymous chef-owner’s flagship, House of Tides, and serves a multi-course tasting menu of well-balanced, highly intricate and complex dishes. The kitchen’s skill allows top-drawer ingredients to shine, whether that be scallops or pigeon, and the meal ends on a high with the varied, exquisitely constructed desserts. The chefs present the plates to guests themselves and provide detailed descriptions of their make-up. Go for the wine pairing for the ultimate dining experience.

This much-loved 'proper' pub is named after the lane it sits on, in the most historic part of the city. Housed within a converted warehouse by the quay, the operation is split between the cosy ground-floor bar – serving snacks and over 50 different beers – and the rustic upstairs dining room. Here, the kitchen produces a consistently high quality offering of hearty, punchily flavoured dishes like haggis on toast and grilled calves liver with bacon, sage and crispy onions. Fair prices and a friendly team add to the appeal.

This long-standing restaurant continues to operate with smooth efficiency and serve unfussy, eminently satisfying dishes you want to eat again and again. Start with a gin from the large selection behind the zinc-topped counter then head through to the smart red-and-black brasserie. The à la carte offers a wide selection of confidently cooked, classically based dishes that showcase the kitchen's great understanding of ingredients and flavour. The fixed-price menu offers a wallet-friendly option, while Sunday lunch includes a traditional roast.

After opening a shipping container café, local food blogger Anna Hedworth crowdfunded this stripped-back, industrial-style restaurant with a pleasant terrace and a relaxed feel. Dinner is the main event, with many of the vibrant, fiercely seasonal dishes cooked on the hibachi barbeque.

The team behind Lovage in Jesmond have turned their attention to the fruits of the sea at this restaurant on the bustling Gosforth High Street. Despite not quite being the restaurant’s namesake, oysters are available in multiple guises to kick off proceedings, before a choice of prime fish and shellfish. The chefs are aware of the quality of their ingredients, eschewing overcomplication in favour of simple combinations – like Pink Fir potatoes, tenderstem and beurre blanc accompanying a generous helping of sea trout.

Head Chef Kleo is Albanian by birth and spent time in Italy before making the UK his home, so it’s no surprise to see the flavours and colours of the Mediterranean feature at this charming neighbourhood brasserie. There is a welcome lack of fussiness to the cooking, as each dish bursts with flavour. Go for the à la carte for the most choice, the fixed-price menu for the best value or the tasting menu for the full experience; sensibly priced wines from across Europe are an added bonus whatever you choose. Lisa, Kleo's partner, looks after the service and is a natural host.