Blackfriars Restaurant

Came for our 1st year wedding anniversary. The staff were all lovely, really nice to chat too, welcoming, professional and friendly. Everyone on the night was 10/10. Food was delicious, a good gluten free selection and understanding of coeliac, I'm not poorly this morning writing this so that bodes extremely well for there understanding too. They went the extra mile for us for our anniversary and it made our night that extra bit special for us. Thank you for amazing night.

First visit here was for restaurant week, service was speedy, food was delicious, and well presented and the setting was fantastic, (we were seated in the banqueting hall). No complaints, empty plates all round. Highly recommended 👌

First time trying this restaurant……boy I was not disappointed. Best Sunday lunch in the north east. Firstly the setting is lovely, fantastic outside seating area and stacks of character inside. Staff were lovely. Now the food ….. amazing. Pork belly lunch with a black pudding starter. Delicious and I would recommend to anyone. A lovely experience and I will be back again !

WOW, the food was so good, we originally started out planning to have two courses but couldn’t resist a third. Their homemade gluten free bread was the best bread I’ve had since being diagnosed coeliac. The staff took my allergies extremely seriously and made us feel very welcome. I couldn’t recommend this place highly enough, it was mind blowing.

Excellent restaurant with good service and really tasty food. The ingredients are super fresh and of such good quality. Never had a potato that sweet before. The fish was perfectly cooked.

For an enthusiast of the Middle Ages like myself, it was a memorable experience to experience a dinner in this refectory from the 13th century. And the food was amazing! Oyster from Lindisfarne, BBQ’d summer cabbage, pickled & crispy onions, Parmesan crisps, brown butter emulsion and millefeuille!

Historical environment matched with decent food. And good value. The fish of the day is a fine chunk of sea trout. The skin is crispy and the flesh is not dry. The miso (?) butter beans are stunning. House-smoked Sea trout rillettes for starter. Creamy but not heavy, goes well with the sourdough toasted or soft. (The lunch and early dinner sets are of great value.) The monkfish is innovatively wrapped in seaweed like a second skin. The taste has an interesting umami though a bit salty for me. The potato is indulgent too. Spinach in the summer greens are surprisingly good. Not slimy at all and beautifully green. Food came promptly and service is attentive, though it takes a while to pay. Seriously, come back to Cambridge please. Tucked away from the busy street, the restaurant and courtyard are a world of their own.

Our first meal in the city. The atmosphere was chic and relaxed yet set in a unique, picturesque, and historic location. The food was good, and the staff was friendly.

Absolutely stunning building. Very clean and organized. This is easily an ideal location for any occasion. The food was truly exceptional. I almost forgot to take a picture because my dad ordered the same dish and immediately started gushing over how good it was so I got stuck in before I remembered to take a pic. Would love to make another trip here before we leave. I cannot stress how good the food was. Worth every penny! You will need to plan ahead for Sunday dinner though, this place was very busy.

We came here for a NYE experience. It was so much fun. They had two communal tables (maybe around 40+ guests in total) and had music playing throughout the affair. It started at 7pm and ended around 9pmish? Some of the music was live--with a couple musicians making their rounds playing bagpipes, the recorder, drums. The staff was all dressed up in medieval wear and some of the guests were too! My husband and I were in cocktail party wear: I wore a dress; he wore nice slacks and a button down. But some people were in more formal dresses and coats and ties. We felt perfectly comfortable with what we chose to wear. There were a variety of people there: my husband I are American, sitting across from us was a couple from Newcastle and Leeds, sitting next to them were Australians, sitting next to me was an English family, sitting next to my husband was a German couple. There was plenty of food and most of it was quite good. I especially liked the meat in puff pastry, cooked greens, Lima beans, and cheese plate. If you're wary about sharing food with strangers do not attend this event--they served most dishes per four people and we had to use our own utensils to serve ourselves off of those dishes. Drinks were water, a dark and light ale, and red or white wine. My husband enjoyed the beer and me the white wine, we just wish they came around more often to refill our drinks. The evening ended perfectly with them handing us mulled wine in to-go cups as we trailed out into the cold. If you've never done this before and are looking for something fun, easy and entertaining to get you out of the house for NYE this is a great idea!

Have wanted to try Sunday lunch there on many trips back to the Toon. Finally managed it last month and boy was it worth the wait. Atmosphere service and food were all top notch and a definite "must return to" next time I'm home.

We visited Blackfriars with a friend who was in town. The restaurant is a beautiful old building with lots of charm, with a dining area, a great hall (for functions) and a bar in a separate building across the way. Our meals were lovely, as was the service. The ambience of the restaurant area is relaxed and laid back. It's just a beautiful place to dine! Downsides were we had to wait a little longer than expected for our meal (the lovely waiter brought us across some drinks to soften the delay) and my vegetarian friend was limited in her choice, as despite being advertised as vegetarian-friendly, there were only two veggie meals on the menu. The cost for the main meal for three, a nice bottle of wine, plus three desserts, was £140. Definitely not a budget option, but the food was lovely and service great. Diners before 7 pm can choose from a separate set menu which we didn't try, yet seemed good value.

Came in for lunch and had a roast basil and tomato soup, a pan fried salmon with a tomato, chorizo, and cannellini bean stew, and a small assortment of homemade sorbets. All this came up to £26 with a glass of white wine. TLDR: great food (but not perfect), great value, great selection of wines and beers, you won't be disappointed. The roast tomato basil soup feels very rustic in style. Smooth, slightly sweet, slightly sour, it a brilliant dish to whet the appetite. I did feel it needed some black pepper to round off the dish and smoothen out the acidity, but other than that it's a great, stomach warming dish. 7/10. The salmon and stew was one of the more 'out there' dishes on the menu and so it caught my eye. The first thing you notice about the dish is the wonderful smell of the perfectly cooked salmon and savoury scent of the chorizo. The next is the colour: the green of the garnish and the pesto drizzle, the lovely char they put on the salmon skin, and of course the wondrous red-orange of the stew. So it looks and smells fantastic, but how do they balance the fine flavour of a salmon with the strong and loud flavours of a stew with tomatoes AND chorizo sausage? Damn near flawlessly. The slight acidity and porkyness of the chorizo lends itself wonderfully to the stew. A dish which, in my mind shouldn't work, does. The use of the cannellini beans fills in the role of more traditional carbs like rice or pastas, and is the perfect choice for the job. The dish isn't perfect however. The spinach used have lovely thick, juicy stems which works against it in this instance. It water-filled stems clashes against the stew, but the leaves alone, lend just enough flavour to further tie the salmon and stew together. The chorizo cubes are extremely tasty, but that works against the salmon and overpowers it. If you can avoid eating a piece of salmon with a piece of chorizo you'll get around this problem though, so it's not too bad, and I honestly can't think of a way to make a chorizo stew without plating any chorizo on the dish without leaving the customer feeling robbed. 7/10. The sorbet flavours were cherry, cucumber/mint, and mango/pineapple. The cucumber/mint sorbet is, as you'd expect, very refreshing. Unfortunately all of them were quite icy, which might sound like an odd thing to complain about when speaking of sorbet, but you shouldn't be biting into small pockets of flavoured crushed ice when eating sorbet. 6/10 Overall a good meal, a more simple or traditional main course would be better as the execution of the dish was perfect, just the idea is a little adventurous, and although well thought out, could use some small refinements.

Peaceful location, as is expected from a former refectory of a 13th Century priory, this informal eaterie offers diners a range of British dishes created with the help of locally acquired produce and the simple ingenuity and craftsmanship of the cooks. Understated dishes using subtle ingredients producing a pleasant dish for all tastes. Diners can escape the Gothic interior (all flickering candles and long tables) for the fresh open spaces offered by the courtyard outside (perfect for summer picnics). Contemporary presentation in relaxed, historic surroundings.

If you are looking for a thorough British food experience, this is the right place for you. Although a little too hard on your wallets, this is a place that anyone who comes to Newcastle has to visit. It has the most authentic British food and the service is great. If I go here again, I would order the lamb stew.

I think this is one of the best restaurants in the NE. Food is always top class and deeply tasty with more than a nod to English cuisine. There are also plenty of regional ingredients in the menu, keeping provenance close to home. The restaurant is tucked away by the old city walls just off Westgate Road in the original Blackfriars monastery. The atmosphere is cosy and intimate and staff are friendly and knowledgeable.

We'd heard this was one of the best restaurants in Newcastle, so my boyfriend and I stopped in for Sunday lunch. Blackfriars dates back to 1239 (not as a restarant obviously, but as a friary). The space is beautiful and elegant, and the perfect place for a special meal. The set menu is a good deal, at 15 for two courses and 18 for three. I started with the carrot and coriander soup, and my boyfriend got the duck ham with cherry chutney. The soup was velvety and luscious, my only wish being that it had some more spice. My boyfriend loved his appetizer too, I tried some of the duck ham (seriously, what is duck ham? I don't know) and it was amazing. Sort of like....prosciutto made from duck. So delicious but not porky. He got a Sunday roast which I thought was a boring choice but he said it was one of the best roasts he'd had. I got the salmon with potatoes and sea vegetables which was simple but lovely. Poached salmon is so soft and appealing, and the potatoes were crispy and the veggies were fresh. We only had room for one dessert, so split the dark chocolate fondant. It was way too rich for me but was nonetheless amazing, especially the peanut butter ice cream! The menu features updated versions of British classics and a lot of the ingredients, as many as possible, come from local farms and waters. On the menu, you can see a map of the area and actual locations where certain animals were raised and veggies were grown. Pretty impressive! The taste definitely reflects the freshness, and the presentation is lovely. I'd come back here whenever I'm in town for another great Sunday dinner!

Been there twice. The first time we found it accidentally and was amazed by the service and the food. The decor is unique and vintage. It's like eating in a dungeon, in a nice way. And the food is vet delicious and it makes you want to keep coming and try the new menu. The menu changes over time and you can always find the thing you want to have. It's a great place to meet friends and have a family dinner. Very elegant indeed.

Delicious. Every bite. Great lunch menu at a true value £15 for 2 courses. Well crafted - clean tasting food.

Excellent food, good sized portions. Excellent service, Lovely staff. Shout out to Matt and Darren!

Behind Blackfriars restaurant, near to the Gate, there is a smallish area of grass, with the ruins of an old abbey or church, a few benches, and a nice sense of privacy. It is round the back of the Gate complex but once there you would never think it. Most of the buildings around it are worn old stone and the atmosphere is very relaxed and comfortable. In the summer this is a great place to take a picnic if the rest of your plans for the day - whether work or play - require you to be in the city centre. There is a small art shop off to one side, featuring the works of the local artists who run it. They are very friendly if you want to go in for a browse. it's tiny, so that won't take long. Like most such areas in cities, it gets a bit busy on warm days, but it's still worth a visit.

Visited Blackfriars with my family for graduation meal. The atmosphere and decor was gorgeous. The food was sooo good and the desert beautiful. The only downfall was the potion size which was quite small and left me not entirely satisfied. They also offer a fantastic gluten free menu and the staff can't do enough to help you and make your experience enjoyable.

Had a la carte dinner menu and was disappointed first by the service long delays and the waiter was vegetarian so couldn't comment on any of the meet dishes. When the food arrived we thought the quality of the ingredients was lacking the pigeon was tough, the liver was old, the venison carpacio wasn't too great and the halibut was good but a very small portion for £18.

Excellent quality, but the menu can sometimes be little too cool if you know what I mean. Definatly worth a visit but not my favorite fine dining restaurent in Newcastle.