ROUTE

- the concept feels confused. - dishes aren’t cheap and portions are quite small for sharing so it’s not proper tapas. A full 5 or 7 courses also would cost more per person than a Michelin tasting menu. - like Wags, the food comes out when it’s ready including some parts of the same dish coming out at separate times. - the options are well executed, flavoursome and unique. Albeit nothing is memorable enough to make me crave coming back for it. The menu changes constantly so it probably wouldn’t still be there in any case. - the place is cosy and clean but the table fills up quite fast and you don’t tend to get new cutlery between courses. - spent a fair whack but was hungry again a few hours later. The black rye bread was really tasty. - good to try just not for me.

First time visiting and not disappointed. Service was 5 stars and the food was beyond Michelin standard. Just incredible and would highly, highly, highly recommend. Rachel was top drawer and a credit to your business 👏

Absolutely love this place!! First visit today. Small and intimate with very friendly and welcoming staff. Food is absolutely delicious. It's not cheap but for the flavour and freshness you get, who cares?! Great tapas feel with more than enough for the two of us sharing and very reminiscent of a fabulous restaurant in Catalunya called Papibou. Definitely try the Buratta. When you taste the Mozzarella and smoked aubergine, you feel like the inside of your throat is being stroked by a velvet mitten! The monkfish was a bit of a knee-trembler too.

Delicious 😋😋😋 food and amazing combinations of unique taste . Definitely worth visiting this hidden gem of Newcastle. Great staff and services too ! Next will a Michelle 🌟!

Lovely restaurant with a small plate style of serving. Lots of beautiful seafood cooked to perfection. They could cater for my husbands dairy allergy. The staff were super friendly and accomodating and the wines were dwlightful

Sister restaurant of the Staith House on North Shields fish quay. Very much in the style of a European neighborhood restaurant...very relaxed and informal but fantastic quality food. Lovely decor and staff. Very different to the general Newcastle scene. Good for couples or groups, expensive but excellent value for money.

This was our second visit to Route. The food is beautiful understated cooking with the highest quality ingredients. The black treacle bread it an absolute must try. The smoked eel was new and full of flavour. We had celeriac ice cream for dessert which was another highlight. I’m sorry to say that the service really lets Route down. On both occasions we have visited the service has been slow, with very little attention to detail or care. It is a real shame because the food is fantastic. It won’t stop us from returning for more smoked eel though.

What a lovely restaurant and so worthy of a visit. I walked in on a Monday night and was seated in the window which wouldn't be to all tastes but for a table for 1 it was perfect for people watching. The trout, pickled veg, watermelon starter was perfect for the warm evening. The sea bass main was done well with heaps of flavour in the accompanying veg and octopus. Well matched wine which I sampled a few of and a dessert of poached nectarines with a raspberry ripple icecream sandwich to finish. I'll be back to sample the rest of the menus for sure

Route is a great addition to the Quayside - a trendy, romantic interior and a creative menu. My husband and I came for an extremely rare date night last weekend. We started with sprout fritters and a roast chicken and black pudding terrine. The terrine was great - sounded a bit strange but I'm so glad we went with it. Rich and savory with the truffle mayo and crisp toast alongside. You could really get the truffle flavour. The sprout fritters were nice, but there wasn't much to them - I was expecting/hoping for chopped up sprouts mashed together in a cake, but this was literally massive brussels sprouts cut in half and fried. They were tasty enough with the harissa mayo, but not something I'd go out of my way to order again. For larger plates, we shared the Shetland scallop with apple and smoked eel, the ray with brown butter, and the ribeye of pork with crispy parsnips. Everything tasted great - I think the ray was my favourite, as it was cooked exquisitely. The fish just flaked off the bone, and the raisins and capers added a necessary zing. The scallop was huge and cooked beautifully, but my husband was incredulous that there was only one scallop for £12.50. Admittedly you do get apple puree, two pieces of smoked eel, and some sunchoke, but it did seem an expensive dish. The apple was a nice constrast to the rich, buttery scallop. The pork was the least memorable - as I am sat here only 2 days later struggling to remember it - but I remember the meat being well-cooked, and that I enjoyed the curry sauce but wasn't knocked out by it. Dessert was a gooey chocolate fondant thing, with a small dollop of ice cream. I was amazed that I enjoyed it, as I normally find such desserts unbearably rich, but somehow, this one didn't overwhelm me and it was delicious. They have a great wine selection and a few interesting beers for those so inclined. The staff were friendly and happy to give recommendations. They were chatty and open, which always surprises me when dining in the UK as I find service here generally a bit more removed. The restaurant was busy on a Friday night, but happily the service was perfectly-paced. Dishes came out one at a time, so you could really enjoy them. Our table didn't get full of food, so we weren't overwhelmed. That made a really big difference, I think. Felt like a six-course meal! Overall most of what we had was very good, and any missteps weren't bad, just occasionally uninspired. But I'd happily come back, because the menu changes often and restaurants like this are rare in Newcastle.