I never really liked Jesmond to be fair. Newcastle’s Ouseburn Valley area, just East of the city but not quite in the doldrums of Walker/Byker has been getting a fair whack of press recently and anyone who has spent a sunny afternoon down there will “get” it. It’s literally an up-and-coming area. We looked long and hard at buying on the lovely Malings estate, but those townhouses are just 💰💰💰. There’s tons of development happening down there though, so thiiiiings can only get better.
If you do live there, you can never leave a one mile radius, and have a mint time. Isn’t that the ‘neighbourhood’ dream? I’m using a distinctly loose definition of where is “Ouseburn” but here’s my take on where’s worth your time, in restaurant, bar, and everything else terms.
Tyne Bank Brewery
📍 375 Walker Road, NE6 2AB
Since originally publishing, Tyne Bank Brewery has become an events space only, with regular things to go like paint & sip, doggy social, weddings, and more. You can’t just go in for a pint anymore though, sadly.
Two by Two Brewery and Tap Room
📍 Unit 8 Morley’s Yard, Byker, NE6 1PQ
Another microbrewery — and one of my faves. Two x Two is. large space with a big yarden, where you’ll be able to slam the brewery’s selection of mostly pale ales. There’s always a couple of casks on too, a pool table, dart board, as well as crisps, scampi fries, and cocktails.
Food at the moment by Flankman Tacos which will help mop up those stronger ABV beers. Come for the beers, stay for the cool space.
Donkzoko Brewery & Taproom
📍 Stepney Bank, NE1 2NP
One of my favourite taprooms in the North East, and official Favourite Place to Drink 2024—Now.
Best known probably for ‘better than the rest’ lager Northern Helles, there’s a good rotation of beers on the eight or ten taps, they’re well priced, always well made. Good wines available, you can bring in scran from any of the places mentioned here, plenty of seats. It’s just a great place to be.
Full Circle Brew Co.
📍 Hoults Yard, Walker Rd, NE6 2BS
More beer! This one’s a whopper. A taproom, large-scale brewery, and bottle shop all in one, Full Circle Brew Co. is the latest part of Lanchester Wines, meaning it’s done properly, and at size.
With a core range now available, the taproom is a great place to while away a couple of hours. There’s merch, a tour, and good pizzas made in-house. Despite only opening in late 2019, it’s already one of the Ouseburn’s key destinations. Get yourself on the Q3 bus along the Quayside and try some of their beers, as well as the same amount of guest brews, and enjoy one of the NE’s best breweries. If you’re after craft, Ouseburn has now got you well and truly sorted.
Brinkburn Street Brewery
📍 3 Hume Street, NE6 1LN
But wait! There’s more beer. Brinkburn St. Brewery have also been blasting the beers out for years and then finally built out their own basement space just off the back of the Malings. It’s a genuinely cool space, and one where you won’t find any dickheads. The beers – expect about 20 on cask and keg from Brinkburn themselves, as well as a scattering of guest bottles and cans – are on the whole, great, from easy-going Hop Gremlin to the whopping Clandestine, a cinder toffee imperial stout.
You’ll get equally good and wholesome scran from the downstairs kitchen — scotch eggs, chips, burgers, etc. and they’re fairly reasonably priced.
There’s also a couple of snug games rooms to hide in, if you’re the ‘Game of Scrabble with your 11% Brut IPA’ type, but find us here on a sunny day in the wee outside terrace. Really snazzy space, and worth a dedicated trip for.
Billy Bootleggers
📍 Arch 2 Stepney Bank, NE1 2NP
One of the Ouseburn’s livelier joints – Billy Bootleggers is your best bet for getting carried away late into the night. There’s often a live band on, and cocktails / shots / and of course burgers from the best, as mentioned above.
🍻 PROPER PUBS GALORE
The Ouseburn has always been a great place to bar hop around some proper old bars of Newcastle where you’ll get a serious pint, a snack or two, and one of the best views in town. Apart from the heavyweight brew spaces above, also add these to your tour around the area:
The Free Trade Inn is synonymous with the Ouseburn and really, Newcastle now, thanks to ‘that view’. Beer & pizza nights on a Wednesday are becoming infamous with Scream for Pizza providing the pies (among other guests), and cannilly there’s usually some of the countries freshest beers on from the likes of Wylam, Verdant, and with increasing regularity, some smaller local breweries too. A proper boozer, come for the pints, stay for the view.
12 St. Lawrence Rd, NE6 1AP
The Ship Inn is a go-to for vegan pub food, beers, and another popular beer garden for the one more sunny weekend we might get this year. It’s centrally located in the Ouseburn so a great starting/ending point for any tour of the area.
Stepney Bank, NE1 2PW
The Cluny is famous for its live music, but is a solid pub to stop by – right next to The Ship as well so you’ve got no excuse. Watch out for who’s on, regular events, and for 2019, pop-up vendors taking over the kitchen.
36 Lime Street, NE1 2PQ
The Cumberland Arms, proper pub for well over 100 years always has some proper beers, and check out Fridays on the terrace with live music, family-oriented fun, and street food from the likes of ParmStar. When it’s sunny, yet another one that has a canny little outside space.
James Pl St, NE6 1LD
Tanners Arms is another live music haunt, just off New Bridge St. making it a good bridge from NCL to the Ouseburn. Usually a decent selection of beers, and very laid-back (though lacking the beer garden that makes so many of these so popular) so start start here and work your way down…
1 Byker Bridge, NE1 2NS
The Tyne Bar – well we’ve had to say au revior to the bar’s most well-known feature “the hill” – thanks dickheads responsible for that – but it’s still a perfect people watching bar. Packed at the merest glimmer of sunshine, the beers are fresh & well curated, there’s often free scran as long as you’re drinking, and it’s just a solid bar that tickes all the boxes.
1 Maling Street, NE6 1LP
PATTYMELTS
📍 Arch 2, Stepney Bank, Ouseburn, NE1 2NP
For my money, the best burgers in the city:
Yep you’ll have to go into the bar below to get it (or takeaway), but my god, it is worth it. You can’t leave the Ouseburn without having had a melt here.
2KNIVES Kitchen
📍 Unit 43, Hoults Yard, Walker Rd, Byker, NE6 2HL
American-inspired breakfasts in the morning (get one of the ones with fried chicken, gravy, and biscuits, with eggs, maple syrup, and a refillable filter coffee for those roadside diner vibes). Burgers in the afternoon — huge slices of US-style cakes baked in house, think key lime pie. And some good tinnies.
🍕 Gingerinos
📍 8 Stepney Bank, NE1 2PW
There just had to be a good pizza joint in the Ouseburn, and Gingerinos is a safe pair of hands that has you covered.
It’s actually a decent little pie, making it the best pizza in the Ouseburn. There’s your typical flavours and I’d say the pepperoni was way better than what the Pizza by the Slice guys are currently doing at the Grainger Market. And for a mere £2.50 a slice, it’s a fab lunchtime feed. I’ll say lunchtime, because unless you’re there during the week (and before 5pm), they’re closed. Worth a weekday detour though, and being just behind Ernest (below) means you’ve got no excuse.
🎨 The Biscuit Factory
📍 Stoddart Street, NE2 1AN
About as far a stretch as you’d get away with calling the Ouseburn, but The Biscuit Factory is too good to not shout about. Not only the UK’s largest indie art gallery, but also has an in-house cafe for your eggs bennie.
🥚 Ernest
📍 1 Boyd Street, NE2 1AP
About as far as you can get away with calling “Ouseburn”, if Ernest was a little closer to the river, it’d fit right in alongside any of the above. It’s a trendy little art cafe/space which has some decent bait too. Whether it’s flatbreads topped with Moroccon-spiced lamb or anything from the regularly changing small plates menu, it’s usually well done, and good value. Oh, and the brunch menu ain’t too bad either…
Miso
📍Ouseburn, Unit 1 Ford St, NE6 1NW
Probably the best restaurant in the area — and one of the city’s only real Fusion / Asian successes. Miso has great cocktails, and while they devastatingly don’t do their best-in-town ramen bowls anymore, the small plates are all winners.
🥗 Kiln
📍 4 Hume Street, NE6 1LN
It took a while for a restaurant with a quality that little bit higher to open in the Ouseburn, but now that Kiln has kicked off the trend, expect to see a bucket load of “better” quality places following suit.
Mostly vegan/veggie food, it’s colourful, healthy, and just really tasty. This hummus board with three fresh salads (£9.50) polished us off, but was delightful.
Obviously the name kiln refers to the fact that all earthenware is for sale, and made on site. Hopefully they open their crafting space up for classes and general public pissing about on pottery wheels as it just looks too much fun not to. Come for the scran, stay for your latest raku kitchenware. Another ace little spot that fits in perfectly into the Ouseburn aesthetic, but would do just as well in the city. Also: good coffee, solid cakes and a surprisingly good beer selection. Great place to sit and do some work, too.
Maria Gianna
📍 Uptin House, Stepney Rd, Shieldfield, NE2 1TZ
Another pizza joint in the Ouseburn — it’s Neapolitan style, and I find it a bit hit or miss, but worth a detour if you’ve had your fill of Gingerino’s already.
Northern Rye
📍 4 Riverside Walk, Byker, NE6 1LX
Northern Rye is one of the north east’s best bakeries – simple as that.
Started as a popup here, and now has a dedicated shop — whether you go for a flaky sausage roll, a perfectly made cheese and ham croissant, or one of the mega sandwiches, it’s all 10/10.
Get yourself a loaf to take away, and you’ll fall in love with all of it.
🥮 Dreamworld Bakery
📍 Arch 3, Stepney Bank, NE1 2NP
You know when somewhere goes under your radar for the longest time and you rue all the time you’ve spent without it? Dreamworld are top-tier for cakes & patisserie in NCL. I mean, have a gander…
Regularly changing menus keep you coming back for me, these are seriously good cakes, pastries, and fancy financiers. Not badly priced, but expect to be equally impressed and surprised by the quality of the patisserie on offer.
They’ve now got some seats for sitting in, and are now doing afternoon tea which is excellent. Alongside a couple of the other sweet treats here, you’re really spoiled for choice.
🍩 Proven Goods Co.
📍 Unit 1 Maling Court, Hoults Yard, NE6 2HL
I mean, you’ve seen them on Instagram, haven’t you? They are the best doughnuts easily available in Newcastle – which is handy as these guys have gone stratospheric in a really short space of time.
There’s twenty-odd flavours on frequent rotation, and absolutely everything is made here on-site from the long-proofed dough, to the rhubarb custard, to the lemon and poppy seed brittles you’ll get on your doughnut.
Incredibly hard to resist ‘just one more doughnut’, and while the marshmallow hot chocolate is more one for the ‘gram than anything else, if you’ve got a spare half hour and want something sweet, there are few better places in Newcastle. Pro tip – buy direct here to save a quid or so that’d be passed on from Fenwick/Kith & Kin or wherever they’re being sold around the NE.
Studio 28
📍 2 Cobblestone Ct, Byker, NE6 2HL
Gorgeous cakes — super neatly sliced, only a few flavours at any time but a definite quantity over quality approach. Chocolates, truffles, and flavoured bon-bons, coffee, and genuinely just very good sweet treats.
Deep North
📍 Arch 6 Stepney Bank, NE1 2NP
More doughnuts! You might prefer Proven, for their refined flavours, and softer dough, but these are really very good, and a little bit more accessible, as well as benefitting from much better opening hours.
CAKE STORIES
📍 Hoult’s Yard, Walker Rd, Byker, NE6 1AB
Somewhere for a sweet coffee and a cake with pals, it’s on Hoult’s Yard.
Di Meo’s
📍 1 Riverside Walk, Byker, NE6 1LX
Ice cream from the Whitley Bay legends. Buy it in a cone for those rare, gorgeous Ouseburn summer days, or to take home in larger formats.
🚴🏻♂️ The Cycle Hub
Just down from The Tyne Bar, though you might want to arrive here on two wheels rather than three sheets to the wind, the name kinda gives The Cycle Hub away. There’s cycle repairs, and everything you’ll need on your Coast2Coast run, or even just a ride down the Quayside. The cafe serves simple brunches, and that all-important cyclist sustenance – cake.
If your Ouseburn visit takes you to off to the Biscuit Factory, and you don’t fancy something quite so formal, head here instead. Very relaxed vibe, popular in summer with a diverse crowd, and hopefully here to stay – despite the incessant student building happening nearby and ongoing parking issues.
36 Lime Street, Mushroom Works is home to 50-odd artists, creatives, and designers. It provides study space to contribute to the generation of the Ouseburn and is one of the leading arts & cultural venues within the area.
Climb Newcastle have built their second venue in the Ouseburn – their first is just up off Shields Road. Never tried bouldering? Give it a go, it’s addictive, hard work, and much more fun than you might first think.
Junkyard Golf is a fun way to spend a few hours. You know the drill, play mini golf with outrageous set dressing, have a couple of beers. It’s a good one.
The Malings is the latest Ouseburn property development. Was too rich for us, but the super-modern and trendy but ever-so-bland 4 storey townhouses with rivers down the ‘burn are lovely if you think they’re a good investment.
The Toffee Factory is really just a bunch of office space featuring creative heavyweights like W Communications & Evolved Search, but they have frequent Thursday pop-ups from the region’s street food vendors if you’re quick and work locally. Each out for local favourites Tokyo Kitchen, Hani’s Kitchen, the Papa Ganoush lads, among others.
The Victoria Tunnel tour is 100% worth doing (around £7). A great way to spend a couple of hours and learning something new about the city while being underneath the very streets of Newcastle. Pre-booking essential.
Star & Shadow Cinema is another incredibly independent venue showing indie and local films, theatre and all things creative. It’s entirely volunteer run, and used for other artsy events including recently the ‘Star Bazaar’ producer market (check out chocolate from Albaisse, or foraged chutneys, jams & vinegars from Canny Cookery aka Cat).
And of course Ouseburn Farm is somewhere I first visited when I was in primary school. It’s still going, great for kids, and on a sunny day, a lovely little detour/rest from all the beer. Free entry/donation.
Wildflower is lovely flower and plant shop, easy to get to and have a neb, take something home.
Dearly Departed
Since I first published this post back in 2019, there’s been a few casualties, but largely — the Ouseburn is thriving, with more places, and more places surviving than ever. These didn’t make it though:
Arch2 Brewpub & Kitchen — was a microbrewery for Newcastle Brewing Co. and original home of Thali Tray. It’s since closed around the time of COVID, and they’re not making beers any more. Sad!
Craving Asian — had a site here for a little while, which was fab. They’re in the process of pivoting the business, so catch them at food markets around the region when you can.
The Old Coal Yard — bit of an enigma, this used to be an ace rough-and-ready brewery for Northern Alchemy. They’ve moved out of there, and I think the space is still occasionally open, but I wouldn’t make a journey without checking.
The Bake — closed and has become a same-but-different restaurant Beyruty. I miss The Bake (formerly, and forever to me: Albaik) and haven’t actually tried Beyruty but you probably know what to expect.Artisan — former restaurant of The Biscuit Factory, this was one of my favourite restaurants in Newcastle at the time, alas, it is no more.
So lots to see and do, eat and drink. Where’s your Ouseburn go-to? Hopefully the area continues to thrive despite planning permission squabbles, on-going building, and who knows what in the future.
