Sobremesa, Heaton

I’m always intrigued…

UPDATE: Owner Rich sold Sobremesa, so it’s now under new ownership as of end of 2022. Not sure if it’s the same — let me know your thoughts.

…by owners that decide to name their restaurants something with a callback to some local-to-the-style spiel.

Y’know, like Luigi’s (cheap and somewhat cheerful Italian). Golden Dragon (has literally nothing to do with Chinese food). Spice of India (Lamb Madras after 10 pints). Even the more abstract, like BRAT (turbot, if you’re in the know). So what of Sobremesa (207a Chillingham Rd, NE6 5LJ), a word way beyond my Spanish GCSE lexicon.

Sister business, and across the road from Bao Bar (also excellent, more on that soon), Sobremesa is a hole-in-the-wall affair, a tiny unit that’s very befitting of Chilli Road. And GOD DAMN there’s been a lot of good things happening in Heaton over the last few years.

The straightforward boozy allure of Sobremesa is really something else. It addresses some good questions — where’s reliable for good/casual wine in Newcastle? Where do you go for really great Spanish food?

Sobremesa is the answer. A ‘cheese and charcuterie bar’ that does a few things and does them well.

It’s a bit of a squeeze inside and holds maybe 15 people, but it is all genial. Wine list of about a dozen, all from 🇪🇸 as well as some Spanish craft beers (Boqueron, Complot), and some gin, obvs. Food wise, a single page of Spanish bar snacks. It is perfect and nothing more is needed.

The nibbles are those which you have over in the continent, but never taste quite the same here. The missing ingredient is of course usually the sunshine and that carefree attitude that only really a few days in the sun somewhere can coax out. Somehow Sobremesa feels like it captures some of that, even when recently it was literally snowing outside and leaving felt like stepping out into Heaton again, not Alicante.

It’s something chain restaurants aspire to, but all they ever manage is put some fake palm trees out and call it a day.

Headliners are always-well-conditioned cheese and charcuterie — with quince paste, honey, and quite naughty fried rosemary crackers. But keep digging and you’ll find rich and creamy croquetas among the best I’ve had in this country, or sunshine-red pan con tomate, optionally – and I encourage – with anchovies. Cannily, each charcuterie item has a pairing – you had me at “glass of Verdejo, with some Iberco ham & pan con tomate”. Easiest fifteen quid I’ll ever spend.

Service is relentless, so it’s one of those spots where your glass is never empty, but your bill always comes as a bit of a surprise; “we had how many glasses 😵?”. A recent visit ‘just for a quick one’ ended up being three+ hours and seventy+ quid. The following day, a complete write off of course. Zero regrets. If that’s the price to pay for just a few transient hours of joy, that is what hospitality is all about. Always has been, and what I’ve missed through 2020/21.

The food is as simple as truffled cheddar or jamón Serrano can be. But without missing a beat, it’s excellent. But primarily, Sobremesa is for me, a bar. It’s an evocation of the best bits of holidays by the sea. That unassuming cheap wine place you find that does really-quite-great hyperlocal white wine for €1 a glass. ‘Aye, we’ll have another one…’. The wine list is of that ‘challenge accepted’ size, where crossing off each wine becomes a game: “Taxakoli? Done. And delicious. Next!”. Far too easy to work your way through everything on it, and glasses top out at £6, so you’re not getting robbed a ridiculous markup. Which in turn invites more spend on food. Eveyone’s happy.

In case you didn’t get the gist of it, I’m often quite keen to laze away another hour or two here. There’s not nearly enough like this in Newcastle. My favourite place for a beverage at the moment, and the place I’m most eager to eat any Spanish food anywhere in the North East. Go to Bao Bar/your favourite local restaurant, and then wile away a couple of hours here.

That’s Sobremesa.