Let’s just put it out there: British food gets a bad rap. Some say the British, being the notorious colonizers that they were, imported such incredible cuisines from abroad that they never needed to develop good recipes back home. The quality of the curry houses and kebab shops across the U.K. certainly lends credence to this theory.
Others argue that rationing during World War II devastated the British palette through years of eating powdered eggs and canned vegetables – similar to how Americans who came of age during the Depression might have a fondness for mayonnaise or onion sandwiches.
I’m not sure either are entirely correct, though, and sometimes a stereotype is just a self-fulfilling prophecy. Everyone, including many Brits, believes their food is awful, so they never look past the few domestic favorites available at the local chippy. This is something I know all too well as an American; our regional dishes, even the ones that are objectively good (like Nebraska’s runza), usually fail to gain traction outside their respective territories.
In the U.K., one of these underrated food regions is Northumberland in far northeast England, home to the city of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The people of Newcastle, referred to as Geordies, have perhaps the most unintelligible accents in all of England, though after spending two weeks in Newcastle, I can attest that they are also incredibly friendly and welcoming.
And they have some of the most interesting cuisine in Britain, drawing on their history as a port city and major industrial center with strong working class traditions. While we were there, I made a point to try as much of it as I could. Unfortunately, some Newcastle foods are nearly impossible to find even in Newcastle, so I ended up preparing a few dishes myself.
This Newcastle food guide is written from an American perspective, one utterly naive to the intricacies of British culinary arts. I fully expect that some of my reactions to these Newcastle foods will offend the sensibilities of the average Geordie – but hey, you’re welcome to visit my country and wax poetically about our boiled peanuts, Frito pie, or the elusive McRib.
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Contents
Newcastle Foods to Try During Your Visit
If you want the very best of something, it should come from the source. Though finding the best places to eat in Newcastle wasn’t an easy task. The dishes aren’t exactly your typical tourist fare. The locals may very well know where to find the good eats, but as an outsider, I had to comb through a lot of menus and find a few things by pure chance. So if you’re a Geordie, and you disagree with anything I’ve said, feel free to straighten me out in the comments.
Pease Pudding
Pease porridge hot, pease porridge cold
Pease porridge in the pot, nine days old
Some like it hot, some like it cold
Some like it in the pot, nine days old
That is untrue. Full stop. No one likes nine-day-old pease porridge. An open, unrefrigerated pot of pease porridge is a health hazard after nine days (or one day!). Why are we teaching children this is acceptable food storage?
Ludicrous nursery rhymes aside, pease pudding or porridge is a tasty accompaniment to many dishes in the U.K. Prepared from boiled split peas, it’s similar to hummus, but without the smooth flavors of olive oil or the slightly bitter notes of tahini. A little bland for sure, but a good source of plant protein, and there’s a lot you can do with it.
Throw in some spring onions and olive oils for a Mediterranean flavor, or eat it like mashed potatoes alongside a ham or steak. So as to go full Geordie, I made myself a sandwich of ham and pease pudding on a stottie cake (another traditional Newcastle food). It’s a satisfying lunch, but probably something you’d pack on your way to work rather than order at a restaurant.
Where to get it in Newcastle:
Most grocery stores, like Waitrose or Lidl
Stottie Cake
Stottie, in the Northumbrian dialect, means to bounce. Now take a moment to visualize bouncing a loaf of bread like a basketball, and you can start to understand the culinary experience that is the stottie cake. The 12-inch rounds of bread have a delightfully chewy exterior, not unlike a bagel, but with an airy interior that’s ideal for capturing sandwich condiments.
Unlike a bagel, stottie cakes aren’t boiled, and their unique texture has nothing to do with ingredients – it’s just regular white bread dough. Traditionally, the cakes were formed from leftover dough, but allowed to rise only once (most bread rises twice). Then there’s the baking technique, low and slow, like the finest of BBQ meats. Put those together, and you get an especially dense bread loaf with an uncharacteristically complex flavor – a bit like sourdough.
So, what does one do with this deliciously chewy hunk of carbohydrates? Start by splitting it; cakes are around a foot wide, and that’s entirely too much bread for one person. Sliced into quarters, now you have the makings for a proper sandwich. While you can stuff your stottie with just about anything, ham and pease pudding are the classics.
It’s a working man’s lunch, nothing fussy about it, and that’s the way the Geordies like it. One of the best places to get a stottie cake in Newcastle is Pink Lane Bakery, which is a place that does seem a little fussy, but in all the right ways. They also sell lots of other great pastries and pasties. Greggs carries stottie cakes, too, if you’re in a pinch.
Where to eat it in Newcastle:
Pink Lane Bakery or Greggs (the classic choice)
Parmo
If ever there were an English dish that could make it in America, it would most certainly be the Parmo. Take a chicken breast or boneless pork chop, then bread it and fry. Slather it in cream sauce and a thick layer of cheddar, then pop in the oven to get that cheese all melted and gooey. To serve it, spread out a thick layer of chips (fries), and drop that meat and cheese bomb on top.
The parmo’s recipe won’t sound too unfamiliar to the American ear – it was created by an American, after all (can it still be considered a traditional Newcastle food?). It’s really just a bastardization of the classic chicken parmesan, which is itself a corruption of Italy’s melanzane alla parmigiana.
For quite a while, the Parmo was a largely regional dish, but about 15 years ago, supermarkets began selling a frozen version, and now they’re a popular option for a quick meal throughout the country.
My first taste of the Parmo was at Parm-O-Rama’s at HWKR Food Market just outside By the River Brew. Sadly, the market is no more, but Parm-O-Rama continues to do pop-ups throughout northeast England. For a brick-and-mortar experience, Manjaro’s is near the city center and a solid Parm-O-Rama alternative.
Where to eat it in Newcastle:
Parm-O-Rama (pop-up) or Manjaro’s
Craster Kippers
Let’s start off with what a kipper is. It’s a smoked herring filet that, in the States, is almost exclusively sold as canned “kipper snacks” – similar to sardines, but with a smokier flavor and a slightly different texture. Unfortunately, there’s precious little demand in America for fresh kippers, so canned is all we get.
In the U.K., though, fresh kippers are a common sight at the breakfast table – thankfully, usually not as an accompaniment to the classic beans on toast. Often served with plain bread and maybe some scrambled eggs, it makes for a simple breakfast with strong maritime overtones.
You can find kippers on the menu at dozens of restaurants throughout the U.K., but if you want the very best, you’ll need to seek out the kippers from Craster. And while the famous Craster Kipper is sold in a number of Newcastle restaurants, the truly proper way to enjoy it is at the source, in the nearby town of Craster.
Eating one outside of Craster is the equivalent of having a lobster roll is Texas – it’s just wrong. Dining in Craster, the scent from the smokehouse’s charred oak mixes with the salty spray of the sea to create the perfect ambiance for munching on these delectable little herrings.
The little hamlet of Craster is about an hour north of Newcastle and requires both a train and a bus ride. If that sounds like an arduous journey for little smoked fish, make a day of it by visiting Dunstanburgh Castle, which is only a short hike from the village.
In Craster, kippers come from the L. Robsons & Sons smokehouse, but it’s primarily a market and doesn’t sell prepared kippers. So for a morning snack or a light lunch, check out the Pipers Pitch food stand in the parking lot just north of the smokehouse. You’ll also find other regional specialties there, like the Auchtermuchty – a bacon and haggis sandwich.
Where to eat it in Newcastle:
Pipers Pitch (in Craster)
Saveloy Dip
A hot dog sandwich on steroids, the Saveloy dip is a lunchtime staple in Newcastle and throughout Northumberland.
It starts off with a bun, traditionally a quarter stottie cake, slathered in pease pudding. Then add a couple of Saveloy sausages, along with a generous helping of sage and onion stuffing, and finish it off with a drizzle of English mustard. Now dunk that meaty goodness in a pot of gravy. On paper, it sounds great, albeit incredibly messy.
My excitement for the Saveloy was quickly dashed after ordering one from the Dicksons butcher shop, Newcastle’s most popular place to get a dip. Somehow, the sandwich added up to less than the sum of its parts; despite being assembled from flavorful ingredients, it was tasteless. I’m a little ashamed to admit, I didn’t finish it.
After reading a few reviews, it seems others have been equally disappointed there, and maybe Dicksons has taken a turn and is not what it used to be. If you can find the Saveloy dip elsewhere, or are willing to trouble yourself with preparing it at home, I think it could still be a solid meal.
Where to eat it in Newcastle:
Not Dicksons – maybe Grainger Deli inside the Grainger Market
Chips and Gravy
Something as simple and ubiquitous as chips and gravy can hardly be called a Newcastle specialty. Just throw on some cheese curds, and you actually have Canada’s most famous culinary export – poutine. That being said, though, northern Brits do seem partial to their gravy in a way that their brethren down south are not.
I, on the other hand, am not a fan of gravy. Not the brown gravy served over turkey on Thanksgiving, nor the white sausage-filled mess that accompanies delicious buttery biscuits* back in the States. The texture of gelatinized meat juice just isn’t my thing.
I’d hoped encountering this sauce in a faraway land on something as simple as freshly-fried chips could open my eyes to the wonders of gravy. Unfortunately, that was not to be the case.
Rather than complimenting the chips, as a spritzing of malt vinegar does, dousing them in gravy overwhelmed both their flavor and texture and created a mush of starch and gooey meatiness. I only later learned that dipping your chips in a small pot of gravy is the preferred means of consumption for many Brits. This is most certainly how I’ll order them on my next trip to England.
*Just to be clear to any British readers, biscuit in this context refers to soft, flakey rounds of bread. We do not dip our cookies in sausage gravy. Americans may make some appalling food choices, but we are not monsters.
Where to eat it in Newcastle:
Literally any chip shop
Newcastle Brown Ale
I love trying local beers whenever I’m traveling, and the U.K. has plenty to choose from. Though like in the U.S., the top-selling national beers are only okay. For something with a little more flavor, you’ll need to go regional – and in Newcastle, that’ll be the Newcastle Brown Ale.
Newkie Brown, as it’s affectionately called, is a little bready, a bit sweet, but overall it’s a beer that’s easy to drink and difficult to hate. And it’s been around for nearly 100 years!
The iconic bottle stands as a symbol of Newcastle pride: clear glass (usually not so great for protecting your beer from UV damage) with a yellow label and bright blue star (there’s also a star on the back that goes from gray to blue when the bottle’s cold enough – just like Coors in the U.S.).
Also like in the U.S., seemingly small and local businesses are sometimes anything but. Newcastle Brown Ale is now owned by Heineken and is no longer brewed in Newcastle, after moving their operations to Yorkshire in 2010. But whatever, at least it’s a Geordie recipe, right?
In the States, Lagunitas Brewing makes something called “Newcastle Brown Ale,” and despite having the same color scheme and star logo, it is nothing like the beloved Newkie Brown. It’s hoppier and less sweet, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I don’t know why they needed to ride the coattails of a century-old brand. As an American, I’m deeply ashamed that we’ve taken a storied British beer, needlessly tinkered with it, and tried to pass it off as the real thing.
Anyhow, you can pick up a 550ml (around 18 oz.) bottle of Newkie Brown in Newcastle for less than £2 in a shop. Most pubs in the area also stock their bottles, while a lucky few have it on tap.
Where to get it in Newcastle:
City Tavern (on tap) or any local pub or grocery store for bottles
Newcastle Foods to Make at Home
Some Newcastle foods are so traditional that it seems no one even sells them in a restaurant setting. Maybe the dishes have low profit margins or they’re not all that popular, but in either case, there were Geordie foods I just couldn’t find.
I’m not about to let that stop me though, so I made a go at a few of them in my own kitchen. With no prior frame of reference, I can’t really say how mine compares to the real thing.
Singing Hinnies
The singing hinny makes a delightful addition to any breakfast, snack time, or whenever you want to stuff your face with sweet little pastries. For fellow Americans, singing hinnies are something of a cross between a pancake and a scone. If you’re a U.K. resident, they’re quite similar to a Welsh cake.
Unfortunately, despite being a traditional Newcastle food, finding them in Newcastle was a bit of a challenge. This is particularly ridiculous since there are restaurants with names like Hinnies and The Singing Hinnie, which I assumed would be sure to have them. In fairness, Hinnies does appear to have them sometimes, but they weren’t on the menu when I visited. Maybe singing hinnies are seasonal – but why would scones be seasonal?
Anyway, I wasn’t about to let that stop me from trying this delectable Georgie treat, so I just made a batch myself. I think mine turned out alright, with a nice golden brown exterior and a fluffy interior just waiting to receive a smear of sweet jam. I can say that they were pretty delicious and not especially difficult to prepare. If you can make cookies, you can make singing hinnies.
Pan Haggerty
While I enjoyed most of the Geordie foods I sampled in Newcastle, none have made their way into my kitchen quite like the potato casserole dish known as pan haggerty. It costs almost nothing to make, requiring just three ingredients: potatoes, onions, and cheese (four, if you count the copious amount of butter it’s cooked in). Sure, you can add a little bacon for flavor and protein, but it’s unnecessary and goes against the peasant tradition the dish is founded upon.
The problem with such a simple comfort food is that so few restaurants have it on their menu. While pan haggerty is Geordie through and through, and is classic diner fare, I could not find it at any restaurants in Newcastle.
Not to miss out on this classic Newcastle dish, I decided to try making pan haggerty myself. Fortunately, its preparation is shockingly simple, and clean-up is a cinch.
Just slice up three large potatoes and a couple of onions as finely as you can. Then coat a cast iron pan in a few ounces of butter, and start layering the onions and potato slices and a few handfuls of cheddar cheese. Cook for about half an hour and now you’ve got an immensely satisfying meal (or, for the sake of balanced nutrition, side dish).
If you ask me, pan haggerty seems like a perfect addition to those jacket potato shops that are ubiquitous in England. But until they take up the cause, you’ll probably have to make your own.
Panackelty
While very similar in ingredients and also birthed from poverty, panackelty is the less enjoyable cousin to pan haggerty. Panackelty takes what’s good about the crispy and cheesy potato casserole and sullies it with the addition of vegetables (typically carrots), broth, and tinned corned beef. Their inclusion makes for a soggy mess of the casserole, and canned meat is a poor substitute for delicious bacon.
Panackelty isn’t entirely a Newcastle food either – Sunderland and County Durham to the south take ownership of it. Perhaps that’s why I was unable to find it on the menu anywhere in Newcastle and had to prepare it myself. Maybe I’m not qualified to judge its taste when I’ve only made it once or twice, but given how well the pan haggerty turned out, I cannot recommend this dish. So skip the panackelty, and make yourself some pan haggerty instead.
Bacon Floddie
Simple dishes are often the best, and a bacon floddie – also called a Canal floddie, Tyneside floddie, or Gateshead floddie (everyone wants to stake a claim on these things) – are as uncomplicated as they get. It’s something of a potato pancake made with grated potatoes, diced onions, bits of fatty bacon, and a little bit of flour and egg to hold it all together.
Legend has it the recipe was concocted by canal diggers employed by the Navy in the late 18th century, who cooked the potato cakes over an open fire with their shovels serving as the frying pan. Rationing during World War II led to an increase in potato consumption, particularly after the British government introduced Potato Pete, a jaunty anthropomorphic potato extolling his nutritional benefits and ways to grow and eat him.
Usually served with eggs and sausage, bacon floddies make for a very filling, albeit rather artery-clogging, breakfast. While you might assume it’d be served at dozens of pubs and greasy spoons all around the River Tyne, I couldn’t find even one with it on the menu.
So again, I prepared them myself – and was pretty pleased with how they turned out. Crunchy, salty, and with plenty of calories to fuel you far into the afternoon, I’m a convert to the floddie and now make them regularly.
Other British Foods to Try in Newcastle
Newcastle has an array of unique culinary delights and several dishes that are near impossible to find outside the Northumberland region. But while you’re here, don’t forget to enjoy some of the more customary British foods.
Sausage Roll
No matter where you are in the British Isles, you need only walk a few minutes before encountering a tasty sausage roll, thanks in large part to the ubiquity of the fast food chain Greggs. As it happens, Newcastle is the birthplace of Greggs and has one of the greatest concentrations of shops in the country.
The basics of a sausage roll are simply – crispy puff pastry wrapped around a perfectly seasoned pork sausage link. They’re ideal for an on-the-go breakfast or after-work snack. Feeling peckish and still have five minutes before your train arrives? Pop into a Greggs, grab a sausage roll for £1, and you’re good to go.
For something a little more upmarket, try the sausage roll at Pink Lane Bakery, which is spiced up with rosemary and pepper. It cost twice as much as Greggs, but was fantastic and well worth the price. Pink Lane also has some of the best pastries in the city, including the above-mentioned freshly-baked stottie cakes. They’re just a two minute walk from Newcastle train station, but if you can’t be bothered, there’s a Greggs inside the station.
Where to eat it in Newcastle:
Greggs (the classic) or Pink Lane Bakery (upscale)
Black Pudding
Americans are at least familiar with most of the ingredients that go into a full English breakfast: toast, eggs, bacon, sausages, tomatoes, mushrooms, and (for some odd reason) beans. But on the edge of the plate, you might sometimes find a couple of black discs making an appearance, ominously referred to as black pudding.
Unlike in the States, “pudding” in the U.K. does not refer to the sweet, gelatinous dish popular with children and those recovering in a hospital bed. Instead, “pudding” describes all manner of foods. When no qualifiers are used, it’s a dessert. Then you have foods like Yorkshire pudding (delicious eggy bread), Christmas pudding (what if fruitcake was boiled rather than baked), Summer pudding (old bread soaked in fruit juice), and of course, black pudding.
Black pudding is a mix of grains (breadcrumbs, oats, barley, or anything that’ll give it some bulk), various animal fats, a cornucopia of spices, and blood. While it might look like slices of ordinary sausage, you’re disabused of that notion the moment it touches your tongue. There’s a slight metallic flavor, and the texture is just a bit too soft.
It’s not bad, but if your brain is expecting sausage, it will be confused. By itself, black pudding is a bit much, but I could see it having value as a condiment. A little goes a long way.
You can find it at many chip shops in Newcastle, sometimes breaded and deep-fried, as well as at butcher shops and delis. I tried it at Dicksons, along with the aforementioned Saveloy Dip, and was quite disappointed. That may be a reflection on Dicksons, though, and not an indictment of the blood pudding.
Where to eat it in Newcastle:
Most any chip shop or deli
Fish and Chips
The quintessential British dish and one of the few that’s been successfully exported to the States. Seemingly every neighborhood in England has a few chippies, and residents hold strong opinions on which you should frequent.
The beauty of the dish is its simplicity: take a few filets of white fish, batter and deep fry it, then serve with a heaping plate of thick cut potatoes. You really can’t go wrong. As long as they’re fresh, fish and chips rarely disappoint. There are a few regional differences, though.
Down south, around London and Bristol, you’re more likely to be served cod filets in your fish and chips. Up north, especially in the Newcastle area, it’s haddock. I prefer the Newcastle version. Haddock’s a more flavorful fish, which can be construed as “fishy” tasting – but if you don’t like the taste of fish, why are you eating fish and chips? It’s surely not for the health benefits.
The bigger debate is what should go on the chips? Americans would overwhelmingly say ketchup, but only about a third of Brits agree with them. About 10% of the U.K. is partial to the disturbing continental trend of slathering their chips in mayonnaise, and some choose more niche options like curry sauce or brown sauce.
The majority of Brits top their fish and chips malt vinegar, and I’m a firm supporter of this. If you haven’t tried it, you’re missing out. Malt vinegar is essentially beer that has been fermented with oxygen, which produces vinegar instead of alcohol. It’s got a nutty flavor that’s not overly sour like other vinegars – the perfect addition to a pile of fried fish and potatoes.
Where to eat it in Newcastle:
Basically every pub or casual restaurant
Cornish Pasty
These are especially close to my heart, as the pasty is beloved in my home state of Montana – particularly in the town of Butte, which was home to a large Cornish immigrant population who came over to work in its copper mines.
If you’re not familiar with them, a pasty is a type of hand pie – pie dough wrapped around a meat, onion, potato, and spice filling and baked until golden brown. They’re an excellent travel food and a good introduction to British “pie” culture.
While Americans are mostly limited to dessert-style pies (pumpkin, pecan, apple, etc.), our friends across the pond put all manner of fascinating things in their pie crust – steak and kidneys, curried chicken, and mince (which we frustratingly call mincemeat in the States, despite it containing no actual meat).
Putting aside the complexities of pie culture, I strongly recommend grabbing a pasty before boarding the train to other points on the British mainland. They’re cheap, delicious, and as long as you’re careful with the wrapping, not too messy. Every Greggs has pasties, but Pink Lane Bakery is so close to the station you’d be a fool not spend the extra few minutes to buy one from them.
Where to eat it in Newcastle:
As with all excellent baked goods – Pink Lane Bakery, but also Greggs
Chip Butty
While we’re at the “chippy” (aka chip shop), let’s discuss an unsung hero of British cuisine – the chip butty. Take two pieces of white bread (or a roll), spread a little butter on them, put some chips (French fries) in between, and cover with your favorite condiment. That’s it. A hefty handful of starch and calories.
It’s simple and dirt cheap to make, making it a popular food with kids and the intoxicated. Is it nutritious? No. Is it satisfying? Sort of. Will you be hungry after eating it? No – and isn’t that all that really matters?
Where to eat it in Newcastle:
Any chip shop
Where to Try the Best Newcastle Foods
Click here for an interactive version of the map, and to see restaurants in the surrounding areas.
Where to Stay in Newcastle
Though the U.K. is one of the more expensive countries to visit, Newcastle is actually a pretty budget-friendly city, at least when it comes to accommodations. These are a few top picks for Newcastle hotels to stay at during your food tour of the city:
Albatross Hostel: For rock-bottom prices, you can’t beat the Albatross. Hostel beds go for less than $25/night, and it’s right in the middle of the action, just a short walk from the train station and Grainger Market. There’s even a kitchen, so can try your hand at cooking up the Geordie foods you can’t find in town.
County Hotel: For something more upscale, grab a private room at the County Hotel, a beautifully-restored historic building across the street from train station. It has easy access to all the activities down at Quayside, like the Sunday market, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, and some of the best restaurants in Newcastle.
The Vermont Hotel: To really go all out, book a room at the luxurious Vermont Hotel, the only independent 4-star hotel in Newcastle. While many of the rooms are just over $100/night, there are also some posh penthouse suites for $300-$500 (that would probably cost closer to $1,000 in the States). You’ll have amazing views of the River Tyne and the spectacularly photogenic Tyne Bridge, while being close to all the attractions of Quayside, downtown, and Gateshead across the river.
Which traditional Newcastle foods have you tried?
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