Explore Pandon Block With Us
Come take a trip to Newcastle’s Pandon Block…
Nestled around Newcastle’s Quayside, Pandon Block is a small and stylish corner of the city home to a cluster of impeccable independent venues offering good food, good drinks and good times.
Located with a few steps of each other, the businesses that call Pandon Block home are perfect for slow evenings, after-work catch-ups and discovering your new go-to spots. It’s everything you could want for an upmarket night out in Newcastle all in one stretch, so come and explore this classy corner of the city with us.
DOOD, Quayside
Since opening its doors on Newcastle’s Quayside last winter, DOOD has become a firm favourite with the city’s diners thanks to its deliciously high-end Persian and Levantine cuisine, cooked by talented chefs in tandoor ovens and mangal grills in an open kitchen you pass upon entering.
Its sumptuous dining spaces offer comfort and class with low lighting, exposed brick walls and sweeping views of the River Tyne to gaze at while enjoying authentic dishes like kashk bademjan, kebabs and khoresht. Finish your feast sipping signature Silk Road-inspired cocktails in the Al Khaima bar under its beautiful Bedouin tent canopy for the perfect end to a Pandon Block evening.
The Hooch, Quayside
DOOD’s neighbour The Hooch is a chilled-out little café and bar that’s great to head to no matter the time of day. Open from mid-morning most days, it’s the perfect spot to people-watch and soak up the hustle and bustle of the Quayside with a cup of hot coffee – perhaps while enjoying a sweet treat or savoury snack from its tempting menu.
It's ideal for post-work drinks and meet-ups with mates too – offering some delicious sharing platters alongside a long list of cocktails, mocktails, spirits and wine – and if you’re a music fan you’ll want to stop by on weekends when the bar gets lively with regular DJ’s and The Hooch’s exclusive ‘tiny bar gigs’.
21, Pandon
A jewel in Newcastle’s dining scene, 21 has been delighting discerning local diners since it first set up shop on Queen Street in the late 1980s. The brainchild of celebrated local chef Terry Laybourne, 21 moved to its current location in the heart of Pandon Block in the mid-2000s and is one of just a handful of Michelin Guide-recommended restaurants in Newcastle.
The restaurant specialises in modern British and European cuisine crafted from locally sourced, seasonal ingredients – think dishes like Lindisfarne oysters, Northumbrian partridge and roasted Kielder roe deer – and with its stylish and sleek space, it’s the perfect place to take somebody you want to impress.
Live Theatre, Broad Chare
Pandon Block isn’t just home to places where you can enjoy great food and drinks, of course. It’s also home to Newcastle’s amazing Live Theatre, one of only a few theatres outside of London dedicated exclusively to new writing. A proud champion of North East talent, Live Theatre has helped grow the careers of local playwrights including Lee Hall (of Billy Elliot fame, which premiered as a rehearsed reading at the theatre back in 1998) and continues to nurture the next generation of talent with its artist development programme and youth theatre.
Its varied programme of shows offers everything from cutting-edge plays and comedy to talks and musical performances, and with a great location sandwiched among so many great bars and restaurants, you’ve no excuse not to enjoy a pre-theatre meal and some post-show drinks to really make a night of it in Pandon Block.
The Broad Chare, Broad Chare
Don’t let The Broad Chare’s “proper pub food” stance fool you: like its sister restaurant 21 above, it’s a Michelin Guide-approved destination serving some of the finest fare in town. The result of a partnership between 21 and Live Theatre, a portion of its revenue is invested back into the theatre’s work so every visit benefits the local arts too.
Take a seat in the pub and team real ales with tasty bar snacks like scotch eggs, pork pies and monkfish cheeks or head upstairs to its dining room for a more formal, sit-down meal of seasonal British plates. It’s also home to one of Newcastle’s best beer gardens, perfect for a nice cold pint on a hot summer day.
The Head of Steam Quayside, Broad Chare
A bustling haven for beer lovers, the Quayside branch of The Head of Steam offers visitors a warm welcome, good vibes and an ever-changing line-up of local and international craft beer and real ale.
With a gaming area home to shuffleboards, foosball, retro games and a pool table, it’s a great destination for some competitive fun and a pint or two with pals and its food menu will help you keep fuelled throughout. Offering everything from pizzas, loaded fries and sharing plates to burgers, wings and gyros, over half the menu is vegan-friendly too – so guests following a plant-based diet don’t have to miss out either.
St. Vincent, Broad Chare
And last but by no means least in our tour of Pandon Block, let’s stop by St. Vincent. Part of the same restaurant group as 21 and The Broad Chare, it’s inspired by travels through Italy and Spain and boasts European neighbourhood bar vibes alongside a carefully crafted menu of small and large plates, snacks, charcuterie and cheese boards.
Given its culinary inspiration, it should come as no surprise that St. Vincent offers an extensive list of what it calls “reassuringly old-school but not always familiar” wines sourced from small, independent producers based across Europe that are guaranteed to please any budding oenophiles.
Whether you’re catching a show at Live Theatre, enjoying an upmarket meal at DOOD or 21 or catching up over a few drinks at The Hooch or The Head of Steam, swing by Pandon Block soon and discover all this amazing quarter of Newcastle has to offer.
Main image: DOOD / Photo by Anna Miller
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