Newcastle is a place that you wouldn’t entirely expect to
have exciting places to have a drink, both alcohol and non. As with most
cities, it has plenty of chains such as Tiger Tiger and Starbucks (placed so
close together that if you walked at an average speed with a coffee you bought
at one, it would still be way too hot to drink by the time you reached the
next). But if you’re willing to step off the beaten path and head down some of
the side streets, instead of instinctively going towards Sinners as a result of
your treble hungry Sat Nav for alcohol, there are some real treats to find and,
as more places begin to open, the amount of choice becomes more of a treat than
a burden.
And here lies the beginning of one of the more middle class
evenings of my life, containing both new places and an abundance of choice. To
begin with, we take a trip to Pleased To
Meet You. Tucked away on the excellent Highbridge, which is slowly becoming
the place to go for all things a little bit different including The Stand
Edinburgh’s little sister, a spin off gallery space run by the Baltic, and a
number of independent boutique stores, Pleased To Meet You is Newcastle’s first
gin bar. Well, at least the first modern gin bar.
After the recent successes of The Lady Grey and Redhouse (an
excellent pie and ale pub I highly recommend), the Ladhar Group have decided to
take over what was the Old Turk Hotel and transform it completely with a
postmodernist feel; all exposed pipe work alongside plush seating and a copper
topped bar. As we entered the bar on opening day, just after clocking off time
on a gloriously sunny afternoon, the place was teeming with business men and
women just getting off from work, students looking for somewhere to relax
during exam season, and curious passers-by. The atmosphere was buzzing but the
lack of seating was somewhat a problem. However, it is possible that some of it
was removed so as to make room for the expected rush on opening day.
The unique selling points of PTMY is the abundance of gin on
offer. With over 50 varieties from your standard Tanqueray and Bombay Sapphire
to the more exotic, such as Sweden’s Right Gin, the choice is spectacular. The
choice is so large that you get to decide how you want your G&T, with a
range of tonics and garnishes to go alongside your choice of gin. The problem
with choice, however, is it’s difficult to find exactly what you want. Luckily
for us, the complimentary bar simply provided us with Tanqueray gin along with
our choice of tonic and garnish (BottleGreen’s Elderflower and Pomegranate with
a grapefruit garnish was extremely refreshing in the early evening sun) but,
other than the four recommendations on the menu, there appears to be no real
help in deciding the best and most interesting combinations with no real
details about the different gins. Of course, perhaps the staff might be more
attentive to suggesting combinations when the bar isn’t so busy, and it’s
understandable that they were swept off their feet with the demand for gin on
opening night so, hopefully, on a regular night, the staff can be your guide
through the extraordinary amount of choice available.
For those not too keen on gin, there are a wide range of
whiskeys available (around 4 pages worth in the menu) and, luckily, there is
some detail on the different types making choosing a whiskey to your taste a
lot easier. There are also plenty of cask ales and craft beers on offer,
bottled and from tap, and at a reasonable price, making PTMY a viable threat of
BrewDog’s monopoly on the craft beer market in Newcastle. Although, as PTMY’s
heart is firmly with gin, there isn’t the same amount of love given to the
craft beer which you will be able to get from a trip to BrewDog, where the
staff seem to know all their products inside and out.
No food was available to try on Friday, but the menu looks
diverse with a real gastro feel to it; littered with pulled pork on brioche and
crab linguine. To me, however, PTMY doesn’t really feel like somewhere you
would go primarily to eat. Of course, trying the food might change my mind but
it feels exactly like what it was on Friday evening; a place to go after work
on a Friday to celebrate the weekend with a range of gins to get through every
visit, which it does with aplomb.
Immediately following this, we took a trip a bit further out
of the centre for a special preview of a new teahouse that could give Campus
Coffee, its closest rival, a lot to be worried about. Quilliam Brothers’ Teahouse is situated in what used to be a
disused building belonging to Newcastle University close to the Great North
Museum. A family run business, led by the three eponymous Quilliam brothers,
they produce a vast variety of teas to suit everyone’s taste: from Rooibos to
Oolong to your ordinary Breakfast tea with a number of different flavours for
each.
Like Pleased To Meet You, the emphasis here is on variety
and there is a lot to try. Luckily for us, the staff are knowledgeable of their
products and the menus provide a nice insight into what is in each tea. This
makes the decision of what to have all the more easier, and with plenty on
offer, it’s always nice to try something new and find a new favourite. After
trying a number of teas on the Friday evening, I ended up returning again for
Saturday lunch, when the place had officially opened and was instantly drawn
back to the Ice Age and Tingly Fresh Masala, both refreshing teas that were
perfect for the glorious sunshine outside (even if it had poured it down
earlier that morning).
Admittedly, things were a bit haphazard on the Saturday but,
as with Pleased To Meet You, opening day jitters are always to be expected. No
salads were available apart from the Coq au vin salad, which scuppered my plans
to have a Waldorf salad, and my second choice, a falafel and hummus stottie,
didn’t come with any garnish (the staff did later realise this and apologise).
The falafel, too, was a little too chewy for my tastes; I prefer my falafel to
be of the more crumbly, almost melt in your mouth variety. However, it is hard
to complain about the portion sizes which were huge. Definitely good value for
money either way. The rest of the menu is rather interesting for what many
would perceive to be a café, with interesting stotties (including one with
heaps and heaps of pulled pork on top) and a large breakfast selection.
The teahouse itself is wonderfully situated, halfway between
the main university and the university’s library, making it a perfect
destination for many students. The huge floor to ceiling windows mean the place
is mostly always lit by natural light in the day, and also add a fantastic
people watching element from pretty much anywhere in the café. Downstairs
houses a small gallery is tea inspired art (often painted or sculpted entirely
out of used tea bags) and a cinema. The owners want the place to be not just
another café, but a place for people to come and experience art and just talk.
This, too, is the inspiration behind the 1am closing, making it perhaps the
latest closing establishment that does not serve alcohol giving you a nice
alternative to Sinners and perfect for a late night break during an essay
all-nighter.
It was extraordinarily busy at Saturday lunchtime, with
people often unable to find seats despite the wide number of tables and chairs
available, proving that there is a market for this and, accompanied by friendly
staff and an excellently diverse range of teas on offer (plus coffee and soft
drinks for those not too swayed by tea), there’s real potential for Quilliam
Bros to take off.
Images of Quilliam Brothers' Teahouse courtesy of Georgie Moule
