Geordie cuisine: a culinary tour of Newcastle and the North East
Newcastle's cuisine isn't just restaurants and boutique cafes. There's plenty of traditional Geordie grub to discover too. Whet your appetite with our guide.
Ham and pease pudding stottie. No, it's not a cheaply made but hilarious legal drama set in Gateshead, but another kind of North East treasure: a heartwarming, stomach-filling Geordie sandwich.
Arguably, it's the best quick-fix food to come out of Tyneside apart from the Greggs sausage roll. (But we'll come to that later…)
Like a Geordie doughnut, the North East of England is jam-packed with deliciousness. There are fancy restaurants, cute cafes, boutique bakeries and local food specialists dotted throughout our corner of the country. Any of them would provide a great excuse to hop in your rental car and crisscross the region in search of culinary delights.
But that's not the food we're exploring today. Today, we're going to take your taste buds on a cheap Geordie snack voyage.
And let's be clear here: when we say "cheap", we mean cheap in price, not in flavour or quality.
So, where to begin…?
Greggs. Obviously.
There's a fun meme doing the rounds on student social media in the North East. It's a Google Maps screenshot showing a search of Newcastle city centre.
The joke: there's a row of five Greggs, all clearly within walking distance of each other, accompanied by the sentence "Why would you live anywhere else?"
It's one of those things that the saying "It's funny because it's true" was made for.
There are three reasons to genuinely include Greggs in our tour of cheap culinary delights from the North East:
1. Greggs¹ was born here in the North East
It has lovely little shops all over the place – and visiting any one of them for a pastie and a cheeky doughnut will instantly put you within walking distance of somewhere historical to explore.
Don't believe us? Let's give it a go.
North Shields Greggs? Right in the middle of North Shields high street? That's the exact location of Liam Fender's² one-shot music video that recently caused a stir online with its working-class beauty.
Then wander a few hundred metres down from the high street to the Fish Quay. Here, row after row of buildings pay tribute to the shipbuilding, fish-gutting, coal-transporting, booze-smuggling ghosts in the walls.
Wallsend Greggs? Cheese and onion slice, cream doughnut and a wander down to Segedunum: the museum at the Roman fort built to protect the end of Hadrian's Wall.
1. Bakers of high quality and decent price, in case you didn't know already.
2. Brother of Sam – and equally talented.
2. They don't just do good food – they do good work
Greggs Foundation supports a whole range of North East communities and does heaps of charitable work, helping to bring about positive change for the most vulnerable.
Double-choc doughnut and your money helps someone having a rough time? Doubly delightful!
3. It's delicious
Come on. A vegan sausage roll to fill the gap in your belly when you're wandering local record stores or charity shops – or taking the kids to the park? Perfect.
Not
just Greggs
Now, let's say you didn't just want to visit various northern Greggs and the surrounding historical sites on your cheap and cheerful snack-focused break.
Where else could you go to tickle your lips with loveliness that doesn't destroy your wallet – all while breathing in local culture for the whole family?
The options are practically endless, so we will focus on three more.
Cake or bread?
A stottie bread (or cake) sandwich. As mentioned at the start of this article. Not a TV drama or a mid-80s prog rock band, but a delicious local food.
It's a flat, round loaf, about 30 centimetres wide and four centimetres deep. You can stick anything in there and it will taste amazing – but the classic filling is a generous dollop of pease pudding and ham.
You could do a mini-tour of the region – just like with Greggs – to grab a stottie and see a beautiful area. But we particularly recommend the Milbourne Arms pub and its "pork stottie".
The pub is gorgeous – and, if you're lucky, it will have live music on and you can eat inside. Alternatively, you can grab your stottie in a paper bag (careful the gravy doesn't drip!) then drive a few minutes south to St Mary's Lighthouse, east to Seaton Sluice beach or north to the coastline at Cambois.
Every single option is a stunner – ideal for sitting, eating, chatting and taking in the northern coastline.
And now for something sweet
Get your lips around a singing hinny.
No – it's not just what you'd call your Geordie nana after a few gins at the social club bingo. It's also our very own (and, if we may say so, better) local version of the Welsh griddle scone.
This treat was made more famous recently by chefs James Martin and The Hairy Bikers. They put their own spin on these hardy delicacies that northern mams and dads have made for decades – often to give to miners as a quick, mid-rock-smashing snack.
Hinnie is a term of endearment meaning, most closely, "love". They are called "singing hinnies" thanks to the musical sizzle when they hit the lard or butter in the pan.
You want to go on a mini adventure and try one now, right? Well, you can get them all over the area, but we'd recommend leaping into your hire car and getting yourself right up the coast to Seahouses.
Now, you'll need a healthy dose of willpower to run this seaside gauntlet.
Don't get distracted by fish and chips (yet). Don't grab a fresh, locally brewed pint (yet). Don't gaze at the picture-perfect harbour and its cute-as-a-boot fishing boats (OK, maybe for a minute or two). Instead, get yourself in the door of Trotters Family Bakery and grab a bag of its legendary Singing Hinnies.
You won't be disappointed.
Sweet but still not sweet enough?
Then it's time for a big bag of black bullets: the North East's famous boiled sweets. Their full name is "Jesmona Black Bullets", after the Jesmond area of Newcastle.
Bonus fact: The Beatles wrote their second hit single "She Loves You" in the Imperial Hotel here in Jesmond, right by Jesmond Dene. Incidentally, that's another great place to put on your visit list – perhaps you could even bring your Greggs pasty and your loved ones on a long evening walk here.
Looking for a cultural day trip that you can enjoy with these dark peppermint sweets? Get in your hire vehicle and head down to Beamish, the world-famous "living museum". Here, you can spend a day learning about the wonders of local history and all that was made, invented and done here. You can grab a fancy tin of Black Bullets from the gift shop on the way home.
Drinks all round
We're going to include a pint as the final round of this food trip. You might think is cheating. However, we're going to talk about Newcastle Brown Ale: a dark beer that has notes of toffee and chocolate and is thicker than soup. (In a good way, we promise).
Does that count as food? It's close enough.
An absolute legend in the north, Newcastle Brown Ale is well worth adding to the end of any day trip. You can, of course, get it in most North East pubs and bars – but if you have to choose one, go for the Turks Head pub on Front Street in Tynemouth.
Park your rental vehicle up at the Tynemouth coastline and watch the sunset over King Edward's Bay and the Priory and Castle. (The
former
priory, we should say. Before being left to collapse, it was as big and active as Durham Cathedral.)
Once the sun has tipped itself down past the sea, wander back up and into the first pub on your right. It's a pub with deep character, lovely staff, wild history (ask about the stuffed dog…) and comfy seats. What more do you want?
And if that brown ale turns into two, the Metro is right up the road so you can pick up your rental car in the morning. Just don't forget to grab your bag of Singing Hinnies, Black Bullets and maybe that last Greggs doughnut. After all, if you do get the last Metro home, you might want that late-night snack to soak up the extra "pint of brown"…
Happy and full
So there you go – a voyage of cheap but flavourful northern food that takes you on a magical trip for all ages. Climb in your hire car and off you go.
Ours is a cheese and onion pasty and a pint of brown ale. We'll see you at the coast!
MVH Rental is an independent
hire car company based in Newcastle. Need to rent a vehicle for your culinary tour? Our experts offer friendly service and heaps of local knowledge. To get started,
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