I visited this place right after watching Chelsea throw 3 points away against Newcastle. The pub was absolutely rammed, which makes it difficult to give this place a proper rating. The bar appears to be pretty upscale. The selection might be large, but it was difficult to learn exactly what was on offer. A menu would help, especially when the pub’s so full that you can’t see all the taps and bottles. What I did see was a mixed bag. The cask stuff was fairly traditional. Plenty of local twiggy stuff. The keg options were all over the place. For example, they had n’ice chouffe on right next to a macro lager. Most of the crowd was drinking swill that you could buy at any bar. The service was fine, the prices were fair. Overall, this was something of a frustrating experience. The pub was way too crowded, there was no way for me to check out the selection. I sank a half then got the hell out of there.

A wonderful beer haven just a couple of minutes walk from the city centre. I was in on a fairly quiet Tuesday afternoon and they still had 7 cask handpumps on the go as well as (at an estimate) 10 craft keg fonts. Lots of great British breweries represented on keg (Tempest, Summer Wine, and Tiny Rebel amongst others) as well as a good selection of locals on cask. A few Scandinavian offerings on tap too from Mikkeller & Haandbryggeriet which is good to see. Decent bottle list with a good selection of Belgian, UK, and Scandinavian brews as well as a few US offerings from the likes of Flying Dog and Goose Island. Prices not too bad at all given the quality. Tremendous range of glassware too which is nice to see. Service is top notch, the girl behind the bar when I was in was just lovely - so pleasant & full of knowledge. More of an upscale ambiance - leather and dark wood rather than spit and sawdust. Nice relaxed buzz even on a quiet weekday afternoon. One of the best (if not the best) beer bars in the North East.

One of the best places to have real ales in Newcastle (2011).

This is an extremely good bar--the best in Newcastle, and I found Newcastle to be a very exciting place for beer. I was there on a very slow night, but the two women bartending said I could have as many tasters as I want. "I don’t want to abuse that," I said, and she said, "some people do, but go ahead anyway". GREAT selection of both local and distant beers, all of them interesting. I wasn’t keen on the decor--it’s upscale like a steak restaurant, modern wood angles. But go anyway. Great bar (not really a pub).

Going to go out on a limb here and say that this is almost the perfect bar. No wonder it has been awarded Tyneside Pub of the Year 4 years in a row (to date). It's stylish, with a great atmosphere, and phenomenal beer choice. Only criticism is that it may be TOO popular and, hence, expensive. But you would still want this in your town or city.

I have only been here for the Nøgne Ø total tap takeover which was a great night. Good selection of cask ales and plenty of keg beers (although these were all Nøgne Ø when we were there). My favourite pub of the night.

What a great bar this is. Big open bar, huge horshoe bar, great selection of taps, including a permenant Highland beer (which is ocassionaly a special or 8+ abv yum yum)

Always on the agenda during a trip to Newcastle, this has been CAMRA’s Tyneside Pub of the Year for 3 years running, and well deserved it is too! Beautiful, plush interior, tonnes of space and friendly clientele and bar staff. Beer selection is very impressive too, Goose Island IPA on permanent keg is a must, as are the constantly changing casks (Ulverston Black Medicine and Highland Orkney I.P.A. being memorable ones from my last visit). Flying Dog bottles and Snake Dog keg coming soon too. Great, classy beer pub.

I’ve been meaning to go to this local place for a while after several reccomendations so I’ve finally got round to visiting it. This place is pub of the year for Newcastle 2007, 2008 and 2009. Firstly the beer is excellent, a good selection of real ales and some more unusual brews which is rare in Newcastle. They also do other drinks to please none-beer drinkers which is good for keeping the peace! The place itself is modern, clean and comfortable with lots of seats, clearly quite new which means it looses a little bit of the charm you get in the Bridge and Bodega. All in all very nice, and seems to do the best beer selection in Newcastle.

The jewel in Newcastle’s crown. A completely new pub, built next to the site of the old Bacchus, around 2000. Beautifully presented interior, exceptionally clean and well maintained. The beer choice goes from strength to strength, thanks to a very keen manager who sources as much unusual beer as possible. The bottled range is increasing and recently Erdinger Urweisse added to the draught range. Usually 8 cask ales available, with regular featured brewery and food matching weekends. If you’re in the north-east of England, this is not to be missed.