Dean Bailey stops for brunch at the iconic Tynside’s Cinema’s Tyneside Bar Café
Tyneside Cinema is a Newcastle institution, an old-school cinema that still does the movie experience properly; the kind of place where the film is at the centre of a whole world you give yourself over to as you walk through the door.
No surprise then that its recently revamped bistro/café, Tyneside Bar Café, gives food and drink equally loving treatment and is rewarded in turn by the patronage of so many regulars, it is one of the most popular spots in town.
Food here is an important part of the experience – whether you’re here for a night at the movies or popping in for a quick Saturday brunch.
Ours starred a thick, salty bacon chop with golden poached eggs perched on top of a hunk of sourdough – an essential treat to see you through a day of shopping in the city centre.
The Tyneside Benedicts section of the menu includes an innovative take on a classic eggs Benedict, serving up a pair of poached eggs atop house-made corned beef brisket and hash browns with Sriracha and hollandaise sauces.
Coffee by Lonton Coffee Company from Barnard Castle is served with proper care and attention, and the regular handpulls at the bar feature great local breweries alongside a wide-ranging global wine list.
For film buffs, there are also regular film quizzes, free screenings of classics alongside brunch on Sundays, and more events chalked on boards around the bar.
The atmosphere is buzzing with people popping in for coffee at long tables or wine at the bar. More congregate at the picture windows to watch the world go by on Pilgrim Street, while others gather for a meal before a film in the Art Deco picture house.
On this occasion, we had to tear ourselves away for an afternoon shopping, when we would have rather stayed to view an Oscar contender. Next time we’re doing Saturday brunch at the movies.
Tyneside Bar Café, Pilgrim Street, Newcastle, NE1 6QG, tel 0191 227 5522, www.tynesidecinema.co.uk
