Art and Calm at the Laing Art Gallery

RACHEL FLINT ventured to the Laing Art Gallery for culture and coffee.

Today I took a long overdue trip to Newcastle's Laing Art Gallery in an attempt to absorb some of the toon's highbrow artistic culture, and to receive a much needed morning hit of coffee.
I was to be drinking alone, and as an experienced lone-coffee guzzler, I had learnt to always be armed with reading material - so I stopped off at the City Library and picked up a battered copy of Evelry Waugh's 'Scoop'.

The Laing Art Gallery cafe is a cultural delight. Scattered all around the peaceful café are a multitude of display cases featuring a dozen, or so, pieces of artwork, mostly revolving around a tea and coffee based theme.

A beautiful statue forms the centrepiece of the café, which is littered with spacious tables and a dozen relaxing sofa-styled chairs, suitable for families and couples to relax in over a cup of mid-afternoon coffee.

At this time the café was fairly quiet, calm and tranquil. As I sat down on a seat opposite the counter I was immediately put at ease, due mostly to the fact that there appeared to be no children – at last I have found an adult only coffee shop in Newcastle.

It was beautifully quiet, all I could hear was the quiet buzz of cultured conversations from the nearby tables, and the sound of an old lady slurping her steaming coffee whilst pouring over her Jackie Collins, and pausing mud page to devour a large slice of decadent chocolate cake.

For me, this café was heaven. Far from the bustling, noisy, high street Starbuck’s chain, that has become my home-from-home over the past few weeks. Here, I could relax, dip into my book, and loose myself for an hour, knowing that at the end I could get up and venture into the gallery to experience more cultural time, without being hassled, or bothered, by women with prams, or rowdy teenagers slurping on their caffeine charged mocha frappicinos.
For the staff, I may as well have been the Queen on a state visit. At the counter I was addressed as ‘Mam’, by a rather over polite gentleman, and once served I wasn’t once disturbed, which was frankly delightful.

My only qualm - and to most people this would be a rather small thing, but for me it has become a regular annoyance – was that I couldn’t drink the coffee. I am lactose intolerant, and when I asked for Soya milk the man looked at me like I had asked for a coconut in my tea. So, annoyingly I didn’t get coffee, and had to watch in agony as the old ladies around me indulged in their foamy cappuccinos and frothy lattes, while I slurped at my fizzy, over priced diet coke.

As I left the café, in a state of calm that I hadn’t felt for years, but still feeling the headache from my panging caffeine withdrawal, I reflected on how pleasant it had been to try somewhere new, and undoubtedly more cultured than Starbuck’s for my morning break. It had been wonderful to just relax, and even more wonderful to read, and then to visit the world-renowned Japanese Wave exhibition, and see Hokusai’s Under the Wave.
However, walking out of the gallery, my addiction took over and I found myself making a beeline for the steamy doors of Starbuck’s, and was soon uttering the robotic sentence: “One tall sugar free vanilla Soya latte, please” – my overdraft will hate me.


Details:

Name: The Laing Art Gallery Cafe

Address: Ground Floor of the Laing Art Gallery, Opposite City Library, New Bridge Street, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 8AG

Atmosphere: Friendly, relaxed, cultured.

Licensed to Sell Alcohol: No

Food: Cakes, snacks, sandwiches, good range of hot food (some gluten and lactose free)

Prices: Reasonable: Large Cappuccino £2.30, Large Latte £2.30, Toasted Panini £3.50, Stotties £2.90, Jacket potatoes from £2.50.

Cafe Notes Rating: 2.5 stars - would have been a 4 if I could have had coffee.

Warmth at the Tyneside Coffee Rooms

Takashi Oshimi reports on the warmth at the Tyneside Coffee Rooms
Situated in the heart of Newcastle’s city centre, Tyneside Coffee Rooms is one minute’s walk from Monument Metro Station, readily accessible by major bus routes, and has parking nearby with multi- storey car parks available on New Bridge Street and John Debson Street.
Since the cinema’s founder Dixon Scott opened in 1938, the Tyneside Coffee Rooms has been a local institution offering Italian atmospheric space with proper Italian coffee such as cappuccino and many more.

During the Second World War, the coffee rooms had to deal with lack of items hard to prepare those involving butter. But creative staff invented their own butter and margarine, which were also famously know as ‘Great and nutritious alternative’.
The coffee rooms prospered during the war and legendary specialities such as kidneys on toast become incredibly popular menu. Sir Ian Mckelln, Charlton Heston, John Hurt, Rowan Atkinson, Bryon Adams and many customers have been satisfied with authentic taste of these firm favourites.
In 2000, this rare example of fine cinema was recommended for a Grade 2 listing by English Heritage.

I think the Tyneside Coffee Rooms’s mix of comfort food and genuinely warm- hearted services treat Newcastle’s youth and old, literally everyone of else. Indeed, any gastronomic meal has exquisite taste and historical atmosphere for more than 70 years makes apparently difference. I could savour the moment with some of the favourites cakes, orange & cranberry cake (£2.95) and a cup of coffee, thanks for offering such a nice one.

Opening Times Daily : 10.00 am- 10.00 pm

Sunday : 11.00 am- 10.00 pm
Address 10 Pilgrim Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 6GQ

Phone 0191 227 5520

Mail cofferooms@hotmail.co.uk
Atmosphere Smart and very friendly staff with relaxed atmosphere based on

Italian decoration, airy room with white wall, red chairs and black

Tables. Any other atmospheric coffees cannot hold a candle to the

Tyneside Coffee Rooms.
Licensed to sell Alcohol: Yes, a range of beers and wine are available.
Food and Drink: Snacks, chips, jacket Potatoes, Sandwiches, and a large selection of hot food.
Prices: Cappuccino £ 1.90, Espresso £ 1.50, a range of teas are available from £1.50. Snacks are reasonably priced, with a portion of chips for £2, and jacket potatoes starting at £2.20. A range of sandwiches are available for £3.20 and hot food £5 and above.

Star Rating: 5 Stars – Our highest score of the day, nothing short of perfection.

Street Cafe of the Great North Museum – "Good To Have But Not So Good to Stay In"

CAGRI COBANOGLU reports on his visit to the Great North Museum Street Cafe


If you visit Great North Museum, you do not need to worry about food and drinks. Street Café has lots of alternative snacks for you.

It is on the ground floor of the museum. There are two different doors to come in, one is direct to outside while the other option is inside the museum. What you see there is green walls, green cupboards and black tables and chairs. There are only two posters about events and shows in the museum on café’s walls. Besides, there is no a good scene. Therefore, it is a little bit boring to stay in for a long time.

Another reason not stay in there for a long time are fans for fridges, which are too noisy and disturbing. There are only five tables and four chairs per table. It is busy but most of people just get what they want and leave. It is not a place you will want to spend time as long as you do not visit the museum. Obviously it is not designed to attract customers from outside.

Prices are reasonable. £2.10 is for a regular cappuccino or latte, £2.30 is for larger one. Larger side of a cup of mocha is 10 pence more expensive. Juice in cartoons is just £1, £1.50 for cold drinks like Coke and Sprite. Sandwiches are £2.35, and chicken or falafel wraps are £2.85.
If you want to have a large size of coffee and a slice of cake, you have an option to buy them together for £3.25, which means more than one pound discount.

You can buy any sandwich, crisps and cold drink all together for £3.75. You can pay by your credit card. This is an extra for a small sized coffee like this, I think. However, it has to be over £5 to pay by credit card.

Address:
Great North Museum
Barras Bridge, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, NE2 4PT

Star level: 2 Stars – I don’t want to stay in a place where it is very noisy and disturbing, and it is also very plain and boring.

Artistic coffee at the Baltic Cafe Bar

MARY BLUE reports on her trip to the Baltic Cafe bar

With its slate interior and clubby, dubby tunes, the groundfloor cafe at the Baltic contemporary art centre is a seductive hang-out.

The menu includes upmarket paninis (blue cheese, pear, walnut and roasted shallot, say), jacket potatoes and salads, hot dishes, and cakes from Cafe Royal. Catering was taken over by local company Fresh Element in 2009, and their commitment to quality is evident even in the pre-packed sandwiches. A tuna, olive, caper and creme fraiche sarnie (£2.95) is a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed surprise. Rarely is anything that pleasant plucked from a chiller cabinet

Indulge in the luxury and simplicity, the Baltic offers you a range of delicious food and drinks, here customers are able to reduce the pressure of time with a ‘pick me up’ from Fresh Element.

Luxury, comfort, relaxing and quiet are the words to describe the ambience here. All of the food is nice and cheap. It offers all day breakfast, soup, fresh salad, baked potatoes, sandwiches as well as paninis. In addition, various types of drinks are available here as well, including both soft and hot drinks, healthy and yummy smoothie. If you are a super fan for wine, BALTIC is your best choice, with white, rose, red, and sparkling wine as well as champagne to choose from.

The price in BALTIC is brilliant. All the food here cost less than £7; both soft and hot drinks are even cheaper, and it only takes you less than £3 to take a bottle of Sprits.

Apart from the gorgeous foods and drinks, the cafe bar also offers a range of spaces for hire, and can accommodate a wide range of events - from meetings and workshops to banquets and conferences. If you’re looking for an unusual space for your private party or wedding, the Baltic and River Terrace are available for private hire at competitive rates and make the perfect setting for a very memorable evening!
For more information please contact the Events Team on:

T 0191 440 4949

Email hires@balticmill.com

Name: BALTIC Café Bar

Address: BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art

Gateshead Quays

South Shore Road

Gateshead

NE8 3BA



Licensed to sell alcohol: Yes

Foods: breakfast; sandwiches, soup; salads, snacks, baked potatoes; panini’s

Drinks: soft drinks; hot drinks; healthy smoothie; yummy smoothie; white wine; rose wine; red wine; sparkling wine; champagne; beers; cider; draught beer and spirits

Star level: 3 star - would have been more if it had been quieter, and the layout, with the bar too close to the toilets, makes the atmosphere rather unplesant.

Cafe Culture

There are few things in life that are as addictive as coffee. Two years ago even the smell of a fresh cup of ground coffee left my stomach churning, now I can't seem to get through the day without at least two visits to my local Starbucks for my regular tall sugar free vanilla soy latte.


But these big brand coffee chains, Costa Coffee, Cafe Nero, and the mighty Starbucks, are slowly destroying the pastime of cafe culture, and killing small local cafes and coffee shops, as they power through the high streets with their brazen logos and polystyrene takeout cups.

So it's high time I spread my wings and ventured outside my safety zone, put down my oversized mug, and experienced the joys of small, unknown, unexplored cafes, in the hope to find a more tranquil, cultured and less demanding coffee drinking experience.

Today me and a team of trainee journalists are hitting the streets of Newcastle to search out the best coffee shops the toon has to offer. We will be visiting them all; from the back streets, to the high streets, the museums and the cinemas, and we will be reporting back here to tell you where to go to get the best cafe experience in Newcastle.