The Blue Bell in Newcastle upon Tyne

Cannot sing this place’s praises enough. Came in on 15th April 2024 and I was blown away with the portion sizes and the all round quality of my meal. Will definitely be coming back soon!

Great pub, very friendly staff, dog friendly, Sky &TNT sports and good looking Sunday dinners, what’s not to like about it

Lovely little pub, highly recommended

I'm leaving my original review below, which I am having to revisit. I have changed my opinion on this pub, which I have come to see as a very good venue. I was originally very disappointed in the reduction of vegan options on the menu, but this was due to the many good evenings I had experienced here, and I was sad that it was no longer so vegan friendly - that said, it still caters better than most pubs in the area. This pub has a great atmosphere, good drinks, a wonderful terrace and garden, and I can't recommend it highly enough. My former review, which you may consider redundant, is below this line. This used to be my favourite pub in the area. Unpretentious, lovely atmosphere, reasonably priced for good beer and great food! Alas, no longer. On my last visit, I found that they had systematically removed virtually every vegan option on the menu. Given that this is, apparently, the work of one chef, I am sad to say that I cannot frequent this formerly great pub any more. By removing all vegan food except the bare minimum of a burger, they have effectively told me that vegans are no longer welcome - or at least considered to be a lower priority. The Blue Bell used to be known by vegans around Newcastle for being a great place for a meal and a drink. Sadly they have squandered this reputation. To any vegans looking for a good place, I can recommend Estate Tea Co which is a short walk away.

Ordered the Sunday lunch and wow was not disappointed 1 of the best Sunday lunches I have had..would highly recommend it.

Sunday dinner spot on, lamb was too die for.

Got to be 1 of the best Sunday beef dinners I’ve had, great value for money lovely atmosphere and great service will definitely be making another visit soon

Really nice pub, atmosphere was quiet but nice,food top notch,really friendly, and a great beer garden at summer time. 10/10

A great night out good food and larger and a quiz excellent

It ticked all the boxes: well presented, generous portion, good range of veg, plenty of gravy, delicious chicken and an enormous Yorkshire pudding. And a decent price too. I’ll definitely be recommending to friends and coming here next time I’m in Newcastle!

Been here for a drink or two & a few meals. All lovely. Nice friendly staff too. Never heard them being disrespectful to anyone. Highly recommend.

Love the Blue Bell. Cracking pub in an amazing location. Atmosphere, Staff, drinks, food, all spot on. Cant fault.

Very nice staff, and plenty of friendly people. Drinks are nice, and a great atmosphere. I will be coming again.

Love this pub! Always a great atmosphere as well.

The pub needs to employ some bar staff who make an effort with the customers. They seem to hate the customers. They are not welcoming in the slighest. They seem to think they own...a pub. It's a lovely pub and could be so good if the bar staff didn't over populate it with their group. The concept of a public house is just that...a public house. Not your house. It needs sorting.

Really excellent food and service. We had Philly Steak and Cheese sandwich and Chicken Platter. Both were delicious.

Live music on Saturdays, great duo sceptre played when I was there

Had the best Sunday lunch I’ve had in Newcastle for years. The slow-cooked beef was beautiful, and so was everything else on the plate. Will definitely be back. Thank you!

dissapointed that there were no real ales and Atlantic only available in bottles despite there being a handpull.

So, I’ve passed this place a number of times over the last few years but never been in. Today we came to try it for the first time for some food, was not disappointed!! Possibly the best burger I’ve ever had! Burger was juicy and bacon was just right, the sauce just added to the taste! Such a hidden gem this place, both meals were amazing so we will definitely being coming back often!

Great place to go for a sunday roast :) nice atmosphere. Reasonable prices.

This used to be a really great place to have a nice vegan food for a reasonable prize in a town. The cauliflower wings were incredible and all the vegan options were over the top tbh. But they recently changed the menu, we've been told that it was the new chefs choice, and most of the vegan food is gone...such a shame really..hopefully it'll come back at some point, until then we'll have to find a new pub I'm afraid EDIT: Seems like there is no option to respond to the owners answer, however I just wanted to say that calling veganism as "mainly a trend" is really out of place especially when you own a place that was really popular in the vegan community. I'd recommend to actually read something about veganism before writing something like that. At the end of the day, these people were giving you their money:))

Bar staff very pleasant and helpful, nice and relaxed atmosphere

Do not come to this pub. It is ran by a bunch of children. They sit outside judging everyone, it's like a youthclub not a pub

Best Sunday dinner EVER!!!!! Dog friendly my tilly loves it there and lovely staff.

A good bar with a great beer garden. Unfortunately the choice of beers is quite limited whit many pumps out of service.

Great first time been in for years great beer and prices

Pie chips that was it no peas! Chicken burger was like a child’s portion in a breakfast muffin so small was definitely not worth the £12 paid for small burger with a handful of fry’s on a peace of wood! Will definitely never eat there again….very disappointing!

Very nice freshly cooked food, sloppy Joe burger well recommended 👌🏻

Popped in for a quick pint. Left a little later than expected. Lots of effort going into the Karaoke. Excellent atmosphere.

I come to the Bluebell all the time and would always recommend it as a cosy pub with a great outdoor area on a sunny day. The atmosphere is great, the bar staff are very pleasant and the snackage on offer is top notch. I love the pita bread platters here and my boyfriend rates the steak pie and gravy as one of the best around.

Best beer garden in Newcastle, great food, great staff. Cracking little function room out in the garden that's great for meetings. I hear tomahawk steaks are being considered for the menu, tell Neil Yes Yes YES when you see him!

Had Sunday lunch which was good but could have been better with more green vegetables.

When I am in England always a quaint place to stop and have a beer, then carry on through Heaton park. This is a heritage pub that my family has shared time in over generations. Great memories!

Nice pub. Good sized beer garden in a lovely setting. No real ales on but bottles available which was the only let down but not a game changer. Would go back

Very bad experience, found this pub by accident as I managed to get lost looking for The Corner House. Bar staff were nice but kitchen staff were extremely rude. I am not a fan of veg, asked for steak pie to be served with chips instead, bar staff were OK with this. Once my payment on card went through he gave me drinks, then angry man came out the kitchen kicking off with him right in public view, it was embarrassing to watch as the can clearly had 0 people skills. Moaned that he put pie thought with chips instead of veg "costing the company money", should have been served chips as extra, seems very greedy and money driven, literally get better customer service from the ice-cream van on Jesmond Dene. To top it off over a 40 min wait when bar was quiet, will never return! Man in kitchen simply needs to stay in the kitchen, and not try to belittle the bar staff!

Great food and lovely staff. Well worth a visit.

Went for the pub quiz on a wednesday, it was lively and welcoming with average drink prices. I had a great time :)

Have visited once for food and once for the pub quiz on the monday. Nice vibe and decent service, drink prices are about average and the food is pretty decent for the price.

I believe the chef changed in the last two years and the quality of the food has declined drastically. We came here for Sunday roast and it was a very sad showing. The roasties had absolutely no colour or crisp to them, the carrots were just boiled and put on the plate. The roast beef was slab of beef as opposed to slices and I wasn’t asked how I’d like the beef. We ordered cauliflower cheese as a side. The cauliflower was cold and topped with melted orange cheese which looked very fake and had no seasoning, add to all of this they charge for a pint of soda water. Very very disappointing.

Nice food and a nice pint, lovely beer garden

Just held my daughters Baby Shower at The Blue Bell, Chris was so helpful and made us feel so welcome, buffet was fabulous a great time had by all. A massive thank you to all the staff for a lovely day 💙❤️

Popped in for food with the dog. Ordered two steak platters. Food took over an hour and we were not told it would take this long otherwise we wouldn’t have bothered. We then asked a bar staff at about 40 mins how long our food would be, in which they were extremely rude and defensive, stating they were busy and then made up a time on how much longer the food would be without checking for us. Food came after an hour and one of the well done steaks was more like medium but did not bother saying as we were hungry and cold after the wait. Not worth it! Disappointed as we have been here many times before.

Tried this place out the other day and was immediately called multiple derogatory terms by the owner that was dressed like a slob. However this slight altercation did not stop me from ordering food. However when my food arrived a found a stray ginger pube lurking in the chips. Will not visit again

Unassuming pub from the outside, however the food was very good and the staff very friendly. It is dog friendly everywhere too, not just a certain area which was a nice touch.

Good staff, good prices and a decent band (8th April) only thing stopped it being 5 stars was the gents toilets where unclean and smelly

Good Friday lunch time. Food delicious.

Good atmosphere, especially for the quizzes and karaoke. So much fun! Bar staff can be rude though which is unfortunate. Asked to get my pint topped up because it was flat and got shouted at. Was quite awkward and uncomfortable but overall, decent pub with good beers and cracking scran :) I also appreciate he could have been having a bad day which would explain his reaction.

Really warm welcoming. And the food was really nice. And the puddings was really nice. And the drinks was amazing. Will come agine.

Food pretty good,staff freindly, but no coffee or tea facilities available,maybe a kettle some teabags and a jar of coffee might help.

Pub quiz night, good atmosphere,good fun.

Nice little pub adjacent to Heaton Park. Popped in after a dog walk. Food was OK.

Lovely local spot to enjoy the sport, could have a wider beer selection

I play poker here regularly and it’s my local pub, the owners and staff are lovely and we’ve never had any issues. Lots of seating and great pints :)

Amazing place for food and drink, always a good time. The bar staff and the owner are always friendly, welcoming and run a good business. I have seen some negative reviews which reference an event on Tuesday which I saw, and their negative retellings are strictly untrue. The landlord was calm and simply reminded the customers that you could not bring your own food into a pub, like any other establishment where you buy food and drink. This was the only comment made and the owner did not engage in a debate with the customers who wished to labour the point. There was no raised voices or aggression and no scene was created, only a landlord acting in the interest of his business.

Great pub with fantastic food. Don't listen to the 1 star reviews this is a great pub with a great atmosphere

This place was extremely disappointing. I’m just visiting the country and was meeting up with some friends in this pub. I gave my friends some snacks as souvenirs from back home and at some point of the evening they wanted to try some of them. Suddenly, a man, that I guess worked there, shouted at us from another table that we were not supposed to eat food purchased outside of the establishment in an unnecessarily rude way. In my opinion, someone with such poor social skills should rethink their choice of business. We were clearly consuming in the establishment, for instance I was having a beer and just ordered a meat pie at that moment, and the rudeness of that person smashed with the mood of our reunion. I really wished I didn’t order any food there because all I wanted was to leave the place immediately after that interaction. Even if it was forbidden to open the snacks, there was no reason to make such a scene.

A bit of bad experience in the pub today. While waiting for food and getting drinks, we were trying a snack (a small sweet) a friend brought from abroad. One of the people behind us playing poker, told us off rudely for eating food in the pub and how we should only eat bar food. My group apologised and stopped and the guy went on about it. We assume that he works there only because he was speaking rudely, we were not even sure if he was a member of staff. It seems that some of the group were staff or familiar with the place since they were going into the doors labeled private. While a small oversight occurred, it does not warrant such rudeness.

Great experience. Great place to be in. Had a nice chat with the owner and would recommend to anyone and everyone.

Very rude. We ordered drinks and food. While waiting we decided to try some of the presents (snacks) from abroad and we got very rudely told off for that. We said sorry and he kept telling us off. I am sure this would not have happened if we look British.

Amazing place to drink and eat with a good atmosphere. Great place for a game or a good time. Happy to come back anytime

Good pint but the nachos are weird. If I was in a restaurant I'd not be as annoyed but it's a pub so you'd expect nachos to come out not some soft triangles with a bowl of mince.

Unfortunately, the food was poor today. We did wait for someone to come and ask if everything was okay as we didn't want to make a fuss at the bar however, that never happened. I admit we did finish our food as we were all starving, but I couldn't say any of us enjoyed what we ate, very bland and basic, also for what we had "very expensive"! Pretty gutted to be honest as this used to be our go-to place for burgers and Sunday lunch. I hope this was just a oneoff because as a family we love to visit in the summer. This is constructive criticism and not an attack or a warning to others to stay clear, quite the contary! I encourage people to visit their local pubs/eateries. We need to go out more and help venues get back on track as let's face it the government won't help! All the best for the future Bluebell, we'll try again when the weather is better. New comment due to responce from owner. Maybe the fact that you're not listening to your customers with genuine concern is a massive factor? Again my comment was not to offend but to make you aware that the food we got served today was well below what is expected for the price list and what we have had in the past! If your going to keep your blinkers on then maybe we wont be visiting again. Which is a shame! It may not be my position to say however, maybe speak to the kitchen staff rather than disbelieve your customers or even better leave review cards on your tables. Try looking down the list of comments and you will find I left your establishment a fantastic review a while back. If your not open to constructive feedback to help your business move forward then i have waisted both our time. Again I wish you all the very best for the future.

Solid boozer, good beer and fun pub quiz

In here for a surprise special family birthday, the staff were really laid back, food was good, service was good, if it wasn't 180 mile drive I would go back

Always such nice food & would really recommend!

Great friendly pub. Sunday roast well worth the money.. Quick service. Excellent customer service from all staff

Pork there is 10/10. Try go when no football matches on. No seats a d no pork!

Blue bells a lovely bar with the friendlies staff possible. Always has something going on everyday meaning a good atmosphere

Friendly, welcoming, age diverse

Great meals for all 6 of us..(3 of our party are vegetarian) very lively ( Newcastle game on big screen) Staff hard worked yet courteous and friendly.

Just been for Sunday lunch at the Blue Bell. Really good cuts of meat and chicken. Food was very tasty with a large Yorkshire pudding and roast potatoes. Only thing was the lack of vegetables with only mashed potatoes, cabbage and a few carrots. Pudding were very average with nothing to note. Only downside to our visit was the long wait for our meals to arrive and when they did only two came and the other three in our party had to wait around fifteen to twenty fit their meals to arrive, which was frustrating to say the least. Staff were very pleasent but they could have done with some help as they where rushed off their feet with the amount of people in the pub. Forward planning, saying as it was a match day hadn't happened.

It used to be Lovely. We left because the music was awful. More suited for students. Sorry! Charm is gone.

Great pub next to Heaton Park and Jesmond Dene

Pub which caters for the many students who live nearby, but is good for families too and has a large garden.

Not impressed... Extra gravy is £1 per person for the most stingy extra portion, and arrived way after most of us finished eating despite asking for it as we received the food. My friend also got her food 1/2 hour later than everyone else when we had all finished despite ordering the same time. Then no-one offered a refund or any token of apology 🤔

Good pub. Lots of outside seating and some with heaters too. Limited indoor seating but shows the football (and other sports im sure). Pool table and good drinks on offer, staff were friendly and dogs are allowed in too.

Ordered 5 sunday dinners, came with barely any gravy asked for some told it was £1 , man came back with a tuny amount of gravy, low standard of food and shocking management in the responses i have read from him on all poor reviews, time this let down with such an arrogant ignorant attitude moved into retirement as he is destroying a lovely pub , sad.. not what it once was, i can only assume this person is new or gone rogue

Great local feeling pub with ample outdoor seating. It's tucked away off main roads but is still popular with those in the know Drinks and food are reasonable (pint of coke 2.50 burgers & fries 11 or 12) I had the Pickle Rick burger which I really Enjoyed - patties were perfect, juicy with some crispy bits. Went on a Saturday afternoon when there were families and a mixed crowd - with a chilled out vibe. Also went on a Wednesday evening when they have a quiz on - lots and lots of students came for this. Pub was packed out. Not an atmosphere I loved but clearly popular.

Fantastic pub hidden in a beautiful area, massive garden with umbrella and heaters. Staff extremely friendly. Great pool table. Food served looks lovely but we already ate.

Lovely place in a nice location. Ideal for a relaxing drink and bite to eat. Beer garden is very spacious.

Good pub! Garden. Pool. Live music events.

Great little boozer the foods good.

Went there last week and they had sold out of all the hand pumped beers (about 5 of them). So my wife had a Guinness and I had a Sodawater. It was very expensive!

First time there and it was a good night

only received 1 part of meal which was the chicken, to then get 2nd part which was the chips when i was leaving, service was terrible the staff didn’t have a clue what they were doing or just weren’t listening to what we asked for, won’t be returning as food and customer service was terrible

Thoroughly enjoyed the burger but could have done with a few more fries for the price you pay.

Great pints and really good food, some of the best poured Guinness in Newcastle

Lovely beer garden and dog friendly

Our friends Son held their christening reception there so we thought we try it was not disappointed in the least friendly bar gentleman my wife ordered Potatoes Skins,Burger,Steak Pie freshly cooked beautiful tasty great value you hear so many mixed reviews everyone allowed a bad...

Great food! One of the best I ever had in pub or restaurant! Reasonable prices and nice atmosphere. Lot of space in beer garden.

Very busy as had karaoke on. We stood outside which was lovely and had plenty of room. Good vibe about the place.

Came in for drinks and some snacks after Heaton Festival, was fairly busy and stayed on decking area to stay a bit cooler, but great looking beer garden, if your looking for some refreshments, after visiting the park.. Lots of dog owners and cute dogs visiting and seemed very welcome. Pleasant staff and great visit.

Amazing food, lots of drink choice. Quizes and karaoke.

Nice pub, friendly service, but no real ale on when we visited

Really nice local pub with a lovely Sunday roast, we will be back! And to finish it off was sticky toffee pudding which was spongey and rich.

Nice friendly pub well worth the time

I haven’t visited this pub for a few years so was looking forward to going again. What a disappointment!! Firstly had to ask for the table to be cleaned, me and my husband ordered the steak platter between us, when it arrived the steak was...

Great little pub with a cracking beer garden - nice selection of guest ales and lagers as well as the usual pub drinks. If you cant find something on the fantastic food menu that suits you - then you're probably one of those mega picky people who no one likes so stay at home. Can't wait to go back!!

lovely bar with good sized beer garden and a pool table inside 👌