The Dispensary Coffee House in Newcastle upon Tyne

If you're staying at The Sandman, don't bother with the hotel breakfast and walk 2 minutes round the corner to The Dispensary instead. The service is so warm and friendly; true Geordie hospitality! The menu has loads of interesting options, including chicken and waffles and some amazing-looking French toast. We went for the steak and eggs and the mushrooms on toast. My partner absolutely demolished his steak and eggs, raving about the caramelised onion underneath the steak. I loved my mushrooms; they were deliciously garlicky and the eggs were poached to perfection. Coffee was good; not sure why the iced coffee was served in the big contraption. We did ask for them just to make it for us and pour the shots in the glass themselves, but either the order was missed or they just don't do that? This place can get pretty busy but they do take bookings.

Si te alojas en The Sandman, no te molestes con el desayuno del hotel y camina 2 minutos a la vuelta de la esquina hasta The Dispensary. El servicio es tan cálido y amable; verdadera hospitalidad Geordie! El menú tiene un montón de opciones interesantes, incluyendo pollo y gofres y algunas tostadas francesas increíbles. Fuimos por el filete con huevos y los hongos en tostadas. Mi compañero demolió absolutamente su filete y huevos, hablando de la cebolla caramelizada debajo del filete. Me encantaban mis setas; estaban deliciosamente ajosas y los huevos se escalfaron a la perfección. El café era bueno; no estaba seguro de por qué el café helado se servía en el gran artilugio. Les pedimos que lo hicieran por nosotros y vertieran las inyecciones en el vaso ellos mismos, pero, o se perdió la orden o simplemente no hacen eso? Este lugar puede estar bastante ocupado, pero aceptan reservas.

Nice coffee and breakfast options, good service in pleasant surroundings. A little bit tucked away from the centre but worth a little walk out.

The best chicken and waffles ever!!! Pancake flavours were elite. Portions were huge and worth the price.

Lugar encantador. El personal era amable y acogedor, servicio rápido y eficiente. Mi amigo tomó un desayuno y yo un filete y no podíamos fallar nada.

Visité por primera vez ayer. El ambiente de la cafetería era bueno y el personal era muy amable y servicial. Se sirvieron dos platos para panqueques, 1 biscoff, 1 oreo, que ambos parecían impresionantes y luego llegó la pila de panqueques de fresa y Nutella sin gluten, lo que fue vergonzoso en comparación. Menos de la mitad del tamaño, mala decoración en comparación, pero el mismo precio - no impresiona. Las tortitas sin gluten parecían compradas.

Great place for something slightly unusual

Not eaten here yet but been for coffee, I’m fussy with coffee. I drink it black and caffeine free, this place is excellent. So I’ve been back again. Food looks amazing. I will be back to try the food. Service outstanding too

We came across this place while strolling down the city center and it did not disappoint! The ambience was calming and the staff were really welcoming 😊 The strawberry n Nutella French toast was so filling we couldn’t complete the whole thing and the Fried Chicken Benedict was tasty but I just wish the chicken wasn’t as chewy and a bit touch as it was. But apart from that, I give a 5/5 for the customised orders being done on point and special shout out to Erin who made sure our customisations are clearly conveyed! 👏🏻

Horribles, panqueques pobres, servicio lento y menú limitado. Sobre precio, vamos a No volver o recomendar a otros.

Ordered the strawberry and Nutella pancakes. U get 4 pancakes, but it's very dry. The tables were sticky.

Was here the otherday and wow I wasn't disappointed, the service we received was absolutely outstanding..quality off the food and drinks was 10/10 definitely would recommend.. wanted more so came on pancake day wow no words amazing pancakes 😋

Traje a mi amigo aquí que estaba de visita desde Londres, les tomó 15 minutos de cuando nos sentamos a tomar nuestro pedido de bebidas. Luego la comida llegó antes de las bebidas, teniendo en cuenta que nuestras bebidas eran té, jugo y agua. La comida era preciosa, pero la porción era demasiado grande. Si no le hubiéramos recordado a la persona que sirvió nuestra comida sobre las bebidas, probablemente no las habríamos recibido. El personal estaba merodeando, cuando había comida en la placa caliente lista para ser servida. Estoy decepcionado con el servicio, esperaba algo mejor.

I had an absolutely terrible experience at this place. The food had a horrible smell and was completely inedible—I could barely take a bite without feeling sick. I nearly vomited twice because of how bad it was. On top of that, they charged me £30 for something I couldn’t even eat. The quality was unacceptable, and it seemed like the food wasn’t fresh at all. I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone. Save your money and go somewhere else! 🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮

Been here so many times but quality and customer service has changed. We recently visited dispensary. Before my visit I called like always. Asked if there any space for two in next 5minsutes and the lady on the phone said sorry we are very busy no booking or walkings. My friend was already outside and he walked in and ask for table two and he was given a table straightaway. There was so many other free tables and we could see that they were accepting other walkings. This is needs management’s attention. The food portions. The food portions has changed and it is a lot smaller than before.

Have visited previously a couple of years ago and food was great however visited recently and the food was lacklustre and disappointing, the French toast is definitely not freshly made and appears to be store bought/ pre prepared it was cold as if it had been slightly warmed and the apple filling on top was room temperature and bland too, don’t think I’d return when there are better places open in Newcastle now, the food looks lovely on instagram and the concept is great but they need to up their game in the kitchen unfortunately

Bad service and they don’t have any respect to as

Instagram microwave food. Half of the menu unavailable for morning service. No chicken, no french toast. Consider hiring some chefs who know how to fry a piece of bread or dip a chicken fillet in buttermilk. Embarrassing. Latte tasted of aspartame and pancakes tasted remarkably similar to something you'd get from a supermarket. Avoid unless you want something cool for your reels. Waitresses all very friendly and apologetic that half the menu was unavailable.

The food was delicious and Kye was so lovely, such a happy interaction to start my day with

Amazing food Top quality Very busy, booking a table is recommended Waitresses were very friendly

I got the turkish eggs from the specials menu and was very dissapointed. For 11.95 I expected more than just two poached eggs, two slim slices of toast, a dollop of yoghurt, and a dribble of chilli oil. Presented poorly and not worth the money. Could have made it at home. Will not return.

Insane breakfasts and brilliant service all for a reasonable price

It was quiet but the staff were refreshing and incredibly helpful. The breakfast was superb,good size and delicious. Turkey bacon was new to me,lovely. Everything cooked to perfection and exceptionally tasty.

Came here for breakfast reserved and got a full English food came pretty quick hashbrowns were soggy focaccia was hard and the whole meal was just very subpar

Not the first time going. This experience was the worst and will be my last. Ordered drinks where we all Got coffee. First drink come but the other two drinks were delayed so had to wait for them to be ready. The meal come we ordered wasn’t great. Steak and egg wasn’t pleasant at all. Couldnt eat it. Complained to the staff they seemed unbothered and didn’t care if we didn’t like it or weren’t sorry. Customer service was rubbish.food was standard not worth the price you pay very over priced for rubbish food and rubbish service.

Closed on day of visit did not look inviting.

Visited The Dispensary today, arrived a little early for our booking. Jess was very hospitable and very attentive! Lush team member

Fantastic find! Went looking for a decent breakfast and we happened to find the best in Newcastle! Wonderful service from a polite and friendly Canadian girl and the breakfast meals were excellent. The Eggs Benny and the Smashed Avocado were amazing. Thanks for everything. See you all next time!

Lovely place, good atmosphere, cosy and rustic interior. Food arrived very fast and waitress was very pleasant. The food is always great here. They have a lot of great options available for vegans and people with various dietary requirements. I don’t really go for the coffees which come in the beaker and scientific dispenser but it is a good place. They are also Halal which is a great bonus !!!! I will be coming back here.

Absolutely delicious! The best brunch I have ever had and I have had plenty of brunches. The drinks were very cool and reasonably priced considering the cinematics. Food was delicious can’t fault it. The workers were all very friendly and looked after you (in particular the lady with the pink hair sorry I didn’t get your name). Definitely recommend this place. Parking can be found about a 5-8 min walk away (paid) but definitely worth it.

Used to be much nicer but they’ve decided to put the prices up and give less which I don’t understand, the turkey rashers come looking all shrivelled up and the portion of beans they give is ridiculous to say and they charge u extra if you want to add anything on even tho id have already removed 2-3 things off the breakfast.

Service is good, food is not for everyone! There's only two savory things on the menu, the rest is large dessert dishes. No bacon or sausages. The special drink is a candy floss hot chocolate, if that doesn't sound like your thing, maybe give it a miss!

Food was delicious, service outstanding.

The food is excellent and the atmosphere is cosy though admittedly a bit crowded. Expect not to find a space at peak time if you don't book the day before. The price is a bit high, but it is worth it and the syringes are a cool gimmick. Overall recommended.

Full English breakfast and coffee is £18 !

Service great, breakfast delicious.

Fun novel way to enjoy your coffee. Didn't have any food, but the pancakes looked nice. The staff were nice too.

Great place with brilliant food. Will go again

What a great little find! Great service and amazing food. Lots of tasty vegan options and the staff were lovely

To do if you pass through Newcastle 🙂! For their English breakfast of course, but the rest of the menu is also worth discovering 😉!!

4 of us came here for breakfast. Service was really quick, efficient and friendly. Really good coffee. The food itself was bang average, presented well for instagram, with a few science gimmicks, like a less refined version of The Alchemist. Pancakes are enormous, like food challenge proportions, enough to share between two and be full. Tasted OK, but tooth-achingly sweet. Would have liked to see a bit more variety. Chicken and waffles was fine, and surprisingly filling for what looked like a modest portion. Even considering the industrial style decor, the place is a bit grubby and sticky, and could do with a really good scrub. Visibly greasy laminated menus, dirty windows, a tramp sleeping outside, and empty cans all over. Some of that not their fault but all contributes to the experience. Expensive for what it is. 70 quid for breakfast, not sure I'd hurry back, not great value.

Beautiful sweet pancakes for the daughter's bday. Steak and eggs could've done with a bit more seasoning for some more flavour, holllendaise sauce definitely recommended. Service was very friendly and engaging

We were really looking forward to eating here. However the whole place felt a bit grubby. The food was ok. The chicken was very nice with its cornflake crumb coating but the waffles that came with it were so sweet that I had to leave them. The pancakes were nice but far too much on the plate. They could half it and it would probably still be too much. The coffee was very nice. Staff were nice and accommodating. But would I go back? No. Our breakfast was £67 and I felt a bit ripped off if I'm being honest.

Oh my god, if you have not been here for food, you need to change that right now!! I went for my birthday and got the apple ans cinnamon pancake stack. It was so big i had to take half of it home. The pancakes were so good. I also had a special birthday treat of a cloud 9 hot chocolate. The service was absolutely incredible. Friendly staff and couldnt do enough for us. Will definitely be back!

Went here with a friend who recommended it and had been wanting to come for a while as the photos of the food looked amazing. The service was great and staff are very friendly, however the food is very substandard for the price you pay. I ordered a chai latte and orange juice to drink which were both really nice, and the waffles and chicken for food. Unfortunately it feels like the waffles and chicken was something I could have cooked at home and would have tasted better, waffles were quite small with not much syrup and the chicken was quite dry. It came with some honey buffalo sauce in a syringe style thing, which was hot and difficult to push out. Later in the day I started to feel off and didn't have much of an appetite so didn't eat anything else all day. Needless to say that night I felt so ill and had food poisoning. This is the main reason I wanted to leave a review as I have never experienced food poisoning anywhere else before. Would not recommend eating here.

One of the best spots for breakfast in NC

Food is good, dripping coffee thingy, also waffle and chicken, very well made. Issue is the delivery service, the staff seems have no idea what they are doing about their published opening times: multiple times the restaurant are open, 45 mins after 8 in the morning, rejected orders with no reasons, then close up shops on Ubereat and whatever platform they advertise themselves on. 5 days a week there's like 1 day they get their mind right about when to bloody open!

One of the best breakfasts I have had. Perfectly presented, good quantity, very tasty. My kids can’t get up after their mini breakfast, pancakes and hot chocolates (candy floss looks so cool and was devoured in seconds)

Great food, helpful friendly staff

Went one hour thirty minutes before closing but was told no takeouts. Very disappointed as they had hardly any people inside. They were still accepting orders on JustEat however.

food was never delivered and offered no help. Absolute Rubbish! Just said its not our problem.

Food and service is absolutely fantastic here! Whenever we're in Newcastle we book a table for breakfast, it's a standard part of our trip here now! The girls are smiley and polite, even had a lovely little chat with one of them (didn't catch her name unfortunately, but she had gorgeous red hair!) before we left last time. The only observation I've made which could be improved are two bathroom stalls are needlessly gendered, as they aren't full bathrooms with multiple stalls but a good-sized room with a toilet, sink, etc. with only the female toilets having a baby changing station - which is a little ironic as we were directly sat across from a dad with his baby the last time we were there. Not very inclusive! ;)

Lovely food & great service :-) love the drip iced coffees - really tasty & something a bit different!

Poor customer service from the girl in red hair. She is rude and ignorant and sat me down and proceeded to ignore me and serve others that came in after me. The other girl with I think Canadian accent also had a stinking attitude. This is a lovely place and the food is quality but these girls really disappointed me I am really shocked at the service received. I will consider whether I will come back. No apology was given for the poor customer service

Shoutout Ciara made the experience great 10/10

coffee tasted burnt, weak and didn’t give me energy 😴

Delicious food and arrived lovely and warm. I mentioned it was my birthday and they kindly put on a note wishing me the best and a little birthday candle which I put on top of my pancakes. Definitely want to try again and even dine at their establishment 🥰

Fathers day treat.First time visiting.Pancakes wow factor,slightly disappointed with the taste apart from the biscoff sauce ones.One dish returned as bacon cold,waitress very helpful and gave another dish that was piping hot. Service was excellent very friendly,would return,but not frequently as expensive for pancakes that feel have been mass produced and re-heated.

Came here for a Birthday Brunch... was amazing!!... staff were soo friendly and couldn't do anymore to help Food was absolutely gorgeous!! Gave me extra chill flakes and shiracha sauce... very reasonable pricing definitely will come again. 😁😁highly recommend ❤️❤️❤️

Excellent food at one of the best breakfast/brunch cafés in Newcastle. I had the build your own English while my wife had the steak and eggs with a side of avocado. The food is consistently great quality, as is the service. Great venue and nice choice of music! The only suggestion I could make to improve would be to include a steak knife when serving steak, and cook the steak a little less but these are minor issues. We've eaten several times before and will 100% be back. Good value at £36 for two meals, extras and two coffees. Thank you.

Pancakes and French toast were absolutely amazing and delicious, definitely recommend. Strawberry frappe disappointed me, because it was really watery and the taste of strawberry was not good. Waiters were nice and friendly (even asked us if we want our water decanter to be refilled).

Really great food with amazing service. Very accommodating staff with a top online response service. Would defo recommend.

Student atmosphere and rightly so for its location. Unfortunately had undercooked chicken with waffles while fully refunded definitely puts a negative on the experience.

Very nice breakfast but on the pricey side especially for breakfast. Nice treat every so often. Book a table in advance

Rude lady server, saying that three people couldn't h seated even though ther was a table of four, said only two when we asked about taking food out she said we couldn't even though there was a sign that clearly said you can.

Food and drinks worth the money.

Friendly staff, around university so parking is less. Great, fresh food

Service was with a smile, warm and friendly. Food was amazing and prices were what you would expect. Definitely going back!!

Breakfast this morning. Restaurant wasn’t too busy. Sat down by a server, had to wait a while to get served. Asked for chicken Benedict to be told they are out of chicken! Would have been great to have been told this when we were sat down. I heard this happen at tables around me afterwards and yet no member of staff thought it would be worth them telling eachother about it. Ordered full English instead. Requested poached eggs. No kidding, these were boiled eggs. The worst “poached” eggs I’ve seen. Didn’t eat them as they were so over cooked. Chicken sausages are of incredibly poor quality, a tasteless, dry paste. Look like frozen walls sausages. Have been here twice before in the past and been nice but will not return after this disaster of a meal and experience. Wife’s pancakes were lovely. But some thought and care needs to be put in to communication and attention to detail. Waitresses kept apologising for delays as so busy. There were no more than 10 tables full. Very disappointed. At £30 for the meal I expect better. No apology or offer to remove eggs or sausage from the bill either.

Very very nice staffs, visited a few times as the atmosphere in the cafe is very sweet and lovely. However the pancakes gets drier everytime I get it😂 and I would say the 'The Cloud Nine'(Pic 1) drink is a little bit toooo sweet especially with my pancakes, So I say the price didn't match with the taste, but the pancakes and drinks are fun to interact with before eating.

Very delicious food! They've got a 10% student discount. Would 100% recommend

Served by Kye, very friendly, attentive and very good at his job. Had a breakfast and chicken benedict. Both excellent.

Food was amazing, pancakes are very filling but so worth the calories lol, chicken and waffles were perfection! Kye was amazing as always! Will be back :)

Wow! So I glad I found this place. Its just what I was looking for. Nice vibe and amazing food. The pancakes and the French bread was the best I've ever had.

Great food. Lovely atmosphere. Friendly, kind staff. Excellent customer service.

Very tasty halal food, beautifully presented, polite staff. Had an amazing time 🌟

I went to the cafe yesterday. For students, we can show our ID and get 10% discount! Very nice pancake! For the chicken and waffles, the chicken is very nice and juicy but not being a good combination with the fried chicken. Totally, not bad… it’s good! So, I recommend pancakes that are very puffy and reasonable with the price! The staff is nice.

It was our first visit and everything was great. The staff were very friendly 👍🏻❤️

The nicest service I have ever had. Everyone seems genuinely happy to be there. Food was fast and delicious. No complaints

The staff were nice. There’s a few theatrics with some menu choices which make it good for social media. The Chicken Benedict was £12. The eggs were well cooked. It was £5 more expensive than I thought it was worth, basic and bland.

Called in by chance and was really glad we did... Had a great tasting and good value breakfast in a quirky setting... The food was hot too, which isn't always yhe case in popular places. Will definately be back when the opportunity allows and heartily recommend for anyone looking for an enjoyable breakfast with a broad menu... Coffee was really good as well...!

The food was so good, service was unbelievably fast and the plating is super imaginative and fun

Really quick service and food was great.

Cool concept for a cafe. Portion sizes are however far too big, but you can never go wrong with that. If you’re not after a food challenge don’t go for the full size as it’s MASSIVE.

Never knew of the place until my friend took me for breakfast... Lovely place, lovely staff... Lovely food... Fully recommend..

Second visit after a mediocre first and this was worse. We were seated and then it took ages for anyone to take our order. They had us all crammed in one area and when I asked to move they said no. Server was lovely I have to give him that very friendly and attentive once we eventually ordered. I ordered the special - Black Forest pancakes. They were supposed to be chocolate chip pancakes, cherries, chocolate sauce & ice cream. I got plain pancakes no chocolate chips, no chocolate sauce, just a sort of gloopsy cherry mix which was very sour and a scoop of ice cream with crushed meringue. Nothing at all like what they advertised on their socials. My partner thought his pancakes were basic and very dry. For £12 for a stack of pancakes I expect pretty darn good for that price. Majorly disappointed. We won’t be back. Toilets were also a complete mess and the sheet had just been signed to say they were fine!

Amazing breakfast thank you pancakes are amazing

Overall pretty satisfied for the savoury food! I tried the full English and it was great all the ingredients of meat where of good quality. The taste was excellent with scrambled eggs being cooked perfectly. We tried chicken waffles which where also very nice with great crispy batter and seasoning. The coffee they use is good and was served perfectly to accompany the meals. The best thing about making the full fry up you can add additional items at only £1 each after 6 which are included! We had to send the pancakes back sadly they looked better then they tasted! They was very dry and the ice cream tasted cheap! This may have been a one off and they took it straight off the bill. Overall service was ok could been a bit more attentive but I would recommend it the menu is pretty broad and priced very well. The meats are all halal. 4****

Amazing coffee. The food is fresh and the homemade bread was unreal. Staff are lovely. Place is accessible. Top knotch.

Food was lively but rather overpriced

It was far from good the second I stepped through the door to be honest. I was surprising a friend that had booked into the Dispensary with an ex colleague, who I hadn't seen for over a year, and I was told to leave even though I was there for a quick coffee. Not only that the cafe was empty. They were clearly not considering individuals circumstances in any way, and instead, i was bluntly told to leave. There was more than enough room for us. Definitely will not return.

Tried a few times to get in here, I was really looking forward to the full english after checking out the site and the hype. Won't be back thanks, the food was very disappointing for the price.

Food (especially Pancakes and their French Toast) is incredible. Staff are friendly and very accommodating. Would suggest booking a table because this is a very busy little hotspot. Service was fast from being seated all the way through to the food being brought out. Next time I'm in Newcastle I'll definitely be returning.

Visited this place after the Instagram features, But this place lacks simplicity that you expect in a cafe. booking via calls unavailable, and had to go through a website through their Instagram page. The location is well suited, outside St. James metro but other than the hype the food is moderately average. Portion sizes are average, but seemed lesser for the prices. The pancakes and french toast are their specialty, but simply felt like a stack of soft flatbreads smothered with syrups. They could have been softer, more fluffier, nothing more than an average diner pancake stack with a tiny scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. The fried chicken Benedict is a thin slice of focaccia with poached eggs and hollandaise. The fried chicken was chewy and the eggs definitely not well done. The food looks great and definitely Instagram worthy, and their specials keep changing but the taste ,portion and quality fails to impress. Liked as a one time thing but definitely not a regular place to go ;) presentation : 5/5 Taste : 3/5 Staff and service : 4/5 Booking and ease of availability: 3/5 Quantity: 2/5

Some really nice gimmicks in here, from the titration coffee to the syringe-d hot sauce! As good as any brunch joint in the town, but being in the student business park, you get a slightly more chic clientele with generally better prices and portions.

The food was really nice specily the jam custard pancakes the brakfeast was good I actuly only went for the pancakes I got a kid size pancake becuse the large was to big service has improved ok price is fare it's a casual place mainly students but a guess all are welcome

Kye was an amazing host, so at tentative and lovely:) food was delicious would deffo return:)

Turned up at 9:55 am to be turned away as they don’t take walk in customers, bookings only. There were only the staff present. Not a single customer!

Really good candy floss hot chocolate and strawberry and Nutella pancakes. The pancake portion was huge and could easily have fed two. Brilliant service from Kai (sorry if I spelt it wrong!) who was friendly, helpful and working super hard.

We ate it for two consecutive days and the food was very, very delicious The decorations are simple and functional and the atmosphere is refreshing We ordered Benedict with sauce only, without the bread toppings. The first day it was slightly burnt, but the second day it was good without any burnt. So you can alert them that what you like is burnt. We ordered pancakes with Nutella French toast with Nutella We ordered the English breakfast and you choose the ingredients yourself. We liked that they have chicken sausage, but it tastes normal 🙂 The staff is nice and the service is very, very fast We ordered hot chocolate, which was very, very delicious We ordered the hot white chocolate, which was good The tea is excellent. If you like it with milk, ask if they heat the milk We ordered the Hot White Mocha with good chocolate