The story
House of Tides, on Newcastle’s historic Quayside, brings a Michelin star to an atmosphere that is deliberately relaxed and informal. The restaurant is the work of Kenny and Abbie Atkinson, who describe their approach as “relaxed, informal dining” – a phrase that sets the tone from the moment you step through the door.
The setting is a converted 16th-century merchant’s house at 28-30 The Close, a stone’s throw from the River Tyne. Inside, the dining room balances historic character with clean, contemporary lines. The kitchen focuses on modern cuisine, drawing on British ingredients and precise technique. The result is cooking that has earned a Michelin star for high quality, as well as three AA Rosettes.
House of Tides serves lunch on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, and dinner from Thursday to Saturday, with a separate “After Hours” menu on Sunday evenings. The restaurant can accommodate most dietary requirements (though they note that a vegan menu is not available due to the nature of the menu). For larger parties or private events, the entire space is available for exclusive hire.
The wine list – glimpsed in the website’s product pages – includes selections such as a Crémant de Limoux from Languedoc and a Daou Chardonnay from Paso Robles, offered as add-ons to their @Home food boxes. In the dining room, the drinks programme is likely to be equally considered, though specific pairings are not detailed on the site.
Kenny and Abbie Atkinson are the names at the top of the menu. Kenny Atkinson is a chef with a long career in fine dining, and House of Tides has been his flagship since opening. The couple also run Solstice, an intimate fine dining restaurant in the same building. The two venues share a commitment to quality but offer distinct experiences: House of Tides is the more approachable sibling, while Solstice is described as an “intimate fine dining restaurant.”
For anyone seeking modern cuisine in Newcastle that is both accomplished and unstuffy, House of Tides delivers exactly what it promises.
Recognition
Ambience
Details
History
High quality cooking
Opened in 2014, House of Tides is the original flagship of Kenny Atkinson (of Great British Menu and Saturday Kitchen fame). It's a capacious venue occupying a 16th-century former merchant’s house by the Tyne and incorporates an atmospheric ground-floor bar and anteroom with a flagstone floor, plus a first-floor dining room more comfortably furnished with wooden flooring and modern art on white walls. The tasting menu can be modified for various diets (and vegetarians have their own list), but otherwise there’s no choice. To start, a tempting gougère with warming baba ganoush and harissa filling (served downstairs) indicated the delicacy this kitchen can achieve. Many dishes contain a multitude of ingredients, several unmentioned on the terse menu, but it's questionable whether every component deserves its place. Did the sharp, pickled vegetable topping simply overwhelm a lovely creamy tasting of celeriac velouté? Was the tiny cube of smoked eel needed on the meltingly satisfying rissole of pulled pork matched with tart apple? And wouldn’t salt crystals have been preferable to caviar, topping a tender roundel of venison tartare (cleverly combined with crunchy smoked beetroot and tiny pickled shimeji mushrooms)? The jury is out. In contrast, praise is unalloyed for the sourdough bread and cultured butter (both are bought in), and at inspection, the fish and meat ‘main courses’ showed flashes of brilliance and a mastery of technique. ‘Stone bass, mussels, salsify and dill’ featured a sublime oblong of fish (seared skin, succulent flesh), with a crunchy roasted salsify log in a dill and fish sauce – creativity manifested in an eye-opening blob of intense (and disarmingly sweet) lemon verbena gel. Likewise, a pink, juicy helping of duck was complemented by squash (both puréed and roasted), resilient hen of the woods mushrooms and a piquant blob of black garlic. Puddings – as with every dish – are beautiful to behold: a luxurious cube of orange chocolate covered with melting roasted chestnut shavings (a nice wintry touch) and set off by tiny leaves of Thai basil; and a blackberry and fig tart topped with croissant ice cream, tangy apple caramel and candied pecans, made prettier still with marigold flowers. The wine list is extensive and service from a young team is eager (if uncertain). Yet with the sun shining brightly at Atkinson’s latest venture, Solstice, it seems that this one-time front-runner is starting to fade.
3 Rosette Award for Culinary Excellence
Location
Facebook
Instagram
X