Al Buco - New Life in an Exhausted Genre

Why has Italian food been done to death in this country?! You can’t walk fifty metres in Newcastle’s city centre without coming across either a half arsed effort at independency or a vulgar, mind-numbingly generic ‘Italian’ franchise restaurant. And regardless of origin, these substandard approaches always seem to offer the same uninspiring menus, addled with inaccurate renditions of pizza (usually completely molested by American influence), excessively creamy pasta dishes or lethargic attempts at steak. However, 2016 has seen someone with a real passion for authentic Italian food finally set up shop in the centre of Newcastle, just a stone’s throw from Monument.   

Al Buco represents a lot of what is great about social Italian dining - its family run, very welcoming, exceptionally comfortable and literally everything is prepared in-house, giving the whole place a brilliant home-grown vibe. And that’s not say they’ve cut corners on delivery, you can expect everything dished out here to be of fine-dining quality and markedly better the likes of the nearby, horrifically overpriced chain restaurants. And better still, they take great pride in the authenticity of their dishes and don’t conform to the Italian culinary normative that our society wrongly expects. Their carbonara isn’t laden with litres of double cream but is crafted with egg and fresh pasta; their pizzas haven’t been overloaded with greasy toppings but are light, crisp and ultimately delicious and their lasagne will make local franchise restaurant managers want to quit their day jobs. 

This café bar naturally lends itself to lunchtime dining, but late afternoon visits and relaxed evening drinks here can also be easily envisaged, and as (or more accurately if) summer develops this venue will serve for a perfect one-stop shop for shoppers and workers alike to indulge in real Italian food and drink. The extra effort seen across their menu, such as the simply outstanding tiramisu, as well as the atypical (assumingly region-specific) additions to the menu certainly haven’t gone unnoticed, as hasn’t their relentless efforts to please customers with warming service and highly competitive menu pricing. 88% 

David Kennedy's River Cafe - Fine Tyne Dining

Although historical naivety in the management of the Black Door might have cost David Kennedy's Food Social at the Biscuit Factory its existence, the highly reputable cuisine brought to the North East by the restaurant chain certainly lives on in North Shields. The slightly more casual venture - David Kennedy's River Café, aptly named for its Fish Quay situation, provides a refreshing outlook on archetypal fine-dining that effortlessly avoids any pretentiousness or need for nonsensical exorbitance. To put it bluntly, David Kennedy's River Café offers delicious British cuisine that is both wholesome and elaborate without being up its own arse.


The restaurant's menus strike the perfect balance between intricacy and value, the well constructed à la carte, set menu and Sunday selections boast robust, classical dishes with sufficient finesse to drive away any sense of pub food culture. In particular, the restaurant does well to avoid the drabness usually associated with Sunday lunch by ensuring every element of their food is perfectly on point. And better still, the kitchen capitalises on their waterfront location by regularly incorporating products from the local fish market into their cooking, resulting in ultra-fresh and expertly prepared fish and shellfish dishes that absolutely must be sampled by avid seafood fans.


As with the menu, the décor here is clean-cut but warming and similarly the service offered reflects that theme very well. It's only major limitation versus other fine dining ventures within its class is probably its location, whilst providing picturesque views and seafood sourcing benefits, North Shields might not be the most attractive prospect for the unfamiliar. However, for those looking for no-nonsense British food, cooked to an exceptionally good standard and almost ludicrously low prices, David Kennedy's River Café provides the perfect setting. 89%