The Forth Hotel, Newcastle

From the blurb you may expect this to be the ideal pub. Great range of beers, ales and wines. No fosters. Great food menu. Rooftop smoking terrace. Dj's playing on weekends. Cosy atmosphere. The problem with The Forth is it's prices. Not just that they charge well over the odds for their beer (�3.30 for a Radgie Gadgie) but that this is a Castle pub. That means it is part of the M+B chain. Which owns pubs such as the Goose, which not too far away serves a similar range of beers and ales for, in some cases, less than half the price.

I begrudge paying over the odds for my drink in a "pub chain" pub.

Not only do I not enjoy paying too much for my drink but the food is ridiculously priced. The portions are terribly small. When eating there with friends a few months back the staff forgot to bring a side order of chips to the table. My friend had to go to the bar to complain and about five minutes later he was brought a large bowl with (and this is no joke, we counted) 7 chips in it. Not big fat home cooked chips, but steak cut frozen chips. It was laughable.

It seems a shame as this has the potential to be a brilliant pub. But it comes at a severe price.

25 Feb 2010 12:08

Tilleys Bar, Newcastle

I have to say that I feel that the comments above are quite unfair and I would go as far to say unrepresentitive of the pub. I am a frequent user of this bar and quite regularly enjoy the ales it has on offer, which usually has 5 or 6 on offer at a time. I have found them to be very well maintained and the staff are usually quite knowledgeable of the beers on sale.

I have only recently discovered that the pub also offers a fantastic food menu (I am an evening drinker and just recently the kitchen hours have been extended to as late as 8pm) of which I have sampled quite a few different home cooked dishes, none of that microwave rubbish. All tasty and all very reasonably priced (�3.99 for a main).

The range of beer and food is excellent. The staff are very friendly, and the music played is great.

Oh yes, I almost forgot. They have a free cinema showing films daily, so you can grab some food, a beer and sit and watch a classic.

I felt I had to leave a comment here because I really do enjoy this pub. It's not overly fancy. The gents do pong. Some more exotic pints are out of my price range. But overall I don't think you'll find a more homely pub, that tries it's best to give you a friendly place to be.

18 Feb 2010 13:20