... My dad decided to book a table at Azzurri in Newcastle (on the Quayside) as a surprise for my mam and we invited my Nana and my aunties and uncles. There’s too many of us for the whole family (cousins and their children) to all go for a meal together but we ended up with a party of 13. My ... Read review
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...to book a table at Azzurri in Newcastle (on the Quayside) as a surprise for my mam and we invited my Nana and my aunties and uncles. There’s too many of us for the whole family (cousins and their children) to all go for a meal together but we ended up with a party of 13. My dad had been here with work previously and he knew that it was nice which is why he chose this as the location.
My dad did most of the booking via email or on the ... ...deposit. As there was a large party we were given a choice of three set menus at three different prices per person (£20, £25 and £30). This offered a choice of 4 starters, 4 main course and 2 deserts. We all managed to choose something we liked from this.
== The Restaurant ==
The restaurant has a large bar area and if you reserve a table for eating at, you can also get an area in the bar which is reserved for your party. ... more
It was my mam’s 50th birthday on August 31st and we wanted to do something special to celebrate. My dad decided to book a table at Azzurri in Newcastle (on the Quayside) as a surprise for my mam and we invited my Nana and my aunties and uncles. There’s too many of us for the whole family (cousins and their children) to all go for a meal together but we ended up with a party of 13. My dad had been here with work previously and he knew that it was nice which is why he chose this as the location.
My dad did most of the booking via email or on the phone, but he did call in to leave a £50 deposit. As there was a large party we were given a choice of three set menus at three different prices per person (£20, £25 and £30). This offered a choice of 4 starters, 4 main course and 2 deserts. We all managed to choose something we liked from this.
The Restaurant
The restaurant has a large bar area and if you reserve a table for eating at, you can also get an area in the bar which is reserved for your party. This was good, but when we complained that we were sat under the air conditioning and it was too cold, they wouldn’t let us move as the other tables in the bar were reserved.
All the staff are very attentive and friendly and they made our visit enjoyable. There was another large party in the night we were there (a Saturday night) as well as a children’s party (of about 8 or 9 children) and smaller groups of people.
Our Experience
On arrival I told the lady at reception that we had a booking for 14 people and I told her our name. She said the only booking they had under my surname was a booking for 2. I told her that it was definitely for 14 and my dad had paid a deposit. She showed me to a table so that I could put my mam’s birthday badge where we wanted her to sit but when I was there someone told me that the table wasn’t ours and she didn’t have a booking under our name. I was starting to panic at this point as it was still a surprise for my mam and she was with my dad so I couldn’t really phone him. I politely told the lady my dad’s full name and the name of the person who he had been dealing with via email and then she told me that I had in fact been at the right table.
Panic over, I went to sit with my sister, brother-in-law and auntie in the bar area while we waited for everyone else. As everyone filtered in they all joined us in our reserved seating area and we all got drinks.
Once my mam and dad arrived we were shown to our table about 5-10 minutes later (the time our booking was for). My mam was so happy to see everyone as my dad had told her they were going out for a meal with work.
I cancelled one meal when we first got there, as my auntie couldn’t make it due to being poorly. The starters were served a couple of minutes after we sat down and they were all very tasty. They still brought the starter we had cancelled but took it away no problem when we told them.
The staff waited until everyone had finished eating before clearing the plates away, like any good restaurant should, and the main courses were served about 10 minutes later. Again, the cancelled meal was brought out, but we told them it had been cancelled and once again they took it back no problem.
There was a bit of confusion about the deserts as the staff didn’t seem to know we had pre-ordered them but I gave them our list and when they realised it was off the set menu they took this away and brought all our deserts.
After everyone had finished desert they brought an ice cream out with a candle in for my mam and we all sang happy birthday. This happened at various tables throughout the night, and as far as I can tell it is a complementary service. We had also brought a cake with us and handed it into the staff before we sat at the table. We had to remind the waiter to bring it out but this was done almost immediately, complete with the ‘50’ candles we provided.
Everyone enjoyed the food, which was very well presented and well cooked. The service was brilliant, with everyone getting their meals at about the same time. We had wine on the table and they were quick to bring us more when we ordered it. We had to wait a while for coffee and asked a further three times but we were told we were in the queue. The waiter actually did it himself in the end as the kitchen staff were busy.
We got the bill no problem and it was correct, we hadn’t been charged for the 14th meal even though they kept bringing it out. They added a 10% service charge to the bill which was optional but as the service was so good and the waitress assured us it goes directly to the staff, my dad decided to pay it.
Other Information
The website shows the menus and it looks like they offer all the traditional Italian dishes on their A La Carte menu. There an extensive choice of pizza and pasta and well as steak, chicken and fish.
Happy Hour is served 5pm-6.30pm Sunday Friday . It’s not available on Saturdays or in December. During happy hour pizza and pasta are £4.20 (they are priced between £6 and £8 on the A La Carte Menu)
They have a large selection of wines and we had a bottle of rose, red and white on the table for us arriving. We ordered more red and white wine. All of the wine was lovely and went really well with the food. I think the wine we bought was £20 per bottle although you can get cheaper and more expensive wines from here.Azzuri do private functions (they close the restaurant) for weddings etc. For more information check their website.
Advantages
Great food
Excellent service
reserve bar area for you to sit before meal
Friendly staff
DIsadvantages
Mix-up at start of the night
Quite expensive
Overall
We all had a wonderful evening and even though there was a bit of a mix-up at the start of the night, they put it right straight away and the service was excellent. I would recommend this restaurant, the food was delicious, the staff friendly and the atmosphere was great. The prices are quite expensive but I really do feel it is worth the money for a special occasion. It’s definitely somewhere I would consider going again.
Advantages: Great food, popular, affordable Disadvantages: Too noisy and crowded on Saturdays
I was recommended by a friend to Azzuri, having asked for advice on where to take my parents for a nice Italian meal in the city centre. On arrival we were escorted to a small table in what we quickly gathered was a sort of waiting area, where we were promptly - if not slightly abruptly - greeted by a waitress and asked for our drinks orders. It was a Saturday night and VERY busy, even the bar area was absolutely chock full of people and very noisy, ... ...popular restaurant. We had a short wait (10-15 minutes) before we were taken into the dining area, a disconcertingly high-ceilinged room which at the time was full of hen parties, the music they played, although pleasant, was completely obscured by squawking women and I couldn't tell what was being played most of the night which was a shame and slightly ruined the relaxed ambience it seemed they were aiming for. The restaurant seems to be caught ...
katyparles 22.08.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Azzurri Restaurant, Newcastle upon Tyne
Advantages: Great menu, lovely surroundings, good for families Disadvantages: Often busy,
We go fairly regularly to Azzuri, it's great for just the two of us or when we take the whole family (9). I love the reception area, most restaurants seat you on a couple of sofas in a tiny space, not Azzuri, its massive, lots of small tables (intimate) and a big sofas. The flower arrangements are always amazing, would love to take them home. Some of the staff are a little forgetful, but i think this is because they always seem to be busy, its a ... ...a restaurant, more of a show, it's one of those places that you walk in and think, oh oh, watch the purse, but no, it's very good value, the wines are always fantastic and the food is always plenty and very well cooked, I think that over the past year it has improved a lot, staff seem happier and the menu is shorter (still much choice) but with a lot of little extras which just turn up. They do get a lot of large groups going (must be good), but ...
Frankenfurter 22.05.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Azzurri Restaurant, Newcastle upon Tyne
Advantages: Large with many tables Disadvantages: Large with many tables. Confused decor, No atmosphere, poor service.
Azzurri is a great name unfortunately it is another in a long line of pseudo Italian restaurants. We waited for 50 minutes before being shown to a table - The restaurant was approx. 25% full, so there was no visible reason for the wait. The waiting area was a ghastly post modernism mismash with no atmosphere to speak of. The decor was the frist clue that this restaurant had a big fat tick in the pretentious box. The service, I use the term loosely, ... ...people not an italian among them, running around like headless chickens. They did manage to put napkins on peoples laps (another ridiculous act) - all is forgiven! The food appeared but only some of it. Starters came and were eaten before more starters arrived. Main courses were brought out walked around the table and then taken away, seemingly deemed for other tables.They came round for a second viewing, presumably just to check if we were sure. ...
Baresi216 01.06.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Azzurri Restaurant, Newcastle upon Tyne
Advantages: Food is very nice and well-prepared Disadvantages: A lot of waiting around
I recently visited this restaurant with 3 friends. Although our table had been booked for 8pm we were left in the bar area until almost 9pm and before that we'd had to ask someone to come over to take our order. Similarly, the time between the starters and main courses was rather long. This was a Thursday evening and the restaurant although busy wasn't packed out.
The food when it arrived was delicious (we all had different pastas and risottos), ... ...had been described on this and other sites as "hearty" and "generous" - we don't normally think of ourselves as greedy people but to be honest we thought they seemed more like starters in size. One of my friends had ordered crab and lobster ravioli which wasn't available, she was offered the choice of a different pasta with the same sauce, or a spinach and ricotta ravioli - she chose the latter and was annoyed to find at the end that she'd been charged ...
nel_k 06.11.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Azzurri Restaurant, Newcastle upon Tyne
Value for Money
Standard of Menu
Atmosphere
Standard of Service
Quick review of Azzurri Restaurant, Newcastle upon Tyne
went last night to celebrate friends 50th birthday.table was booked for 8.30 wewere still sitting there at 9.50pm.no one wanted to know.when meals came 3 of them were wrong so got sent back, they then came back and 2 of them were wrong again.tried to speak to a manager, we were told he was busy.lots of peoples bills were wrong. 1 lady was charged £89.00 over, we were charged for 54 drinks that we did not have..eventually got to speak to the manager, who basically shrugged his shoulders and did not want to know. ...
ladyaj 12.11.2007 (11.11.2007)
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Azzurri Restaurant, Newcastle upon Tyne
