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.

Thanks for reading!