Aioli Restaurant by Chris Finnigan — Restaurant in Gateshead

Tried this place for the first time last Thursday - almost every table was booked at 8pm which is always a good sign. Decor was lovely, a leafy ceiling and interesting wallpaper, with quality glassware and cutlery/crockery. After we placed our order we were served with a small complimentary appetizer to keep us going. We both opted to give the starter a miss and hopefully leave room for dessert instead as they looked delicious (spoiler alert - they were!).

I ordered the pan fried sea bass and my friend had the pork, both came with a choice of two sides so we shared the four dishes between us (didn't want to miss out on anything!). This was apparently a style decision but Chris to foster the idea of tapas and sharing food, and it worked very well. The mains were well presented and tasty.

For dessert I opted for the white chocolate and raspberry cheesecake while my friend had the caramelised custard tart, both were delicious. The wine was very reasonably priced for a restaurant (£22 for our Sauvignon Blanc) and was very palatable.

I look forward to trying one of their highly popular tapas nights in the next couple of months! Can thoroughly recommend...

Visited on a Fri night and it was at capacity at 20 covers which seems to be the case most nights. They have specific times as restaurant is so small and ask you not to come early as there's no where to wait.It's not the best location and was a little cold but the food and service were superb. Nice to have open kitchen where you can see everything happening. Started with honey roast salmon and this fabulous garlic foccacia (?) and had to share the bread with hubby as his scallops didn't come with any. I was annoyed he ate half but he was very pleased as it was gorgeous! His main of pork tender and tasty as was my sea bass with prawns . I like the idea of being able to pick the 2 sides so we tried the roast sprouts (I'm one of those people who love them ) roast carrot, cauliflower cheese and of course chips for him 😀. Cleared plates. I was driving so we didn't have a bottle of wine but he had glass of merlot out of the extensive wine list. They had a good menu with an extra one for vegetarian and vegan which means our friends will be happy 👍. They also do Sunday lunch and tapas nights so I'll definitely be back and not...

Absolutely delicious food. Would recommend this restaurant to everyone. Our family of 4 had 3 courses each, and not a bit of food was left on anyone’s plate. My salmon with champagne mussel sauce was the nicest thing I’ve eaten in a long time! My kids loved their warm baguette starter with beef dripping gravy and chicken butter- so tasty! Chris even made us an extra starter last minute as the kids realised they wanted one each instead of sharing. I love how you can each choose 2 sides to go with your main, and the sides are just the right size, and again so delicious. The only disappointment was they had just sold out of cheese souffles, and also that the churros weren’t on that night, but totally understand such a small restaurant can’t allow much margin for waste and judging demand is difficult. Staff were all welcoming and the atmosphere is lovely. Will definitely be returning again and trying more of the amazing...