The Skiff Inn — Restaurant in Gateshead

Visited today for a friend's birthday. Loved the atmosphere and the feeling of history. Such a friendly, calming and relaxing environment. Was greeted quickly and by a friendly chatty lady and shown to a table. Ordered wine was a delicious and arrived quickly such a good price as well. We had bread and olive oil with balsamic to share to start which arrived quickly. Balsamic was delicious bread was so crisp but fluffy and fresh. My friend ordered a tuna salad I ordered halloumi and vegetable skewers with homemade naan bread. Our order arrived quickly, unfortunately my friends order was mixed up she received tuna and soy noodles. The waitress did offer to switch it and said it was no trouble but my friend was happy with the tuna and noodles. Both dishes were delicious and very good portions. My Nann Bread was delicious so toasty light and with a delicious chew to it. The vegetables were fresh and with a slight crunch. My friends dish was light delicious and full of flavour. Her tuna so fresh and cooked how she liked. All the staff were professional. Despite the small mix up I would return. A few more varieties of veggie dishes would be good. Toilets were clean and well maintained. Would be happy to go in alone. Excellent place to meet friends, close to the...

Our table was booked for 2:00pm we arrived 13:15 as we thought a couple of drinks beforehand would be nice. We were met by the manager who said we were too early and could not stand in the bar area. We ordered a round of drinks that took ages to do as there didn’t seem to be any designated bar staff. We were being continually being told we could not stand in the bar area and after we eventually got our drinks we were told told we had to go outside in the rain, there was no protection from the rain! Had we not pad a deposit we would have left, I have travelled from Norfolk and met family members to scatter my sisters ashes on her birthday and agreed to frequent The Skiff for Sunday lunch. The manager didn’t ruin the day but, he didn’t deserve our business and he didn’t get the he full amount from us he could have. As a party of ten 3 decided not to eat the rest of us had one course and no more drinks. Once the bill was paid in total just under £180-00 we were asked to leave as the table was needed. No tip was left, silly silly rude man he could have had about £500-00 out of us for better service and attitude. He will never see us again, I hope his attitude and rudeness get their just deserves I feel sorry for his staff he is rude and probably robs...

We arrived 10 minutes prior to our booking time and was given a table despite the place being packed.

We haven’t been here in 4 years (we live away and don’t come over here very often) but we loved The Skiff when we came in 2020.

I ordered the meat feast pizza (with added mushrooms) and my partner ordered the linguine bolognese and we shared a garlic bread and chips on the side.

My pizza was delicious, the dough was very fresh and there was a generous amount of toppings, the garlic bread was very soft and tasty.

My partner’s bolognese looked great but seemed to lack a little flavour and was also a little watery but nothing too majorly wrong with it - apparently it was a lot nicer last time around.

The chips also seemed a little over cooked, I didn’t enjoy them but my partner did.

The atmosphere was lively, there was plenty of chatter and the staff have a fantastic attitude, Papa Joe even came over to our table to share some of the history surrounding The Skiff - even giving us some historic articles to read through while we waited for our food.

Overall, a lovely visit and I’d highly recommend if you’re looking for a cosy, friendly and tasty Italian/English meal that isn’t going to...