Pani's Italian — Restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne

So firstly I should point out that that we neither knew where Pani's was nor that it existed, but have been bought a voucher for Christmas we finally booked up for last night & the first that I noticed from the outset is that reserving a table is a must to avoid disappointment as for the time we were there at least it remained busy, comfortably so though not so much that you weren't impeccably attended to, and it would be a shame if you missed out on this delightful culinary experience by not having booked your table - that should be review enough, but I will elaborate. Pani's was lovely all round, from the stripped back & pleasant interior with bespoke fixtures just enough of the beaten track to make you feel that you're away from all the commotion of the city, to the friendly welcoming staff & most importantly of course, the food. The food was just amazing, the 4 of us ate a selection of dishes from across the starter, main & desert menus.... and whilst my only note of ever so slight criticism might be the limited choice of dishes... it's clear to see from the quality produced that this is quaint rather than limited. What we ordered was all correct, well presented & very tasty - not one of the four us had anything other than satisfied contentment for everything we ate, thank you. The bill came to £171, which for what we ate & drank across the 4 of us (including an £18 bottle of wine) I would say was fair & averagely priced, but way more importantly that the cost was the value, which we definitely thought was worth it!....... Enjoy! 😉😋

Edit, as of 6th May 23:

Google asked me "update your review of Pani's, has it changed?"...... Nope not one bit, it is still amazing, if not slightly better than I remember if that was at all possible - thank you for another lovely evenings dining...

Not what I expected. Saw really good reviews so i decided to try this. Booked a table for 8:15pm and shortly after arrival i was seated around 8:25pm. So not much of an issue. The atmosphere here was lively, with a lot of noise. I couldnt hear any of my family speaking even face to face, and had to shout. Not really my preference. The food was not up to standard, nor is the pricing reasonable. Special of the day - Bisque (soup), had 1 5cm diameter ravioli only, and some soup. This was priced at just under £11. The taste of the soup was great, but the portion size was poor. Special of the day - Sirloin Steak, asked for medium well, came out as charcoal, nothing more to say. This was over £20 with sauce... Carbonara - This was standard. Drinks - forgot the name, but it was a cocktail with half a lime and mint leaves included. The lime was dried out and mint leaves were dead. Poor quality ingredients. Overall not a great experience and probably...

This is a great little place, if a little tricky to find for those of us who don't know Newcastle. It's located on what feels like a narrow back street (not a "high bridge" as the road name implies) and on arrival it feels small. Once inside though you drop down a couple of steps and the main room of the restaurant is in a cellar of sorts located to the rear, and has lots of tables.

Staff are friendly and helpful, and the menu has plenty of choice. There are lots of unusual dishes here. For starters I opted for Pani's Bruschetta, which unlike other bruschettas I've had elsewhere was actually bread with olive paste, sun-dried tomatoes, and cheese on top, and was delicious. For my main course I chose the culurgiones, which were pasta parcels filled with cheese, potato, mint and garlic, in a tomato and basil sauce. I've never seen these before and they were lovely.

A really enjoyable meal, and I'll definitely return when I'm next...