Well what can I say.....an occasional guilty pleasure of mine at the end of a night! I'm convinced…read moreyou have to be intoxicated to enjoy this karaoke bar....sticky floors,unusual smells and bad singing come as standard of course! Located just at the bottom of the Bigg market you get a mixed crowd in here all coming together under one roof to drink and sing their cares away! Both open karaoke and private pods available...I always seem to find myself upstairs for the surreal experience of the floor bouncing underneath you (and no I'm not kidding)! Always overcrowded on the weekends so you have to accept that someone is likely to spill their or your drink over you at some point. I'm certainly not a regular here...think I'm getting too old as I'd much sooner enjoy a glass or two of wine and be home before midnight!

Out in Newcastle this weekend? Don't want to get mortal? Why not skip the pre drinking and go to…read moreLane7? Lane7 is a 1950's American style bowling alley in heart of the Toon. As soon as you walk in the door this place screams character, the friendly staff are all decked out in braces and traditional 50's gear and the basic warehouse décor gives lane7 a real charm. Unfortunately we couldn't get booked in for bowling as Christmas parties dominated the lanes so we opted for an hour of pool on the slick American tables. For one hour we paid £12 which I feel is pretty reasonable. Lane7 offer a table service which means that you can focus on your sport of choice and not waste time queuing at the bar. The bar serves cocktails, spirits and draught beer including hipster drink of choice Brooklyn. They also do food with the restaurant set up like a dining hall. There's a really nice fun atmosphere in lane7, laughter is coupled with crashing ten pins and the back and forth of the ping pong balls. Don't be a turkey, strike the right chord with your mates by directing them to Lane7!

We had pre booked lane 7 for Friday 3rd as there were 12 ladies coming from from Belfast for a hen…read moreparty. We were a bit early so we sat in the bar area and enjoyed some cocktails and beer's. We then moved over to the dining area and we're split into two tables of 6. For starter I had the popcorn squid which was served with pico de gallo and garlic mayo. For mains I went for the Lobster roll served with fries (sweet potato fries also available) and ordered the halloumi salad as an extra side. Thoroughly enjoyed my meal. Decided to go for a liquid dessert which was the espresso martini. Quite strong but just what I needed to perk me up. One of the girls ordered an Irish coffee...bad move! I think lane 7 need to research their coffees a bit more as their version included baileys and milk. There were a few cock ups with sides arriving late and one of the dishes was more batter than squid but Amy our server sorted the problems quickly. Very friendly and bubbly girl. Bowling was a great way to get the weekend started as we all had a great laugh and some stupid bowling moves pulled. Definitely recommend booking beforehand.

We were looking for some nice food after work on Friday. We didn't find it here. The staff seemed…read morenice but the Prosecco Fish and chips were just awful. Soggy batter, triple cooked chips were still quite raw. We'd joked about them not getting it right the first time they cooked them and we were sadly right. They needed another go. My friend's burger was ok but that looked pretty dry. We won't be going there for dinner again :-(

It was at my suggestion to got to the fat Buddha with colleagues, and in hindsight, I wish I…read morehadn't.... Unfortunately, I am going to rain on previous reviewers' parade. There is a main bar area, and a slightly enclosed area to sit, presumably when your table is ready (not sure if they do takeaways). If you face the bar, to the left are a series of booths. To the right is a main restaurant area, with a few booths. When two of us arrived, we struggled to get any service at the bar, and clearly there was an extremely loud group in the main part of the restaurant (about 35 blokes). There was also a hen-party in too, but they were less noisy. Let me make it clear, no restaurant can afford to turn away 35 paying customers. However, I learnt that there was an upstairs' area, and this would have been the best place to have accommodate this sort of number. However, I suspect that they were short of staff this evening; as we were struggling to get attention. They knew they had this booking!!! One colleague said if he had arrived, on his own, he would have walked out. The rest of our party arrived, and our compliment was a total of 5. We sat in the waiting area having a drink, and was assured of being seated soon. I had to chase this up. We then taken to a table with a few feet of the noisy throng. Fortunately, within 10 minutes they moved to the bar and seating area; carry their basket containing bottles of beer. THE DRINKS ARE VERY EXPENSIVE, I THOUGHT, AND COLLEAGUES SEEMED TO CONCUR. The food: Salt and Chilli King Prawns - £6.75 Stir-fried with Five-Spice and Chilli I enjoyed, and very succulent, and I enjoyed the spice and garlic. Thai Red Curry Beef - £13.80 Spicy Thai Curry with Red Chilli, Galangal, Fennel & Coriander The beef was chewy, only five slithers of beef, not red, but a beige colour. Although, the sauce did taste nice, and I this with: Yaki Ramen Noodles - £4.00 - Nothing special in the taste. The other problem was that the noodles went cold pretty quickly. The star dish from two colleagues was: Spicy Lamb (A Buddha favourite) - £13.95 Thinly sliced and cooked with Five-Spice, Chilli, Cumin and Steamed Buns. I shan't return. I could not recommend the place, after this experience, to any friends and colleagues. One of the reasons I wanted to try is that family are travelling to Newcastle with me and I thought I'd take them somewhere different.

How have I never been here before?! I LOVED it!! The interior is just brilliant. Upstairs you have…read morebig round tabled booths with an absolutely great atmosphere. The hanging chain mail style decorations are a great touch. Downstairs is more of a bar area, which also looks great. I'd advise you to make a reservation before coming here so you're not disappointed. The menu is extensive with dishes from China/Hong Kong, Korea, Thailand, and Japan. Yes, I know what you're thinking...with such a huge and varied menu the food is probably going to be mediocre compared with a restaurant that just specialises in 10 dishes for example. Wrong!!! The food was insanely good. I started with salt and pepper squid which was really excellent. Light and crispy (and non-greasy) batter, excellent flavour, and a good portion size. Then I had sizzling aubergine in teriyaki sauce and rice. Again I absolutely loved it. Great flavours and texture. The aubergine was perfectly cooked. Great atmosphere on a weekend in this place. The music is great...pop/dance music but not too loud that you can't hold a conversation. Can't wait til the next time I visit home so I can come back!!