Me and my family always go here we love the food. It's not to expensive and tastes like heaven, the…read morestaff are warm and very friendly. 3 words jack Daniels sauce it's the best I recommend you try it.

i love this place the food is great, its a little expensive but its definitely worth going if you…read morefeel like treating your fella to a quality steak. nice decor, nice staff. smoking area is alright too

Architecturally very appealing the amount of floor space can feel a bit much at times but the range…read moreof ales available is very good. Service even on a Sunday night was a bit ropey (NB after 7pm the prices come down 15%) and the preferred practice seemed to be to not wash glasses as they go but just do it all at the end of the night. They do though have some very nice branded glasses which I'm sure they lose a bunch of through theft. Good as the final port of call on a crawl.

Two wonderful stained glass ceilings worth a visit just to see these a good selection of real ale…read moreserves food cooked prepared on the premises not just reheated like many other pubs. CAMRA pub of the year winer.

A basement bar, situated centrally in Darlington, and nestled in amongst a group of other pubs such…read moreas Barracudas, Hash, and Harveys. Perfect to visit on a Saturday night, with a great atmosphere, and a great little dancefloor. Not much dancing actually happens, but the buzz is good, and the people are always up for a good chat. In one part of the bar are a set of dining tables as overflow from upstairs Joe Rigatoni's restaurant. This is the bar to go to after a meal to enjoy a nice glass of wine.

I go to Joes Bar most Saturday nights. The music is excellent and the beer good. Sometimes get free…read morepizza given which helps soak up the beer. Its a great pub and handy as part of the Darlington pub crawl.

I have dined at the Hamilton Russell a few times with my husband; once on an evening and a few…read moretimes during the day. I have always been impressed with the service here; the staff are very friendly and helpful. The menu is large, although I don't like the way that it is written on boards all around the room instead of on paper menus, as it feels like you're leaning over people who are having their meal just to see what food there is! We have some had lovely lunches there, it is really nice sitting in the small beer garden at the back looking out over the countryside on a sunny afternoon. The meals are not overly expensive, and although the portions aren't huge they are probably just right for most appetites. The pub is very popular and most people I know have dined there at some point; I've never heard a negative review of the place. Although I wouldn't say it is my favourite place to eat in the area, it's well worth a look.

Myself and 10 friends dined at the Hamilton Russell on a Monday and chose to have the food from the…read morespecial Steak Night. Everyone commented how well the food was cooked, and as a bottle of wine for two was part of the deal, we only paid £12.50 each for a rump steak, lovely fat chips and trimmings as well as a half a bottle of Hardys wine each. The staff were very friendly and the service couldn't be beaten. We enjoyed ourselves so much we are going back on Wednesday to sample the Curry Night. The new owners of the Hamilton Russell are very pleasant and it is obvious they have a will to improve things. If they keep on producing good food at a good price like we have recently sampled they have 11 converts. Well done the Hammy.

I love this bar. In fact, it's my favourite bar in the surrounding 'gay triangle'. For anybody…read morevisiting town, or just having a night out, whether your are straight or gay, it makes no difference, this bar is great fun. It holds two large screens with Sky Sports all day long on one half, and on the other half of the bar, up the stairs a bit [only 2, but steep so be warned after a couple of drinks!), there is a pool table and some sofas to sit down on. There's also a jukebox which plays mostly rock, indie music. It's enjoyable for all. Loos are nice, only two for females, and one small mirror, they are small, but clean. The bar is very central, and only around the corner from Eclipse. It's opposite the Life Centre and it's by Digital, Twist, Baron and Baroness, which is ideal for hitting clubs afterwards. It's near to Gossip, The Dog, Switch and Powerhouse too, and not far from a local Hotel Inn Express for staying over night. Also situated by some fast food take away shops and a small paper shop. Prices are good; a bottle of K2 is £1.50. The staff are very friendly and laid back. I love coming here just after work and sitting with friends, it's nice and snug inside and has a warm inviting atmosphere. Thumbs up from me!

Dog & Parrot upstairs great on tue if u fancy cheap £2 comedy from 9, go often and love it :)read more

This place is somewhere between an old fashioned boozer and a classy bar. I couldn't quite figure…read moreit out but I liked it nonetheless. I took a leaf from my dad's book and ordered two halves at the same time. There's a great range of beers on. I also spotted a very exciting gin and tonic menu. Our (rather large) party ordered a selection of bar snacks - pork pies and black pudding scotch eggs - which were bloody amazing. The scotch egg in particular, and the real ale chutney, were incredible. I'll definitely be back next time I'm in Newcastle.

I was recently in Newcastle for a guided beer tour (read: ale pub crawl) and our first stop after…read morearriving in the city was Bacchus. As soon as you cross the threshold into this place, you're hit with the juxtaposition of the clean, modern styling from behind the bar and on the walls against the dark, old-school wood and upholstery of the seating and the cool brass of the hand pumps. Whilst in here, I decided to sample what I presume to be a local brew - "Toon Broon". Being someone who enjoys a bottle or two of the ol' dog*, I figured this would go down well and I certainly wasn't wrong. I received a good, easy drinking brown ale which I'd quite happily have knocked back in larger quantities had we been there for longer. The stand-out aspect of my visit here, though, has to be the bar snacks. My girlfriend and I ordered a hand-raised pork pie and a black pudding scotch egg to share, but to be honest we both agreed afterwards that we'd rather have ordered two of the scotch eggs. There wasn't anything wrong with the pork pie, not by a long shot. It was a good pie, filled with quality pork which was excellently seasoned without too much jelly inside the pastry which I liked, and it came with a seemingly home-made piccalilli which was also pretty good. It just didn't stand up to the black pudding egg, though. The egg itself was wrapped in a good layer of black pudding, maybe 1-1.5cm thick all round, and coated in what looked to me to be panko breadcrumbs to add some crunch. The egg inside was cooked, but not overdone with no discolouration around the yolk. Not content with simply serving up a cracking scotch egg, it came accompanied by a dark ale chutney. Oh. My. God. That chutney. It was stunning; it was delicious in it's own right but it added an astounding sweet-savoury note to everything which was amazing. Overall, I'd quite happily return to Bacchus if I ever found myself in Newcastle again on the beers. Not just because they have a cracking range of beers and spirits, but in no small part also so I can order about 10 of those scotch eggs. (I accept no responsibility for any addictions to black pudding scotch eggs which may arise from visiting after reading this review. Consume at your own utterly delicious peril.)

It would have 5 stars if there was a dedicated dance floor. The music is too good not to have one!…read moreGreat drinks and fantastic atmosphere!

This is quite a classy bar inside but some may also call it a bit pretentious. Good destination on…read morea weekend if you like RnB or hip hop music which can be quite a difficult find in Newcastle. There is a dance floor but sometimes it can also be a thoroughfare to the fantastic beer garden out the back. Cannot fault the outdoor space...ample seating and heaters with a huge gorilla which proves to be a popular photo stop! Drinks are very expensive so don't make the same mistake I did in ordering a round....out comes the card and that awful moment the next morning when you wake up and find the receipts in your purse!!! There is an upstairs VIP section but cannot say I've ever seen it open to the general public. It can be hired out though!

Been here a couple of times now. First time I thought the food was poor but I was happy to give it…read moreanother chance. However the second visit was even worse. Firstly the staff just seem to be disinterested. They serve while talking to each other and I felt like I was inconveniencing them by making them take my order. The food arrived quickly, but the quality was awful. Overcooked vegetables, chewy Yorkshire puddingpudding and the roast beef was approximately 40% fat and gristle. When I was finished I waited 20 minutes for someone to come and take my plate away but was again disappointed so I just got up and left. I had hoped to sit there for a while and read my newspaper as the place itself is well presented, clean and has a good atmosphere but I was so put off that I decided a walk on the beach would be much more pleasant (and I was right!)

The best pub in Hartlepool - good pub food and great atmosphere - always make you feel at homeread more