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• Hydroponics, Railway Arch Regeneration & Pizza

We are all aware that some herbs go nicely on pizza. That’s why I thought this place was called the Herb Garden. Whilst this is certainly true, I was amazed to see a huge wall of ingenious hydroponic herb growing gadgetry at the back of the main dining area. Whilst only basil was being cultivated on the day of our visit, we were told a full blown soil free herb growing operation was imminent once the equipment was ready to be activated. Sorry, if I’m going on about this but I was genuinely impressed. After a cheeky Caipirihna at the new veg friendly Las Iguanas on Newcastle’s Quayside we pitched up at the Herb Garden at around 4pm, that’s 16:00 in modern currency. Who’s “we” you might ask? Well that’s just between me and them, so just read on to learn more about the Herb Garden instead. For many years, most of the arches under the railway tracks leading out of Newcastle Central Station were neglected and run down. Whilst cities like Manchester, Berlin, Leeds and London have been creative with theirs, this was not the case in Newcastle. In recent years however, bars, shops, cafes, estate agents, Internet companies and restaurants have been springing up in these beautiful brick-vaulted arched spaces. The Herb Garden has utilised its space perfectly to create a dining experience on two levels. Vegetarian choice is excellent and vegan choice is very good. There are antipasti sharing platters at £12 for 2 or £18 for 4, pizzas and calzone and plenty of side orders, all meat free. They could probably adjust most pizzas listed on the menu as vegan if you asked but the two main vegan pizzas on offer are: (1) tomato, peppers, red onion, mushrooms, olives, basil, oregano and pine nuts and (2) tomato, broccoli, mushroom, thyme, walnut and beetroot. Both were priced at a very reasonable £10. Just a shame they didn’t put any vegan cheese on and I could have done with a bit more tomato sauce base. We opted for the first to share with a side order of roasted sweet potatoes. A bottle of Peroni and a strong craft beer locally sourced from North Shields helped wash down the crusts. It’s also worth asking for the table water too which is presented in a genuine retro milk bottle from the 1980s. The pizza was delicious with a very delicate crust. In total, our bill came to just under £23 with none of this London influenced 12.5% discretionary service charge nonsense anywhere to be seen. I fully hope and expect the Herb Garden to be growing for many years to come.