Bacchus, Newcastle Central, Newcastle Upon Tyne

another gorgeous ornate pub in Newcastle serving a fine selection of ales in a relaxed environment- no background music, just Geordie chit chat. one decent sized room plus a separate area with a fireplace. Not sure it needs the games machines really, and beware the Wetherspoons style Everest climb for the toilets, but it’s an excellent place otherwise.

Like the sister pub around the corner this Fitzgersld pub looks like it's a conversion from something else. There was a music track playing quietly but no sign of any TVs or other unwanted distractions. As mentioned below it's a roughly square room with an island bar. One of the staff was putting up posters for a tap takeover by Stewarts of Edinburgh, a great choice from Scotland. I didn't note all the beers on the nine hand pumps because as soon as I saw Allendale Bison (£4.55) I went for that. It was expensive but is a 6.0% abv beer and was in superb condition. This one and Fitzgeralds were the best visited in the City on the day.

I initially attempted to visit this rather fancy city centre pub straight after watching a match at St James' Park, only to find the place bursting at the seams with eager punters, creating what appeared to be never-ending queues for the bar, so I sloped off elsewhere and returned late on Sunday evening to find just a handful of other customers and plenty of room for me to have a good nose around. You enter into a large, open-plan, bare boarded main bar with an angular U-shaped servery through the centre. The room wraps around the bar which has a wooden counter under some immense pillars and a smart and stylish bar back. There is a great deal of vertical drinking space around the bar area (clearly very much needed on match days) and banquette seating down the right hand side under the front windows, supplemented by some high backed chairs which had patterned backs with a playing card motif. To the left of the bar there is a raised space, partitioned by a dark wood wall with a ledge and high stools. More banquette and standard seating can be found here under nice dark wood panelling. At one end of the room is a carpeted snug with space for a few more tables and some button backed banquettes. A model warship has been placed on the pediment above the front porch, the shape of which suggests that the bar used to have a revolving door for an entrance. Music played quietly throughout this late evening visit. The pub is part of the Fitzgerald pub chain and so, as expected, there were plenty of interesting ales to chose from - Bandwagon American Red, Brewsmith Admiral Porter, Hadrian Borders Ouseburn Porter, Cullercoats Jester, Two by Two Sitting Duck Stout, Anarchy Blonde Star, Fyne Ales Jarl, Allendale Yakima Pale and Great Corby Ale. A cheery barmaid poured a decent pint of the Admiral Porter which I enjoyed whilst propping up the bar watching the last stragglers come and go. This is a very pleasant and evidently popular pub that deserves to be doing well. The place has an opulent feel to it, yet it also seems very inclusive in a way that not all bars of this type do. Whilst I didn't find it as easy to settle here as I did in similar pubs such as Lady Greys, I nonetheless enjoyed my time here and would put this near the top of my revisit list.

Large open-plan place that nonetheless has had some real character injected into it by quality refurbishment, apparently the inside is meant to resemble a first class lounge on an old ocean liner. The large island bar with polished dark wood column supports is cracking and the art deco style curved entrance lobby is lovely. To the rear is a raised seating area with a small intimate button sofa area to left. Clean and tidy throughout. On a sweltering hot day the aircon was turned up to Arctic level, so much so I had to put my jumper on. A quick mention of the gents, which were A1. Eight pumps with six ales and a couple of ciders. A good selection and my Two By Two Lapsong Souchong was in good form and yes did indeed taste as the name suggested! Also a good selection of craft keg on and prices generally not too bad, plus clearly marked that all are served as Schooner unless requested otherwise. Why can't other places do this? Enjoyable stop and would happily have stayed longer - this is one to definitely seek out in the city.