The Head Of Steam, Newcastle Central, Newcastle Upon Tyne

Newcastle's original Head of Steam is located close to Central station. The bar itself is located up a flight of stairs on the first floor. It's quite a compact drinking space, with an L-shaped bar counter. On our Wednesday evening visit (note the pub no longer opens on a Monday or a Tuesday), there was a bouncer on the door and it was quite lively inside. This used to be our pub of choice when visiting Newcastle. However, having discovered so many other better places across the city, we hadn't been in for almost 6 years. It was disappointing to find just 2 real ales - Cameron's Thirst Red & Ossett Strawberry Fields. After ordering the Thirst Red, I subsequently noticed some boxed ciders at the right-hand corner of the bar. There were 3 boxes. 1 was Weston's Cloudy Vintage and another was Thatcher's Cheddar Valley. I couldn't determine what the third box contained. It may just have been a second box of one of the other ciders. Craft beers meanwhile were Deya Steady Rolling Man, Tooth & Claw Jellyfish Nebula, Cameron's Road Crew & Bigmouth Yeastie Boys. The choice of pubs in close proximity to Central station has grown significantly over the past few years. With places such as the Newcastle Tap, the Mile Castle, the Centurion Bar, the Victoria Comet, the Gunner Tavern, the Split Chimp, Beer Street and the Delta Lounge, there is a lot more competition in the area these days. The Head of Steam stays open until 2am. So, that was the main reason for us rounding off the night here. Otherwise, the pub is no longer as attractive as it used to be.

Situated just across the road from Central Station in a particularly unappealing building, this is a first floor bar and live music venue from the eponymous Head of Steam group. The main bar has a simple bare boarded, L-shaped layout, with a similarly shaped servery in the rear right corner. The bar counter has a pleasant detailed decorative frontage whilst the bar back is considerably more restrained. The front section of the room has a partly carpeted seating area with long banquettes, standard chairs and low stools underneath a good collection of breweriana, some mirrors and plenty of photos. The room extends further back to the left of the bar, where a long U-shaped banquette with a jazzy upholstered back can be found, broken in places by the insertion of some small round tables. The walls here have some unattractive wood plank cladding which again have been covered with items of breweriana, lots of photographs and a large image of some sort of unidentified piece of industrial equipment. The whole place seemed to be well kept and smartly presented and I had no trouble settling down on one of the comfy banquettes and enjoying my pint whilst listening to the rather intriguing alternative rock soundtrack. The place was fairly quiet on a Sunday evening, but the few other customers who were in all appeared to be slightly nutty, which is perhaps inevitable at times for a pub with this kind of location. There is also a separate live music venue downstairs with a bottle and can only bar, but this was closed on my visit, so I was unable to explore. As with most Head of Steam pubs, the ale range was pretty good, with options on this visit comprising Portobello Northern Line Stout, Allendale Yarm Pale, Anarchy Anti Venom, Mordue Five Bridges and Wylam Silver Ghost, with a final pump sporting a turned clip. A strong range of keg and bottled options was also available, with the full range detailed on a large board on the staircase - not the easiest place to try and figure out what you want to drink next. My pint of the Stout was very enjoyable and the lone barman seemed very friendly, if perhaps a little weary of some of his more challenging customers. I quite liked the feel of this place, which I felt was a well run operation with some good beer and comfortable surrounds, making it a good option for anyone straight off the train. It lacked that bit of character needed to make it an indispensable pub, but I found it to be a solid option and I'd have no problems with a return visit.

The main bar is up a flight of stairs and downstairs is used as a music venue. The pub was quiet on our Sunday night visit. There were four handpumps in use, I went for Hadrian and Border Tyneside Light Ale. The music played was at a decent level and staff friendly. Toilets need a refurb.

Handy for Newcastle train station 4 real ales.