03 Dec HWKR MRKT, Gateshead
I always enjoy visiting Newcastle. It’s a beautiful city with friendly people and I’d love to spend more time there! I was meant to meet up with some friends before our concert but we didn’t have as much time as we thought so I joined some of my colleagues who had strategically found dinner close to the Sage. HWKR MRKT (you can tell it’s trendy by the lack of vowels) is tucked underneath the Tyne Bridge. Named after the hawker markets of oriental descent selling inexpensive street food, you can find food stalls from a variety of traders. Most are like pop up versions of larger restaurants such as Lola Jeans, Oktopus (see last week’s post!) and the inventively named Grumpy Pandas Bait Box.
The market is part of a larger collective run by the River Brew Co. Along this section of the river you’ll find a seasonal open fire kitchen at Träkol Restaurant and the River Co Brewery and Tap Room, which serves their latest brews as well as new releases from the UK Craft Beer Community. They even do bike servicing at the Backyard Bike Shop with brunch, cakes and cocktails to help you pass the time.
On entering HWKR MRKT, you are required to switch money for tokens which you use to pay for your food and drink. £1 is equivalent to 1 token. If you have any tokens left over you can trade it back to cash when you leave. There are two aisles flanked by shipping containers made good, now reformed into food truck sized stalls. I was debating between chana daal at Dabbawal or chicken schwarma at Papa Ganoush. Chicken won in the end! I opted for no wrap and had it all in a box instead. Included are a variety of greens such as cucumber, tomato, parsley and pomegranate salad, green beans, pickled chillies and thinly sliced red onions. Bite-sized pieces of grilled chicken piled on top with a healthy drizzle of chilli sauce. The classic mezze flavours were super fresh and tasty. Others had ‘dirrty fries’ slathered in blue cheese or pizza style with tomatoes and cheddar, halloumi curry, and a sugar laden rocky road cake/cookie concoction!
This is a great place to hang out – heaters and wood burning fires are dotted around liberally to counteract the northern chill and there is a live DJ to add to the party feel. There are cocktail bars, specialist gin and beer bars, ideal for winding down at the weekend. You could come here for dinner before a gig at the Sage and return for drinks after, a one stop shop!
I hope you enjoyed this post, if you did please give it a thumbs up on the button below! Follow me on instagram for more #minnsmunchtime during the week 🙂 See you next Monday for more culinary treats!
STATS
Nearest venue: The Sage Gateshead
Total receipt: £6
1x chicken schwarma 6
Rating: 8/10 Not just a pretty face
HWKR MRKT, Hillgate Quays, Gateshead, NE8 2BH
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