Restaurant in Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom
Seasonal hibachi cooking, ££ prices, no fuss.
Cook House holds a Michelin Plate (2024 and 2025) and a 4.7 Google rating from nearly 600 reviews, yet prices stay firmly at ££. Based in Ouseburn's Foundry Lane Studios, it serves seasonal Modern British cooking across breakfast, brunch, lunch, and dinner, with hibachi barbecue at the centre of the dinner menu. Book a few days ahead for weekends; walk-in availability is realistic midweek.
If you have been to Cook House before and think you know what to expect, go back. The restaurant has grown considerably from its origins as a shipping container café. It now occupies two floors of Foundry Lane Studios in Ouseburn, with a deli, a dining terrace, a herb garden, and plans for rooftop beehives. The kitchen team has expanded too, and so has the menu. What was once a solo project by food blogger Anna Hedworth is now a properly staffed operation running breakfast, brunch, lunch, and dinner across the week. The Michelin Plate recognition in both 2024 and 2025 confirms the kitchen is producing food that warrants serious attention, not just local goodwill.
Foundry Lane Studios is a creative complex housing artists and makers, and Cook House fits that context deliberately. The interior is stripped back and industrial: exposed materials, minimal decoration, the kind of room that puts the food at the centre rather than the fit-out. The terrace adds a more relaxed outdoor option when weather allows, and the little garden growing herbs for the kitchen and soft drinks programme gives the site a working, lived-in quality that feels genuine rather than decorative. For solo diners or couples, this is a comfortable space. It does not feel like a special-occasion room that requires a crowd to justify the visit.
Dinner gets most of the attention at Cook House, and the hibachi barbecue cooking is the technical centrepiece of that service. But if you are weighing up a first visit or a return trip, the weekend brunch case is strong. The menu runs house granola, hash browns with hot aïoli, and green harissa fried eggs on toast. These are not filler dishes served to justify opening early. They reflect the same seasonal, produce-led thinking that drives the dinner menu, and at the ££ price point they represent strong value by any comparable Newcastle standard.
The in-house kimchi signals the kitchen's commitment to fermentation and building flavour from scratch. The soft drinks list, developed in part from the on-site herb garden, adds a point of difference that matters if you are not drinking. Kombucha and spritzes sit alongside world beers and a wine list described as intriguing, leaning toward natural and fashionable producers. For a food-focused visit where the drink matters as much as the plate, this is a better-rounded offer than most rooms at this price tier.
Dinner is where the hibachi barbecue cooking comes into its own. The menu rotates with the seasons and draws on British produce alongside a wider world larder. Based on the current record, dishes have included parsnip mousse with curried granola, pickled parsnip, and crispy chicken skin; whole smoked mackerel with smoked salsify, lime yoghurt, and orange hot sauce; and slow-roast short ribs with cheesy polenta and plum ketchup for sharing. Desserts have included dark chocolate mousse with blackberries and honeycomb, and toasted barley ice cream with miso caramel. The menu reads as genuinely seasonal and cross-influenced rather than trend-chasing for its own sake.
The Michelin Plate does not mean this is a fine-dining room. The atmosphere is relaxed, the setting is informal, and the price range sits at ££. What the Plate does signal is consistent cooking quality and kitchen seriousness. That combination of accessible pricing, informal atmosphere, and Michelin-acknowledged cooking is what makes Cook House the most compelling all-rounder at this price tier in Newcastle. The Google rating of 4.7 across 585 reviews points in the same direction.
Cook House sits in the Ouseburn Valley, east of the city centre. It is reachable on foot from central Newcastle, though it is a 25-minute walk. The address is Foundry Lane Studios, Foundry Lane, NE6 1LH. Booking is rated Easy, which means you are unlikely to be shut out weeks in advance, but weekend brunch slots and Friday and Saturday dinner will fill faster than midweek. Book a few days ahead to secure your preferred time, and allow more lead time for groups or specific occasion dates.
For context on where Cook House sits in Newcastle's broader food scene, see our full Newcastle Upon Tyne restaurants guide. You can also explore hotels, bars, wineries, and experiences in the city.
If you are interested in comparable Modern British cooking elsewhere in the UK, L'Enclume in Cartmel and Moor Hall in Aughton represent the upper end of the seasonal British produce format. For London reference points, CORE by Clare Smyth and The Ritz Restaurant show the range of the Modern British category. Closer to home, hide and fox in Saltwood and Hand and Flowers in Marlow are useful comparators for Michelin-recognised cooking in informal settings. Nest and Rebel are also worth considering within Newcastle itself.
The menu is produce-led and seasonal, with a track record of vegetable-forward dishes alongside meat and fish. The kitchen shows awareness of alternative flavour-building techniques, which typically translates into a workable range of options for vegetarians. Contact the restaurant directly before booking if you have specific dietary requirements, as the menu rotates and availability of alternatives will depend on the current roster.
Casual. The room is industrial and stripped back, set inside a creative studios complex. A Michelin Plate does not change the dress expectation here. Smart casual is the upper limit anyone is likely to reach; most diners will be in everyday clothes. Do not dress up and do not underdress either , the ££ price point and the food quality suggest a step above very casual, but there is no formal requirement.
Yes. The relaxed, informal setting and the multi-service format (brunch, lunch, dinner) make it a comfortable solo visit. The stripped-back room does not create the pressure that comes with formal or occasion-led dining rooms. Weekend brunch in particular suits solo diners well. At ££ pricing with a Michelin Plate kitchen, this is one of the better-value solo dining options in Newcastle.
At the same ££ tier, Dobson and Parnell offers Modern Cuisine in a more traditional room. Broad Chare covers Traditional British at the same price point if you want something more pub-rooted. If budget is not a constraint and you want the highest cooking ambition in the city, House of Tides and Solstice by Kenny Atkinson are the ££££ options. 21 sits at £££ and offers a more polished mid-range room. Cook House is the choice when you want Michelin-acknowledged seasonal cooking in a genuinely relaxed, affordable setting.
Cook House does not operate a tasting menu format in the traditional sense. The menu is a seasonal roster of dishes rather than a fixed progression. This makes it a better choice for diners who prefer to order selectively rather than commit to a set sequence. At the ££ price range, the value case is strong regardless of format. If a full tasting menu experience is your priority, House of Tides or Solstice by Kenny Atkinson are the Newcastle options for that format.
It works for a certain type of special occasion: a birthday or celebration with someone who values seasonal, creative cooking in an informal setting over white-tablecloth formality. The Michelin Plate gives it credibility as a meaningful dining choice. For a more formal occasion where the room and service polish are part of the event, House of Tides or 21 would be stronger fits. Cook House is the right call when the food quality matters more than the occasion-room atmosphere.
At ££ with Michelin Plate recognition in 2024 and 2025, and a Google rating of 4.7 from nearly 600 reviews, the value case is clear. You are getting kitchen ambition and seasonal produce-led cooking at a price point well below the formal Michelin-starred Newcastle options. The weekend brunch format extends that value further: strong cooking at casual prices. If your benchmark is comparable cooking quality elsewhere in the UK, The Fat Duck or Gidleigh Park show what the higher end of the British cooking spectrum costs. Cook House delivers genuine quality at a fraction of those prices.
| Venue | Price | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| COOK HOUSE | ££ | Easy | — |
| House of Tides | ££££ | Unknown | — |
| SOLSTICE BY KENNY ATKINSON | ££££ | Unknown | — |
| 21 | £££ | Unknown | — |
| Broad Chare | ££ | Unknown | — |
| Dobson & Parnell | ££ | Unknown | — |
Comparing your options in Newcastle Upon Tyne for this tier.
The menu rotates seasonally and draws on a wide range of ingredients, including fish, meat, dairy, and fermented elements such as house kimchi. Given the kitchen's flexibility and the breadth of the menu, dietary queries are worth raising directly when booking. The seasonal, produce-led format means the kitchen is accustomed to working around the menu rather than following a fixed script.
Cook House is set inside Foundry Lane Studios, a creative complex with a stripped-back industrial interior and a terrace. Relaxed and casual fits the room comfortably — this is not a white-tablecloth setting. Think the kind of thing you'd wear to a good independent restaurant, not a formal dinner.
The relaxed, informal atmosphere and two-floor layout make it a reasonable choice for solo diners, particularly at brunch. The counter-style and communal feel of the space suits solo visits better than somewhere with a more formal table-service dynamic. At ££, the financial commitment is low enough that an exploratory solo trip makes sense.
For a step up in formality and price, House of Tides and Solstice by Kenny Atkinson both hold higher Michelin recognition and suit special-occasion dining. Broad Chare and Dobson & Parnell are closer to Cook House in atmosphere — good food, no ceremony — while 21 sits in the mid-range with a more traditional fine-dining format. Cook House is the pick if seasonal British cooking with an informal, creative edge is what you're after at ££.
The database record does not confirm a fixed tasting menu format at Cook House — the menu is described as a rotating roster of dishes rather than a structured tasting sequence. Dinner is the main event, with hibachi barbecue cooking as the technical focus. Check the current format when booking, since the menu evolves with the seasons.
Cook House works well for a casual or low-key special occasion — an anniversary dinner or birthday where the food matters more than the formality. The Michelin Plate recognition (2024 and 2025) gives it credibility, and the terrace and garden add atmosphere. For a more ceremonial occasion with a grander setting, House of Tides or Solstice by Kenny Atkinson would be stronger fits.
At ££ with two consecutive Michelin Plate awards, Cook House offers strong value relative to its peer group in Newcastle. The hibachi-cooked seasonal menu and weekend brunch both represent above-average cooking for the price point. If you want more technical ambition or a formal tasting format, you'll pay more elsewhere — but for the combination of quality and accessibility, the pricing holds up.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
