Restaurant in Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom
14 seats, no choices, serious cooking.
Solstice by Kenny Atkinson is a 14-seat, no-choice tasting menu restaurant on Newcastle's Quayside, holding a Michelin star since 2024 and an 83-point La Liste ranking for 2026. At £175 per head with up to 19 courses built around traceable north-east ingredients — Lindisfarne oysters, Craster kipper, Northumberland honey — it is the most technically ambitious booking in the city. Book four to six weeks ahead minimum.
Book Solstice if you are serious about ingredient-led tasting menus and prepared to commit fully: £175 per head, no-choice format, and a 14-seat room that fills weeks in advance. This is not a casual dinner. It is one of the most technically demanding kitchens operating outside London right now, and the sourcing credentials — Lindisfarne oysters, Craster kipper, Northumberland heather honey — give the price genuine justification. If you have already eaten at House of Tides (Modern British, Modern Cuisine) and want to go further, Solstice is the logical next step. If you are new to Newcastle's fine dining and want to test the water first, start there instead.
Solstice opened as a clear statement of intent: a smaller, more ambitious room built around the kind of precision tasting menu format that Kenny Atkinson had not fully explored at his Quayside flagship. The recent shift in ambition is visible in the numbers , a Michelin star earned in 2024, an 83-point La Liste ranking for 2026 , and in the structural choices that define the format. Fourteen covers, a no-choice menu running to up to 19 courses, and head chef Scott Hodgson running a kitchen where the chefs themselves bring dishes to the table and describe every plate. That last detail is not theatre for its own sake. With a menu this technically dense, the verbal briefing is practical intelligence for the diner.
What makes Solstice worth examining closely, particularly for a return visitor or a serious food traveller, is the sourcing logic that runs through the menu. The kitchen draws on a tight geography of north-east producers and coastal suppliers, and the ingredient choices are not decorative regionalism. Lindisfarne oysters are poached in shell and finished with oscietra caviar and walnut oil. Langoustine tails are roasted in their own oil and paired with yuzu koshu butter and fennel flower. Steamed pollock is wrapped in nori, stuffed with fish and mussel mousse, and served with an intense Craster kipper sauce. Each of those three dishes is built around a primary ingredient that has a clear, documentable provenance , and the kitchen's technique is calibrated to let that ingredient carry the weight rather than mask it. At this price point, that discipline matters. You are not paying for complexity for its own sake; you are paying for complexity in service of the ingredient.
The dessert section, which drew particular notice from La Liste, follows the same logic. The Northumberland heather honey parfait is a regional product treated as a centrepiece rather than a garnish. The final four courses, including a chocolate with sansho pepper ganache, are served together as petits fours , well-judged portions that close the meal without overloading. The kitchen understands pacing, which is not always the case at this course count.
The room at 5-7 Side seats only 14 diners across a split-level space. Colours are subdued, with sunburst wall lights echoing the restaurant's logo. Kitchen views are limited but present. The wine list, delivered on an iPad, is voluminous; the pairing flight runs £95 and is recommended if budget allows , La Liste explicitly flags it as the way to complete the experience. There is also choice by the glass, opening with an Albariño. Staff are described as young but well-versed and genuinely warm, which at this format and price is as important as any single dish. A tasting menu of this length depends on room management as much as kitchen output.
For context against peers in this format: if you are familiar with what L'Enclume in Cartmel or Moor Hall in Aughton achieve with northern English produce, Solstice is operating in a comparable register of ingredient seriousness, if not yet at the same level of national recognition. For London-based diners considering a northern detour, the comparison to CORE by Clare Smyth in London is instructive: both kitchens use tasting menus to argue that premium sourcing justifies the format. Solstice is younger and leaner in scale, which can work in its favour. A 14-seat room with chefs presenting their own food creates a different relationship between kitchen and diner than a larger starred restaurant can.
Hours are selective: Wednesday and Thursday evenings only, Friday and Saturday at lunch (12PM sittings) and dinner (7PM sittings). The restaurant is closed Sunday through Tuesday. This schedule alone shapes the booking challenge , there are fewer than ten sittings per week. Combined with 14 covers per sitting and a Michelin star, availability is tight. Plan your travel to Newcastle accordingly, and look at the Newcastle hotels guide early if you are travelling for this specifically.
For those building a wider Newcastle itinerary around this meal, the full Newcastle restaurants guide, the bars guide, and the experiences guide are worth reviewing. Solstice is an anchor booking around which an evening , or a weekend , can be built. It is not a drop-in option.
Booking difficulty is high. With under ten sittings per week and 14 covers per sitting, this is one of the harder reservations in the north of England. A Michelin star since 2024 and growing national press attention have compressed availability further. Book as far in advance as possible , see the FAQ below for specific guidance. There is no walk-in option that makes practical sense at this format and price.
5-7 Side, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 3JE
| Venue | Price | Format | Booking Difficulty | Leading For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solstice by Kenny Atkinson | ££££ (£175pp) | No-choice tasting menu, 14 seats | Hard | Serious tasting menu, ingredient focus |
| House of Tides | ££££ | Tasting menu, larger room | Moderate | First fine dining visit to Newcastle |
| 21 | £££ | À la carte / set menu | Easy–Moderate | Flexibility, groups, lower commitment |
| Rebel | ££–£££ | Tasting menu format | Moderate | Adventurous dining, lower price point |
| COOK HOUSE | ££ | Neighbourhood restaurant | Easy | Casual, ingredient-led, accessible |
Lunch on Friday or Saturday is the better entry point for first-time visitors. The format and menu are the same as dinner, and the £175 per head price does not change, but a daytime sitting tends to make the pacing of a long tasting menu easier to absorb. Dinner sittings carry a slightly more formal atmosphere given the hour. If the wine pairing is part of your plan, dinner may suit better , finishing a £95 flight at lunch requires a clear afternoon. Either way, the course structure is identical, so the decision is about your own schedule rather than any difference in kitchen output.
The room holds 14 diners in total, which sets a hard ceiling. A group of six to eight is achievable and would represent the majority of a sitting, but you should contact the restaurant directly to establish availability , a party of that size effectively means booking out a significant portion of the room. Groups larger than eight are unlikely to be accommodated in a single sitting given the cover count. The no-choice format actually simplifies group dining: there are no ordering logistics, and the menu moves at the kitchen's pace for everyone simultaneously. For larger groups or more flexible formats in Newcastle, 21 at £££ with à la carte options is the practical alternative.
Four to six weeks minimum is a realistic baseline post-Michelin star. The combination of fewer than ten weekly sittings, 14 covers per sitting, and growing national recognition from both Michelin and La Liste means availability closes quickly. For Friday and Saturday sittings specifically , the only days with both lunch and dinner options , expect to look further ahead. If you are travelling to Newcastle from outside the region and the meal is the anchor of your trip, book before you finalise travel and accommodation. Cancellations do surface, but planning around them at £175 per head is a poor strategy.
There is no ordering at Solstice , the menu is entirely no-choice, running to up to 19 courses. On arrival you receive a bare-bones list of ingredient names; the kitchen's chefs present each dish personally and provide detailed descriptions. A written menu with full dish breakdowns is given at the end of the meal. The sourcing emphasis falls on north-east coastal ingredients and regional produce, and the seafood courses have drawn the strongest critical notice. The wine pairing at £95 is worth taking if it fits your budget , La Liste specifically recommends it as the way to complete the experience, and the list is extensive with good by-the-glass options as an alternative.
No. Solstice is a 14-seat tasting menu restaurant with a single, fixed format. There is no bar counter, no à la carte option, and no casual drop-in path. Every cover requires a full booking and commitment to the tasting menu at £175 per head. If you want a more flexible Newcastle fine dining option without the full tasting menu commitment, Nest or 21 offer alternatives at lower price points and with more format flexibility. For bar-focused exploration in the city, the Newcastle bars guide is a better starting point.
| Venue | Cuisine | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SOLSTICE BY KENNY ATKINSON | Modern British | La Liste Top Restaurants (2026): 83pts; This intimate, personably run restaurant is just around the corner from the eponymous chef-owner’s flagship, House of Tides, and serves a multi-course tasting menu of well-balanced, highly intricate and complex dishes. The kitchen’s skill allows top-drawer ingredients to shine, whether that be scallops or pigeon, and the meal ends on a high with the varied, exquisitely constructed desserts. The chefs present the plates to guests themselves and provide detailed descriptions of their make-up. Go for the wine pairing for the ultimate dining experience.; To ask for £175 per diner upfront sets the bar high for any restaurant, so it’s difficult to enter Kenny and Abbie Atkinson’s new Quayside venture without demanding (at least notionally) ‘prove yourself!’ Slowly, via up to 19 tasting dishes on a no-choice menu, Solstice does exactly that. Scott Hodgson is head chef, though Kenny Atkinson (who gained fame on the Great British Menu ) was orchestrating proceedings in the kitchen when we visited, emerging to explain dishes to his customers. And what dishes they are! Guests are presented with a bare-bones menu on arrival: ‘caviar’, ‘cod roe’ and ‘mackerel’ being the first three items on our line-up (shortly before the winter solstice). Elaborate verbal descriptions are provided at table, and you’re given a detailed account on paper at the end. A meal here is characterised by beautifully presented, complex morsels of artistry, where contrasting textures and tiny bursts of concentrated flavour excite the taste buds. Highlights? Seafood is certainly a star: Lindisfarne oyster, poached in its shell then covered with an oyster and bonito beurre blanc, topped with oscietra caviar set off by drops of walnut oil (applied at the table); langoustine tail roasted in its oil yet still translucent, served with a citrus yuzu koshu butter sauce and fennel flower; steamed pollock, wrapped in nori and stuffed with a fish and mussel mousse, the masterstroke being its intense Craster kipper sauce. Shortfalls? Perhaps a sweet Parker House roll (itself perfect) wasn’t the ideal accompaniment to a main course of venison, which came with a glorious gravy of red verjus and smoked bone marrow. But that’s a minor gripe. Puddings? Northumberland heather honey parfait won the prize. Don’t be daunted by the number of dishes: portions are well-judged and the final four (including chocolate with sansho pepper ganache) are petits fours, served together. The setting for all of this is a split-level room (with limited kitchen views) seating only 14 diners; colours are subdued but note the sunburst wall lights replicating the restaurant’s logo. Staff are young but well-versed in the menu (and charming too). The suitably voluminous wine list is presented on an iPad; flights cost £95, though there’s ample choice by the glass, starting with a palatable Albariño. It’s clear Solstice is setting its sights at a level still higher than its older sibling House of Tides. If it succeeds, and on this evidence it will, it should become the brightest star in the Newcastle firmament.; Chef: Kenny Atkinson document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", function() { var el = document.getElementById("Achievements_chefs"); if (el && el.parentNode) { el.parentNode.removeChild(el); } });; This intimate, personably run restaurant is just around the corner from the eponymous chef-owner’s flagship, House of Tides, and serves a multi-course tasting menu of well-balanced, highly intricate and complex dishes. The kitchen’s skill allows top-drawer ingredients to shine, whether that be scallops or pigeon, and the meal ends on a high with the varied, exquisitely constructed desserts. The chefs present the plates to guests themselves and provide detailed descriptions of their make-up. Go for the wine pairing for the ultimate dining experience.; Michelin 1 Star (2024) | Hard | — |
| House of Tides | Modern British, Modern Cuisine | Michelin 1 Star | Unknown | — |
| 21 | Modern British | Unknown | — | |
| Broad Chare | Traditional British | Unknown | — | |
| Dobson & Parnell | Modern Cuisine | Unknown | — | |
| Osters | Seafood | Unknown | — |
Comparing your options in Newcastle Upon Tyne for this tier.
Dinner is the default here: sittings run Thursday through Saturday, with lunch only available Friday and Saturday from 12 PM. The format is identical at both — the same 14-seat room, the same no-choice multi-course menu at £175 per head. Lunch has a slight logistical edge if you prefer to end early, but there is no version of Solstice that suits a quick or casual meal.
The dining room seats only 14, which means a large group booking will effectively take over the whole restaurant. Parties of 6 or more should check the venue's official channels before assuming availability. If you want a private-feel dinner without buying out the room, 2 to 4 is the practical group size. For larger celebrations with more flexibility, Kenny Atkinson's House of Tides nearby operates at a bigger scale.
Book as far ahead as possible — ideally 6 to 8 weeks out. Fewer than ten sittings per week across just 14 covers makes this one of the hardest reservations in the north of England. The £175 per head charge is typically required upfront, so come prepared for a deposit or full prepayment at the time of booking.
There are no individual choices to make: Solstice runs a no-choice multi-course tasting menu, with up to 19 dishes per sitting. The wine pairing at £95 per person is the one decision worth making in advance — La Liste has specifically flagged it as the recommended way to experience the full meal. Detailed verbal and written descriptions of every course are provided by the chefs themselves.
No. Solstice is a 14-seat dining room built around a structured tasting menu experience — there is no bar seating or walk-in counter format. Every cover requires a reservation, and the no-choice menu means there is no abbreviated or casual entry point. If you want a more flexible or spontaneous meal in Newcastle, Broad Chare or Dobson & Parnell offer a la carte formats without the commitment.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
