One of Newcastle's newest watering holes, Gengis is owned by the Thistle Hotel above it, and prices at the bar reflect this. The interior of the bar is minimalist, with wooden tables and chairs laid out neatly all over the place, and to be honest, this is more like a restaurant than a pub! Food is served all day and looks nice, although I didnt have enough currency with me at the time to actually purchase any! Every time I pass this place, its pretty quiet and although its worth visiting once, I wouldnt return in a hurry unless the prices came down a little! The fancy pseudo-flames outside are quite nice though...

Slotted in underneath Eldon Square, next to the bus station, this pub looks a little dodgy at first glance, but as we all know, appearances can be deceptive, and it's really nice inside. The George And Dragon is actually quite spacious inside, with plenty of seats and also boasts big screen sports action. Drinks aren't particularly expensive and you can usually hear yourself speak over the music.

What used to be Scruffy Murphys and a Firkin have been knocked together and completely refurbished to become The Goose On The Garden - a quiet, spacious pub with large no-smoking areas, children barred and food served all day at reasonable prices... hang on, isn't this a Wetherspoons?? Seriously though, this is altogether a nice place for a drink and they serve some really large portions of food - the Mixed Grill will certainly keep you going all day for less than a fiver! No music is played in here but with so many other places in Newcastle that do play music, a bit of choice is a good thing. Watch out for the bar on both sides of the pub... you may get served quicker on the left hand side one.

Gotham Town is a pub doubling up as a Haunted House. From the moment you enter, you are confronted with gravestones, spooky lighting and cobwebbed pictures, but rather than make the place feel depressing, the interior just about gets it right. There are little alcoves all over the place for you to cosy into, and the bar winds its way round the middle of the pub with plenty of room for you to get served quickly. Try coming here on a Monday, as its student night - ridiculously cheap drinks and a club atmosphere combined with the creepy funfair styling makes for a good reason to get drunk!

Unsurprisingly popular with students, The Hancock is an "It's A Scream" pub located behind the Civic Centre, exactly half-way between Newcastle and Northumbria Universities! Despite having a small bar compared to other pubs in this chain, you never have to wait to get served long in here by the rather nice barmaids, and the place is full of machines to keep you amused from the ubiquitious Millionaire game through to Pinball. There are also no less than four pool tables in here, to be honest its more like a snooker hall than a pub! Food is served all day, with the normal pub fayre of Burgers, Chips and light meals being on sale. There's quite a large beer garden outside which is especially nice on warm summer nights.

Featuring heavily on almost every CAMRA Real Ale Guide, The Head Of Steam is without a doubt Newcastle's most laid back and chilled out pub. The upstairs bar is completely different to the downstairs bit, but you can usually finding an evening here to suit most tastes from Jazz and Funk to Ska. A wide selection of ales and lagers are on sale to complement the varied crowd of punters although your more likely to find jeans and jumpers than Tucci. A top place and worth a look even if you are just passing - its right opposite the Central Station.

No visit to the Quayside is complete, in my opinion, without a visit to Jimmyz due to the fact you might come out with a free drink or two there! They have this cool thing where you press a button when you order a drink at the bar, and a flashy display stops on either "full price", "half price" or "free" - The full prices are quite expensive but when you mostly get half price, and occasionaly free pints, it's not too bad! Elsewhere, there's a real fire roaring away in the corner which contrasts sharply with the DJ playing the latest music and the large mingle area with modern fittings. A place of contrasts, but definately worth a visit.

If you started at the top of the Bigg Market and worked your way down, you would be sure you'd have been here before by the time you got to Kiss! Loud music, louder women and a massive crush of people once inside, its just like everywhere else on this road! Still, the bar is quite long which makes it easier to get served at and there are always cheap drinks promotions at some point during the night. The DJ stand is elevated at the back and you can dance yourself silly around that until you get bored and move on to the next place which, handily enough, is directly next door!

Five minutes after getting here, I was convinced I was the youngest person in this pub on the Saturday night I visited, but although the age range is very wide, there are some people under the age of 25 dancing away! Officially an over 21s pub, Lennons does appeal to everyone as they play music from the 60s right through until the 90s and its fairly easy to get served quickly as there are usually loads of bar staff on. There's a live DJ playing most nights and more dancing space than in the majority of pubs in Newcastle City Centre. From the outside not somewhere you'd initially think to go to for a night out but once you've been, you'll want to go back.

If you like your music loud and banging, this is the best of the Bigg Market pubs for you. It also has the highest bar I've ever seen which is quite funny when you consider that most lasses are only about 5 foot 5! The drinks are quite expensive here but they do operate a loyalty card scheme for regulars which can bring the cost down a little and there are special offers on the less popular nights. There's quite a large dance area in this pub which goes right round the bar, which means the chances are you'll lose half your pint as you push back to where your mates are standing.

The Lonsdale is situated next to West Jesmond Metro station and is very popular in the local area, although this may be due to the scarcity of pubs in the Jesmond area. A very mixed clientele can be found in the Lonsdale, including students, young professionals, older people and families, and the mix seems to work very well. Food is served all day at reasonable prices, and most of the big football matches are screen which means the pub can be very busy when Newcastle are playing!

The Lounge opened two years ago as The Lizard Lounge, but for some reason they dropped the Lizard bit soon after. On ground level is quite a spacious and comfortable pub/wine bar which does food through the day, while downstairs they have a compact nightclub which opens about 10pm and plays a selection of chart and dance tunes. Prices are pretty steep most of the time here, but it is quite a classy place so you might expect that. There are loads of comfy sofas scattered around upstairs and the glass frontage means you can have a peek inside to see how busy or otherwise the bar is. Generally midweek it's pretty quiet here, but both sections get packed out on Saturdays and Sundays. There's a small outside seating area for when the weather is nice, although the passing traffic probably doesn't lead to a nice eating or drinking environment!

Another standard Bigg Market pub, Maceys is busiest on Fridays and Saturdays, although is open most other evenings as well. There's a huge downstairs circulation area with seats and pseudo-dancefloor, with another smaller section upstairs, including a balcony and another bar. Drinks are cheap in happy hour, and standard priced at other times, and the crowd who come here are usually pretty young and up-for-it. The upstairs bit can be hired out if you have a party or works do, including exclusive use of the upper bar. If you are pub crawling the Bigg Market, you might as well come here for a swift double.

Quite a spacious laid back kind of place, Marthas has one of the highest roofs I have ever seen in a pub! Identified by the two "Blues Brothers" type figures in the window, Marthas is actually more like a posh wine bar than a typical boozer, with big chairs and tables to relax into, and a vastly reduced background noise. There's a courtyard area outside for when the weather is nice, through which you have to actually walk to get up to the toilets, but when you get there, look out for the little man selling after shave and handing out bog roll! Then be afraid... be very afraid! Drinks can be cheap in happy hour, but later on, prices fall into line with everywhere else.

Masters gets very busy towards the end of the night most nights, as many people seem to use it as the final port of call before going clubbing. The music here is really loud, being pumped through massive speakers so generally, you won't have a clue what anyone is saying, but by this time, you don't really care. The pub looks tiny from outside but is on a few levels inside so there's plenty of space. There are three bars and you can usually get served pretty quickly, although you have to point at what you want cos the bar staff can't hear you. Quite a dark and smokey atmosphere but a good mid-point between pub and what comes later.