One of the good things about the nightlife in Newcastle is you can pretty much walk around all of the areas, as in distance they are all quite close, but in style all very different. But which is the best?

The main areas of Newcastle can be broken down to: The Gate, The Diamond Strip/Central Station, The Bigg Market and The Quayside.

What is considered cool/popular has changed alot. A few years ago the Quayside was a cool place to go, everyone went, clubs like Sea and Baja would be packed with massive queues. Then the people outside of Newcastle found out about it. Now there are stag and hen parties as far as the eye can see, and the locals by majority go to other places. I was in Quilted Camel a few months ago, 21:00 on a Friday night, and there was a handful of people there. Rewind a few years and you wouldnt be able to move. Have the Stag and Hens spoiled the Quayside, or are there now just more/better choices?

Blu Bambu @ the Bigg Market was also considered one of the best Saturday nights out in Newcastle. With big queues, a packed club every week, it was doing good for itself. They destroyed all that themselves by not moving with the times, and forgetting that all the people they would not let in went to other places, never to return. Soon enough they lost the ability to draw a crowd.

Today the place to be is the Central Station area, aka The Diamond Strip. Bars like Madame Koo, Perdu, Bijoux etc. People have a love of trendy bars at the moment, with nice decor, ‘posh’ feel, and a “no cheese allowed here” view. The problem i have with them is the price tag and attitude which goes with some of them. If they are upmarket, why do some of them sell cheap spirits? I hate the places which sell cheap vodka or cheap Martini, to me its like a shop selling a fake. If you go to these places and pay more you expect to get better standard drinks, which is why we go, to drink!

So i would say the best area is The Diamond Strip. BUT, it does depend on what kind of night you want. If you are into a cheesy mood, try The Gate and bars around the Bigg Market.

Leave a comment to have your say

Our vote for the best bar in Newcastle for June 2009 is Bijoux Bar. Clean, good decor, friendly staff, Bijoux is currently the best and maybe the most underrated bar in the ‘diamond strip’ area. It is located further down the road and on the opposite side of Perdu, Floritas and Baby Lynch, closer to Gray Street.

The bar plays some great music, if you like RnB and Hip Hop aswell as some club classics you will find them here.

The bar offers a big choice of drinks, and offers premium drinks aswell as cheaper alternatives. You can get many different vodkas here, including Belvedere which i recommend They also sell Champagne including Dom P and Cristal, however they have raised the price of their Cristal for some reason from £250 to £270. If you would like this i suggest you ask them in advance, when i was in they did not have any in.

You can book tables and booths if you want something special, if you want a casual drink or a good night out you can have that too. Bijoux offers something for everyone and you will be welcome whether you are spending big or just stopping by for a drink. Bijoux is open ’till 2AM on every night except Sunday (1AM) so if you fancy a late bar instead of a club then this is the place to go.

Newcastle nights out is all about the weekend. The bars are usually always full, for the last few weeks the bars on the diamond strip have had pretty big queues outside them. So what happens through the week? NOTHING! Its amazing to see places like Perdu and Floritas which get queues reguarly on Saturday night, being empty on a midweek night. I was in Perdu and Floritas, in each bar there couldnt have been more than 20 people in at any 1 time. I was gonna go into Baby Lynch but it was so sparse (i mean no staff aswell as no people) i didnt know if it were open or not.

Revolution was doing slightly better, but nowhere near what its like at the weekend. Still it got a few people in it which was more than any other bar around the area.

I guess if you wanna go out through the week the only place to go is the Gate, which does get decent numbers of people in.

Bijoux Bar is a great bar! It has gone through some changes in recent times, being the Navy Bar, and @home, and now known as Bijoux. Previously i have been in @home and found it a bit boring, nothing going on, it didnt really have anything to it. It was a small space, and it just didnt feel right.

Now it is Bijoux and i have to say i like it! It plays some great music, the decor and lighting is perfect, and the selection of drinks is better than the rest of the competition. A Better bar than Perdu/Floritas/Baby Lynch/Madame Koo? It could well be!

Staff are friendly, including door staff (wow!) the crowd you get is good, it draws in the trendy-young-mature crowd; The place is not as busy as the others across the road, but that is not a bad thing. The number of people is a good amount, not packed, but not so empty it looks closed.

They sell high end drinks aswell as cheaper ones; 3 different kinds of patrón tequila did not go unnoticed and selling Cristal at £250 which is £50 less than the others (they still make a good profit!) and if you wanna go all out you can get whole bottles of spirits, Grey Goose vodka runs at £100. This is what i love-The choice. They might not sell many whole bottles of Vodka, but they offer it. Going in with a big party i would definatly consider buying a bottle, it would definatly be worth it.

Music on offer is cool chart, rnb, hip hop and a house mixture. Its good for a trendy bar to play thing kind of thing, it really is one of the good things which seperates it from the neighbouring bars, who all play funky house; Nothing wrong with that, but if you go to 3-4 bars in a row playing the same stuff it can get old

Set your drunk GPS to:

Bijoux Bar
Moseley street
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 1DF

I think the newest, or most recent rebranded bar on the Diamond strip is Bijoux, and probably the least talked about. What is with bar managers/owners/developers choosing names like this? Its French, and means Jewels, or jewel. So we have “lost” over the road aka Perdu, and also Bijoux. Next i think we will have merde, followed by moche (shit, followed by ugly).

I have never been in Bijoux, its always one of those bars that “i will go in” but never do. Its on the wrong side of the diamond strip, and having heard from people, its a young trendy bar as you’d expect, but is marketed at students too…I have no idea how the 2 can mix…It would be like Ferrari marketing a car for the poor and rich at the same time. They sell many cocktails, draught beer but according to a review i read no alcopops for the charva girls!!

Nearby Bars
Perdu, Revolution, Floritas, Baby Lynch

When i am around that area i will venture into the place so i can write how good (or bad) it is