The Small Canteen, 17 Starbeck Avenue, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 1RH (07816 524826). Starters £8, mains £18-£19, desserts £8, wine from £20 a carafe
The Small Canteen is not a restaurant for claustrophobes. The name isn’t whimsy. It’s an accurate description. It’s a room in which to eat and it’s very small. The business occupies a flat-roofed, oblong block on a residential corner in Newcastle’s Sandyford. There is a big green and gold painted sign across the top of the building and that is possibly the flashiest thing about the place. If you want the loo, they’ll direct you out the door on to the street and round the corner. On a rainy Newcastle night, it might be best to go before you arrive. Inside, there is room for 15, in a way which some might call intimate, others an invasion of privacy. Then again, this space used to be a sandwich shop and those are rarely built in ballrooms.
