Tesco Cafe - Gateshead

Called for a late lunch after visiing the Baltic; the staff were very pleasant, the area was clean, and our food was very good. Prices are competitive.

A decent choice of snacks and meals, and counter service; although there was a problem with trays. Service was very slow even when just serving tea and coffee and the cafe wasnt busy.

My hubby and I popped into Tesco cafe Gateshead recently for a cuppa and a scone before heading to the pictures. I was so surprised at how good my coffee was and looking at the menu it was so reasonable. Will be back again for food next time.

I’ve dined here a handful of times over the last five years or so and each time I hope that the experience can’t possibly be worse than the last. Each time I’m disappointed. Sunday lunchtime and the place should be doing brisk business yet there’s only a handful of diners and a chunk of seating cordoned off presumably to save the staff some cleaning work. The issues, as ever, begin at the counter as you find that each item of the kids meal has to be verbally announced to the till operator to update the POS to generate a barcode that can be charged through the till. This takes forever as items are added and we establish that the kids meal button hasn’t been pressed first so they have to be voided and entered back in. All the while barely a word is exchanged. A small queue forms. A kids meal needs to be swift with a time pressured parent and a six year old. This was anything but. Eventually we make our way out to one of the few tables not festooned with debris and tuck into fairly average fare from what is now a vastly skimmed down menu. Midway through the meal a member of staff sees fit to chastise the child with no reference to me for allowing her shoe to come into close contact with the seat pad. Not sat with shoes on the seat, sitting on the chair and because of her size her shoes are closer to the upholstery than an adult. It is not your place to discipline children... if there’s an issue talk to the parent directly instead of mumbling something about keeping new chairs nice as you walk away. Utterly abysmal experience from start to finish.

My partner and I went to Tesco Gateshead for a sandwich before going to the Cinema. I selected an egg and my partner had tuna and sweetcorn. My sandwich had very little egg in it and no yolk/yellow part. There was a smudge of tuna and we counted 5 pieces of sweetcorn. Very disappointing. I wanted to complain there and then but my partner is not a complainer.