The Herb Garden

The Herb Garden is almost a really nice place, but not quite. I went along one Wednesday evening for a meal and sat down to look at the food menu and the drink menu. I was hoping from some good vegetarian options — most of those labelled vegetarian had pecorino cheese in them, and I didn’t trust that, since it is rarely made without calf rennet. The beer menu featured some interesting beers. It listed the name of each, the alcohol content and the price, but not the bottle size. I could have asked, of course, but I ordered a «Anchor Steam Ale, 5.4%» at £4 and was brought a small 355ml bottle of Anchor Steam ale at 4.8%. I’d’ve thought that restaurants that offer something on the menu ought to provide what they are advertising, but The Herb Garden seems not to.
My food was okay — stuffed aubergine with lots of nice veggie things. The filling was nice, but the wan and undercooked aubergine was not. Meh. If I come back, I’ll try the pizza I guess, since it is their speciality. At least the margarita probably is really vegetarian, as labelled.

When I finally paid my first visit to the Herb Garden on recommendation by a friend it was well worth it!
The staff impressed me the most… very attentive and genuinely polite and friendly. Immediately from first walking in I was confident this would be a good experience from the way I was greeted.
The menu predominantly consists of pizzas and salads but they also have daily specials and lunch time snacks/​sandwiches. I opted for the Pulled Pork which was lovely… just the right amount too. The pizzas (their speciality) looked amazing although I wasn’t fortunate enough to have sampled any on this occasion.
A few little quirks like old school milk bottles for water and the herb garden where you can see them grow. Never before have I seen such a huge collection of lamp shades hanging from the ceiling… completely random but it works!

Been wanting to try this pizza place for weeks, so glad we finally did! We only waited about 10 minutes on a Saturday night at 8 pm — it’s busy, but not crowded, so you should be able to walk right in. Lots of the tables here are communal which is actually nice and social — we had a great conversation with our tablemates toward the end of our meal. The Herb Garden has a modest selection of wine and beer, wine glasses come in three sizes. After my glass of white wine, we ordered a tomato basil mozzarella salad to share, and then I got the #6 pizza (broccoli, pecorino, walnut, gorgonzola, thyme).
First of all — these pizzas are big. I doubt you’ll be able to finish one on your own, whoever you are — I couldn’t, but I REALLY wanted to because it was so delicious! The crust was crispy with that pleasant char taste from their powerful oven. The gorgonzola gave a wonderfully strong flavor, and the broccoli was abundant. All the pizzas come with a tomato sauce base even if it doesn’t say that on the menu (the word «tomato» means fresh tomatoes, tomato sauce is a given). Pizzas are divided into… I think about 8 small triangular pieces?
The salad was good too — a small portion for the price, but fresh and the basil tasted wonderful (did they grow it in their «herb garden??» I think so, you can see herbs literally growing in a sort of greenhouse along one wall). My boyfriend got the #9 with three kinds of meat and loved it. I think mine was better (less salty, cured meats are delicious but quite salty always). It was totally addictive, even once I was full I kept picking at it, wishing I could eat it. Go with more than one other person and try more things — three people could share two pizzas and a large salad. Just two people and you won’t finish all your food. The couple next to us got the calzone on special and it was MASSIVE (and apparently very spicy!) so don’t get that all to yourself either. Can’t wait to come back and try more pizza — service is friendly, food is great! Right up there with Cal’s Own for great Newcastle pizza.