Newcastle's Food and Beer Festival: A Culinary Adventure

It’s my second year at university and I’m still loving it, especially when I try new things. Last weekend was such an opportunity, as one of the biggest food festivals came to the city.

Newcastle’s stunning Wylam Brewery is the perfecting setting for a great day out. It can be found in Exhibition Park, a place I know very well, having lived next to it throughout my first year at university. My friends and I arrived at the brewery and our first plan of action was to purchase tokens, which we could then exchange for a plethora of street food. It was £4 a token, which I first thought was quite expensive; however, in the current economic climate this could actually be considered reasonable to relatively cheap.

After purchasing our tokens, it was time to grab a pint. There were so many options—from beers, ciders, lagers and IPAs, with the majority being craft. These certainly weren’t cheap but you don’t expect them to be when they’re not your typical branded stuff. I went for a pint of IPA called ‘Beyond the Dream’, which was exactly what I wanted; however, it was very strong. It’s fair to say that, after a couple of these, you would certainly begin to feel it. It was £8 a pint, a price that would normally make me wince, but I already knew it would be an expensive day and I’d tried to save accordingly.

Pint in hand, it was time to experience the main event: food! I started with a Thai-inspired fish taco. Whilst the taco shell itself wasn’t very large, they definitely didn’t hold back when filling it up. The flavours were amazing, a good mix of sweet and savoury with a spicy kick that was subtle, but which did the job. I noticed an odd texture to the fish then I realised that it wasn’t fish at all but a plant-based substitute. It’s amazing how close the flavour was, but the texture was a little off-putting. It was probably my least favourite dish of the day, but that’s not to say it wasn’t tasty. And the portion size was a little stingy when you considered the price of the token.

All in all, it was a great event that saw me try new foods and flavours I wouldn’t normally have opted for.