A historic old pub close to St James’ Park which pays homage to all things Newcastle United.

The Venue
The Strawberry takes its name from the mid-1700s when the nuns at St Bartholomew’s tended strawberry gardens in the area where the pub now stands. Despite being threatened with ex-communication, the nuns sold strawberry wine to keep the nunnery going, which they did until 1840.

Now the place has been taken over by another religion: football. Close to the hallowed Geordie turf known as St James’ Park, The Strawberry doesn’t hide its allegiance; it wears it on its walls. A Toon Army citadel, there’s a Magpies shirt hanging outside, and inside it’s a shrine to united with its black and white tiled floor and pictures of the team’s heroes on the walls - from Kevin Keegan and Ruud Gullit to Alan Shearer and Peter Beardsley.

There’s a pool table in a sunken section and a brand new terrace on the first floor at the back, which is pretty damn cool. It's glass enclosed, very modern and can accommodate around half a dozen tables, giving a view on to a car park and building site (okay, so not that romantic then).

The People
There’s a really friendly atmosphere in here, although you’d come in for a bit of stick (or maybe even get hit with a stick) if you walked in wearing a Sunderland top. Being a few steps from the underground station this place is crazily busy on match days when it takes a long time to get to the bar.

The Food and Drink
There’s a top selection of beers and ciders on tap including Guinness, Deuchars IPA, Mordue’s Workie Ticket, Kronenbourg, Foster’s, John Smiths’, Scrumpy Jack, Butcombe Blonde, Woodpecker, San Miguel and Hyde’s Eager Beaver. In bottles you’ve got Budweiser, Corona, Beck’s, Newkie Brown, Bulmers, Jacques and Kopparberg.

Sandwiches and toasties are cheap and a chip butty is £1.99. They knock out quarter pounder burgers for £2.50 as well as those giant filled Yorkshire puddings. Sausage and mash is £4.75 and mince and dumplings is £3.75.

The Last Word
A friendly place with a bit of a past which gets rammed on match days, The Strawberry is sweet.

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