Nagomi

The good news is that as you may have noticed I’ve managed to resurrect most of my posts from January which were lost in the ‘The Great Crash‘ (as it will from here on in be known!). This was thanks to someone’s cached copy of the page which I managed to rip apart and reconstruct the content from (comments included!). I’m still missing one or two posts from between Jan 12th-17th so if you happen to have a copy of them lying around please send them my way!

Now time for a first on RW.com – a restaurant review! One of very few to come I imagine considering the frequency with which I eat out but still…

Nagomi – Stowell Street, Newcastle Upon Tyne (0191 233 2333)

I visited Nagomi last Saturday for a friend’s birthday. Nagomi is a Japanese restaurant in the heart of Newcastle’s small, but functional China town district (go figure that one!). What first strikes you about the place is its incredibly well-executed modern exterior and interior design which is typically Japanese as you would expect. The use of light is particularly good with internal frosted glass walls which cast an interesting luminescence and some soft hanging light shades over each table.

The important bit – the food! Unless you’re familiar with Japanese cuisine or are with someone who is, the menu will probably look a bit daunting at first. If this is the case then my advice would be to stick with one of their simple set menus which are a fairly safe bet! If you go around lunchtime (12-3 pm) then everything is a bit cheaper, starting at £6.50 for the set menu which includes dessert.

I neatly side-steeped the sushi options and choose chicken on a bed of rice with miso soup (which also included a few other small dishes). It has a far more interesting name but I was too busy eating it at the time to remember to write down its Japanese name! Sufficed to say it was beautifully presented and tasted delicious (oishii!). I feel like a bit of a pro with the old chopsticks now and it was fun to see other people struggling with them for a change!

All-in-all I would thoroughly recommend Nagomi to anyone (8/10). For another review see here.

David avatar

14 responses

  1. Yes that was it, thanks for reminding me!

  2. Nagomi avatar
    Nagomi

    Chicken teriyaki desu ne?

  3. Helen avatar
    Helen

    Hi, just found your review.
    Did you happen to notice if there was a vegetarian set menu, or many vegetarian options?

  4. Helen:

    Yes they do have a vegetarian menu I think, at least the vegetarian we were with didn't complain!

    Hope this helps 🙂

  5. Natalie avatar
    Natalie

    I went to Nagomi and had a fantastic time! I chose one of teh set menus aswell, I had 9 delicious courses which included desert and (AAAAAH) sushi! I was a first timer at sushi and was needless to say a bit nervous. However it wasnt as drastic as I thought it would be. The sushi course consisted of octopus, mackerel and clam; the mackerel was divine, the octopus and clam tasted very similar but the clam had the texture of flem! Overall I was extremely impressed with the food (all 9 courses!). And the sake menu is fantastic and is served it what look like bongs!

  6. does anyone know if this is run by JAPANESE as opposed to any other random asiatic mix you run into? the food seems to vary wildly based on that factor (those run by japanese being FAR superior)?

    R/ DTE

  7. Unfortunately seeing as the place has now closed (so I've been told) I don't think anyone will be sampling their food anymore. Shame. From what I remember it was run by Japanese with Japanese staff.

  8. joey avatar
    joey

    hey guys i here nagomi is going to be up and running.. is that true?

  9. Nagomi was run by Chinese.

  10. Neil Madden avatar
    Neil Madden

    What is going on with this resturant?

    I used to like it, it closed. The place stayed empty and unchanged for years. Now they are refurbishing it. The new graphics have gone up. It’s still called Nagomi. It seems as if the new set up stretches up to the forth floor!

    What on earth are their plans? It looks like it might have a shop and a resturant on the ground floor, but what on earth are they doing with the other floors?

    I dream they are opening a proper Japanese style karaoke place. Sad, I know – but it’ll be nice to have some new Japanese things in town. I just travelled in Japan, and didn’t see any of the egg juggling onsense that those other tired looking Newcastle based Japanese resturants get up to! (*ahem* Fujiyama and Hanahana)

    Get this placed opened again, and let me in to review it! 🙂

    1. Sakura avatar
      Sakura

      It is re-opening and it is going to be over two floors. The ground floor will have a bar, with bar food and a sushi bar. A kawaii touch of east meet west to the bar food, eg fish and chips but with tempura batter on the fish. The first floor will have the japanese grills, where you can sit and watch your food being cooked. But also it will have booths for a more private feel. It is also going to have karaoki rooms for parties. I was lucky enough to get a preview of the resturant in the summer when on a photoshoot. I got to talk to the manager. Sadly still will be run by Chinese and not Japanese. However I think it will offer a diffrent experience than the other Japanese resturants. I for one can’t wait.

      1. Anon. avatar
        Anon.

        My friends family owns it, whichever one is open now, and they are Japanese, they just took over it recently. I have never been, but hope people like it!

  11. Mike avatar
    Mike

    My Dad’s friend is the landlord – a Mr Chen. He is the landlord & operator for Palace Garden and the Wing Hong. He is definitely the landlord of Nagomi because I speak to him when I go and see him in the Palace Garden.

  12. Steve avatar
    Steve

    Japanese restaurant?

    Far from it!

    Just another chinese restaurant….

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