Tucked away on Pudding Chare in Newcastle just a few steps away from the hustle and bustle of Bigg Market you will find Puccini a small local Italian joint serving up pasta and more at most reasonable prices.

The street outside may look a little worse for wear, something it has in common with the party goers stumbling down it, however inside it is a warm, cosy and welcoming Italian restaurant

We took a chance on the place as it was literally just next door to our AirBNB and we just wanted something easy and not too far away. In the end it was to be a lucky find

If all you want is a bowl of pasta or a slice of pizza and you are on a bit of budget, well you cannot go too far wrong here at Puccini. With Pizza from £7.50 to £11, and pasta dishes from £9.95 to £11 you really can get a bit of a meal deal

In fact if you come here during lunch you could get an amazing 3 course deal of pizza or pasta, with starter of soup or garlic bread and pudding of coffee or ice cream for just £8

They did have a Specials Board with things on it that I quite fancied for a change. I was really tempted by the Starter of Sanguinaccio which was Black pudding served with a choice of peppercorn or diana sauce topped with crispy bacon for £8.95

If I had been having a Steak I may well have chosen that as I love black pudding and this sounded really good.

There was also a Pizza Surf-Turf which was essentially as it sounds, a Pizza topped with Fillet Strip and King Prawns for £14.95. That also sounded good but honestly I wasn’t hungry enough to eat it

MARAMANTTI WITH PENNE PASTA

I picked out the Maramantti from the Pasta section a dish of ‘Spicy sausage, tiger prawns, fresh chilli, fresh herbs & garlic in a light tomato & lobster bisque sauce‘ for £11

There was a choice of pasta between Spaghetti, Penne, or Tagliatelle from which I chose the Penne (Tubes to you and I) on the basis that I figured it was less likely to get sauce spillage on my top, but more sensibly I thought the tube nature of the pasta would be a good vessel for the sauce.

I took advantage of the offer of some Parmesan but I wasn’t too greedy and just had a little sprinkle

The sauce was much thinner than I had expected, it was light as described unlike many chunky tomato pasta sauces I have been served elsewhere. It was nice to get whole cherry tomatoes mixed into the dish which gave a nice pop of sweetness when you bit into one.

There were a decent portion of tiger prawns on the plate, firm to the bite, they were cooked fairly well. The Spicy sausage seemed to be slices of Pepperoni which was fine with me, and the chilli had been added with restraint just enough to add some worth yet not to much to mess up any balance

PASTA ALFREDO WITH TAGLIATELLE

The Pasta Alfredo was described as ‘Chicken, mushroom, onion, white wine, fresh herbs, cream, bechamel & parmesan cheese’ also for £11.

My partner in dine selected Tagliatelle as the pasta option and when it was served also gratefully accepted more Parmesan when offered by the waiter.

There was plenty of chicken and the thick creamy sauce made for a quite filling meal. The strands of pasta were cooked to leave just a little chew to the bite so basically the perfect bowl

I actually quite enjoyed my plate of pasta here at Puccini. I normally wince at ordering stuff that I think I can cook at home just as easily myself. I have to say that the sauce for my Marramanti was excellent and I was very happy with my lot

Price wise it was very good value and I would certainly eat here again if I lived up in Newcastle. I will keep this place on the list for future visits and would heartily recommend

Puccini are located at 29 Pudding Chare, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 1UF and you can Check them out on their Facebook page