AD – This is a collaborative post with The Gate, Newcastle
Sometimes mid-week evenings can be lost in a blur of homework, clubs & chores, but why leave all the fun to the weekend? We had a brilliant night on Thursday sampling some of the fun family activities on offer at The Gate in Newcastle. It was weekend-eve after all!
The Gate, Newcastle
Located right in the middle of Newcastle on Newgate Street. The Gate is easily accessible by Metro, bus or car (with its own secure sunken car park) & offers so much for the family from young children to the hard to please tweens! (Hello Imogen!)
From their value for money restaurants such as Nandos, Pizza Hut, Za Za Bazaar, to leisure activities such as The Escape Room (which we successfully escaped from at Christmas) & new kid on the block CTRL pad (a gaming lounge) there are some great businesses making the most of the large space. And that’s before we mention the new swanky Cineworld which dominates the top floor.
Here’s a little peek of some of the things we got up to:
Big Fun with Giant Games!
The giant games like table football & battleship were a massive hit with the kids… and best of all they were free of charge! Now that’s always a bonus! The games are perfect if you filling in a bit of time before meeting friends of heading up to Cineworld.
And when we say giant games, we mean GIANT! The table football is about 25 foot long. At first I thought you needed about 7 friends to play this with. However Abigail and Alan had a tournament by simply running up and down following the ball.
Insta-Posing!
Imogen is an Instagrammer in the making & took some shots with the potted plants in the natural light. She snapped this shot of the funky light installation too!
Nando’s in The Gate
It’s been quite a while since we had a Nando’s & really enjoyed the meal. The girls went for chicken with no spice, I went to the lemon & herb chicken burger & Alan also had the burger in hot spice with extra hot sauce on the side! We loved the corn on the cob sides too & wolfed the lot down!
Nando’s had a great buzz it wasn’t too busy & the staff were excellent! Alan said the decor reminded him of a themed restaurant at Disney so that’s high praise!
Crayons and puzzle sheets were provided for the girls which were a nice touch! Our kids start to get frustrated if they can’t be occupied, so the puzzles and games did the trick.
Our Chicken burgers came with two side dishes. I like rice and corn, while Alan chose Chips and Coleslaw. The creamy coleslaw is so refreshing against the firey hot Piri Piri.
Imogen went for a chicken wing dinner with chips. Sometimes you have to just dive in without the knife and fork!
The 4DX Screen at Cineworld at The Gate.
Myself and Alan used to come to the Gate a lot when it was Odeon back in our dating days and wow has it changed!! Cineworld has invested a great deal in the space with a swanky Starbucks, Ben & Jerry’s, & new kiosks for the all-important popcorn purchases. The floor shimmers with a sparkly granite disco floor, while a huge screen up above dazzles with advertising the latest cinema features.
New viewing options have been added including SuperScreen (A giant screen experience), ScreenX (An immersive viewing experience, where the screens cover the front, left and right sides of the cinema) and the 4DX Screen.
This is by far the most impressive cinema in the area & really got the kids excited for the screening of the Avengers which we were booked in to see!
We saw “The Avengers: End Game” on the 4DX Screen. The 4DX Screen is 1 D extra than 3D. Which means not only is the film in 3D, the extra dimension is added with moving seats, wind blasts, flashing lights, snow effects and squirts of water! (Although you can turn the water off)
We’d previously been to see Ralph Breaks the Internet also on the 4DX Screen and notice a difference in the intensity of the motions between the animation and the film.
We had a brilliant night at the Gate & can thoroughly recommend a trip here with the family. Mid-week the Gate had a great atmosphere not too busy but busy enough to feel exciting as part of a treat night in the city centre. There are plenty of family-friendly options to fill in an evening, and our kids are proof that it satisfies.
Abigail is desperate to try another Escape Room at The Gate & Imogen loved the 4D seats so it was a win-win for the Hoopers.
Useful Information
Address: Newgate St, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 4XQ
Opening Hours: Monday – Saturday 8:45am – 3:30am / Sunday 10:00am – 2:00am
Offers: Check the website for lots of offers
Website: http://www.thegatenewcastle.co.uk/
Leave a Reply