Best Takeaways in Newcastle City Centre

Ask most people about a city-centre takeaway and they picture the small hours around the Bigg Market. That strip exists, and it trades on the night rather than on the cooking. The more interesting answer, and the one worth planning a lunch or an early supper around, is the run of genuine independents the centre has quietly gathered: two of the North East's best-loved burger joints, a Vietnamese café near Chinatown, and a vegan Indian stall inside the Grainger Market.

This is a guide to food you carry away or have delivered, leaning on those independents first and filling in the everyday gaps, a reliable kebab and a Chinatown-fringe Chinese, so the whole spread is covered. Nearly all of it collects as easily as it delivers, and several of the best are daytime market and café operations rather than late-night counters, so check the hours before you set off.

Meat:Stack

Meat:Stack grew from a street-food trailer into one of the city's most-loved independent burger operations, and its flagship on the Groat Market, just off the Bigg Market, is the one to know. The kitchen works around dry-aged beef patties and a short, confident menu, with the bacon cheeseburger and the loaded skin-on fries the orders regulars come back for. The chicken, veggie and vegan versions are proper builds rather than afterthoughts.

It runs as a fast, casual diner, so it suits a sit-down feed or a counter collection equally, and it is well placed for the Bigg Market and Central Station end of town. Weekend breakfast runs Friday to Sunday for anyone in early.

Best for: The cult city-centre burger, and a strong grab-and-go collection near the Bigg Market.

Fat Hippo

Fat Hippo started in Jesmond and has become a genuine North East success story, and its site on Shakespeare Street, a minute from Grey Street and Monument, is the most central branch. The menu is built on indulgent, well-stacked burgers in buttery brioche buns, with dirty fries, wings and thick shakes alongside, and the Original and the peanut-butter burger are the signatures. There is a reliable run of vegetarian and vegan options.

It is a sit-down restaurant at heart but very much geared to takeaway too, open daily from late morning until ten. Collect through its loyalty system or order via the usual delivery apps.

Best for: A quality burger without leaving the centre; collection or delivery both work well.

Ngon Café

Ngon Café opened in early 2023 as one of the first dedicated Vietnamese spots in the heart of the city, tucked onto Low Friar Street a short walk from Stowell Street and Chinatown. It has built a strong following for fragrant pho, crisp banh mi, fresh summer rolls and lemongrass pork, with an approachable menu that reviewers describe as authentic and good value.

It makes a light, fresh alternative to the heavier takeaways, and the banh mi is an excellent quick lunch to carry off. It is a small café, so at busy times a collection order can beat waiting for a table, and note that it closes on a Thursday.

Best for: The freshest quick lunch on this list; the banh mi is made to be walked off with.

Snackwallah

Snackwallah began as a regional pop-up before settling into Alley One of the Grade I listed Grainger Market, and it has become one of the centre's best-loved lunch spots. Everything is vegan Indian street food done with real care: colourful bhel puri, pani puri, dals, masala chai and toasted Mumbai sandwiches, with a rotating curry of the day. It is a compact market stall, so it is squarely a takeaway and grab-a-stool operation.

Because it is inside the market it keeps daytime hours, roughly half nine to half four Monday to Friday and a little later on Saturday, and it is closed on Sundays. Prices are low and it is one of the standout value picks in Grainger Town.

Best for: The best-value fresh lunch in the market, and genuinely different from the usual curry-house fare.

Chinatown Express

Chinatown Express sits on St Andrew's Street on the fringe of Newcastle's Chinatown, a short step from Stowell Street and Gallowgate, and has long been a go-to for fast, no-nonsense Chinese cooking in the centre. The kitchen turns out the reliable classics, from salt and pepper dishes and crispy chilli beef to roast meats, noodles and rice boxes, at a pace that suits a quick collection, and the lunchtime specials are singled out for value.

It is well placed for a Chinatown takeaway run, especially if the bigger Stowell Street restaurants are booked out or you simply want food to carry away. It stays open into the evening, to around eleven.

Best for: The dependable Chinese for collection when the Stowell Street tables are full.

German Doner Kebab

German Doner Kebab is a chain, but its busy unit on Newgate Street earns a place because the centre is genuinely short of a good, reliable kebab, and this is one. It serves a cleaner, more structured take than a traditional late-night shop: doners in toasted waffle-style buns with fresh salad and its own sauces, alongside kebab boxes, wraps and loaded fries, with chicken and vegetarian options.

As a chain outlet it keeps long hours into the evening, which makes it a solid option after shopping or a night out, close to the Bigg Market and Eldon Square. It sits at the budget-friendly end of this spread and covers eat-in, collection and delivery.

Best for: The centre's most dependable kebab, and open late near the Bigg Market.

Ordering, collection and eating in

The pattern here is that the best takeaways in the centre are not the ones built for two in the morning. The burger joints, the Vietnamese café and the market stall all reward a daytime or early-evening visit, and several keep short hours: Snackwallah shuts mid-afternoon and not at all on a Sunday, Ngon Café closes on a Thursday, and the Grainger Market itself is a weekday-and-Saturday proposition. German Doner Kebab and Chinatown Express are the two that carry the list into the late evening.

Most of these collect as readily as they deliver, and for the independents a counter collection often beats waiting on an app. If you would rather sit down, our guides to the best restaurants and the best pubs and bars in Newcastle city centre cover the rest of eating out in the middle of town, and the fish and chips guide covers the one thing the centre is honestly short of.

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