Matthew's Cheese

About Matthew's Cheese

Matthew's Cheese is a specialist cheesemonger occupying units 23 and 24 in the Arcade of Newcastle's Grainger Market, and it has been part of the market's food offer for roughly seven decades. The counter carries somewhere near 150 cheeses at any one time, rotating with the seasons and with whatever the buyers judge worth stocking, so the display moves between British farmhouse cheeses and Continental names such as French camembert, Swiss gruyere, Dutch goat's cheese and Danish havarti, alongside the everyday cheddar, comte, gouda and brie that most shoppers come in for. Everything is cut to order from the block rather than sold pre-wrapped, and the staff will talk through what suits a cheeseboard, a sauce or a bake.

The business is family-run, and head cheesemonger Lisa Sample has worked the counter for decades, which is part of why regulars treat the stall as a fixture rather than simply a shop. Imported cheeses are tasted and assessed before they go on sale, and the shop supplies restaurants and event caterers as well as household shoppers. Northumberland cheeses sit on the same counter as Indian paneer without any fuss. Beyond the Grainger Market unit, Matthew's Cheese also trades at Newcastle Quayside market and at Berwick-upon-Tweed. The setting suits it: a Grade I listed covered market opened in 1835, where a cheese counter, a fishmonger and a butcher are still within a few yards of one another.

Featured in These Guides

Blog posts and guides that feature Matthew's Cheese.

Shopping in Newcastle City Centre: Independents, Arcades and the Grainger Market

Northumberland Street and Eldon Square cover the chains, but Newcastle's best shopping is in the Grainger Market alleys, the Victorian arcades and a handful of specialists worth the detour.

A Grainger Town Heritage Walk: Newcastle's Georgian Heart

Newcastle's classical core was laid out in the 1830s and 1840s by Richard Grainger, John Dobson and John Clayton. This walking route links Grey Street, the Grainger Market and the Theatre Royal with the medieval castle that gave the city its name.