Pub Awards: Best Spirits finalist - Pleased To Meet You, Newcastle

The Bigg Market in Newcastle was once an area that lacked class, sophistication and was synonymous with rowdy behaviour. A triple vodka and cola was a firm favourite among revellers.

Things have moved on a lot since then and Pleased To Meet You is a key player in this part of Newcastle city’s transformation. The triple spirit and mixer has long been resigned to the past and in Pleased To Meet You a finely balanced cocktail would be your drink of choice.

Heading up the site is general manager Tom Proud, who has seen the bar through an incredible transformation, which puts spirits and cocktails at the centre.

Basement

A newly built basement bar, called the Viceroy, targets the more upmarket drinkers with a specialised cocktail menu with a higher price point. The restaurant and main bar area, meanwhile, has a wider variety of cocktails and helps the business tap into the rising all-day dining trend.

A variety of spirits are on offer and the site is testing its own grenadines and gin macerations, with talk of its own gin on the horizon.

Garden

A new garden area has also been designed, which proves popular on the choice days there is sunshine in the city. The garden has an allotment theme, where customers are able to identify the various botanicals or garnishes in their drinks.

For the future of Pleased To Meet You, Proud has many ideas up his sleeve, but launching the site’s own gin is certainly top of his agenda in the coming months.