5 Days Out for Tweens and Teens at The Gate, Newcastle

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In my late teens and early 20s, The Gate was the place to be. Most of our nights out started here and I think Mood was one of my favourite bars in Newcastle. In fact, I am pretty sure it was in Mood that Steve and I first drunkenly raised the idea of starting a family together.

The Gate also features as in our post 'What to do when it rains in North East England'.

Then said family came along and nights out in The Gate are very much a thing of the past for me. I would never have considered The Gate as a destination for a family day out and my pre-conceptions were that it was like a ghost town during the day with not much to do. How wrong could I be though? We popped along last Saturday and it was buzzing with activity and I was really impressed with just how much there was to do here - especially for tweens and older kids which I know can be a tricky age to try and find something that will entice them out of the house. Here are my 5 reasons to consider visiting The Gate with older kids.....

Watch the Latest Blockbuster at Screen X at Cineworld

We watched Captain Marvel at Cineworld Screen X (you can read Steve's full review of the movie here) and I was honestly blown away by this experience. This auditorium uses 5 projectors to beam the film onto both the main screen AND the cinema walls (which have been lined with a special material) to give a fully immersive 270 degree view. It takes a lot to impress teenagers I think but as soon as the first Screen X trailer hit the screen, you could see everyone's eyes widen and there were audible 'wows' from most people in the audience. You actually feel as if you are part of the movie and I had to hold onto my seat at one point as I felt as if I was flying through the air.

Screen X does not utilise the technology 100% of the time so you won't end up with motion sickness but when it does pop up throughout the film during key scenes, it definitely adds more to the movie and will impress even those teens who are usually blasé about this kind of thing. The seats in this screen are super comfy, have loads of leg room and even recline. If you want to impress a teen or tween this year, tickets to see a movie at Screen X will do the job.

Unlimited World Food at Za Za Bazaar

I am terrible at having pre-conceptions about places and really must try and have more of an open mind. Za Za Bazaar is not somewhere I would usually choose to dine on a Saturday in town with kids as all you can eat buffets just aren't usually my cup of tea. However, the lure of having lots of different types of cuisine under one roof (and therefore pleasing everyone) and the convenience was too much to resist. Plus once Heidi had set eyes on the chocolate fountain. There was no getting out of it.

If you keep an eye on the Za Za Bazaar Facebook page there are plenty of offers to be had including discounted dining if you're visiting the cinema (£12.99 all day on a Saturday which I think is excellent value). Regular prices start at £9.99 during the week and kids aged 5-11 are half price (kids under 4 are free). You can add unlimited pop onto your order for a couple of £.

As we rocked up to Za Za Bazaar, I couldn't believe there was a huge queue out of the door waiting for it to open. Obviously a popular place! The queue was well managed though and there is plenty of seating so the wait wasn't long.

Za Za Bazaar features every type of food you can imagine. It's honestly perfect when dining with fussy kids as you can please everyone. Sometimes there is no filling my boys and we definitely got our money's worth. Everything is cooked in very small batches and there are multiple live cooking stations so the food isn't lying around for a long time and is always fresh and hot which gets the thumbs up from me. There are too many types of cuisines to list here but as a family we enjoyed the pizza bar, pasta station, build your own burritos, burgers, buffalo chicken wings, sweet and sour chicken, squid rings, fish, chips and peas, curries, ribs, salad, sushi, prawn crackers, sweets, chocolate fountain and marshmallows, chocolate brownies, ice cream station, cheesecake and more. Harry declared Za Za Bazaar to be his third favourite restaurant in Newcastle (behind Nandos and Fat Hippo) which shows you how much he enjoyed himself here.

I would not recommend Za Za Bazaar as a destination for a romantic date for two but when dining with older, hungry (and sometimes picky) kids it is absolutely perfect and I'm kicking myself for not visiting sooner. The kids are already asking when we can go back! The quality was absolutely fine and I have to say, their curries were particularly flavoursome. Everything is made in-house and if you have any dietary requirements, they seemed to be on the ball with this too.

Gaming The CTRL Pad

Image credit | The CTRL Pad 

The CTRL Pad is a Video Game Lounge inside of The Gate and perfect for tweens and teens who enjoy their gaming. I will definitely be using a trip here as a bribe next time I need to take my three clothes shopping. The lounge is staffed and packed with retro games and new releases. There are cool gaming chairs and it actually looked pretty chilled when we walked past at the weekend. If gaming isn't your thing, they have a selection of board games too and The CTRL Pad looks like the perfect place to stop for a coffee with tweens and teens in tow. There are some pretty good deals about at the moment including a hot drink, snacks and board games to play for £3.50 per person, a £5 after school offer which includes 1 hour gaming for a child and a hot drink for grown-ups and a sandwich and 30 minutes of gaming over lunch for just £5. Prices correct March 2019 - see the CTRL Pad website for up to date details.

Try to Escape the Escape Rooms

The Gate Newcastle is home to it's very own Escape Room. Escape Newcastle currently features an Alien Escape in their venue at The Gate which is a 60 minute 'out of this world' game. I am RUBBISH at Escape Rooms but it's something Harry and Heidi really enjoy and is actually good for family bonding too. Here Come the Hoopers tried the Christmas-themed Escape room here last year. You can read their review here.

Play Giant Games

One of the biggest surprises of our recent trip to The Gate for me was their collection of FREE giant games on level 2. These were all in fantastic condition and a great way to kill time between activities.

There are lots of games to choose from including giant battleships, ping pong and scrabble - you simply need to turn up and play. Our favourite was this oversized game of table football which turned into an epic boy vs girl battle within our family. It was lots of fun running up and down the length of the table and following the ball. Definitely a welcome addition to The Gate (or maybe they've been there a while and I'm late to the party??) and something we'll probably check out every time we visit now.

I am always honest in my reviews because I would be mortified if somebody visited somewhere on my recommendation and it was rubbish (plus I write reviews as a job and reader trust is important to me/essential if I'm in this for the long game).

I had very low expectations of The Gate and their offerings for families but I left feeling seriously impressed and I suspect it's somewhere we're going to spend a lot more time together in the coming years. More importantly, Harry, Heidi and Jack had a brilliant day out here and there was not one single meltdown throughout our time here which is some kind of weekend miracle.

If you visit a restaurant and the cinema you can park for free at The Gate too which is an offer we took advantage of and saved ourselves a few £. See The Gate's website for T&Cs.

Have you visited The Gate recently? Let me know if any of the places mentioned in this post have caught your eye. 

Find out more: www.thegatenewcastle.co.uk

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