From a city that went almost a year without a cinema, we now have one of the best around - what a plot twist!

From Cineworld to Empire Cinema, which went into collapse, leaving us without a silver screen of our own, the city’s cinema in Sunniside rose from the ashes spectacularly this week as Omniplex unveiled its completed £4m makeover.

placeholder image — The Avenue one screen | Submitted

As well as a total refurbishment across all the 12 standard screens, with one screen fully sofa beds (no funny business in there please), it also saw the curtain raised on The Avenue.

It’s an all new offering upstairs at the cinema, aimed at the people who prefer a more boujee cinema experience.

I was invited along to a preview night this week and I’m glad to report I no longer have to go to *whispers* Newcastle to get my luxury cinema fix now.

That said, even the standard screens at Omniplex are excellent quality now with recliner as standard and prices starting from £7.95, which isn’t bad at all for a couple of hours of blockbuster entertainment.

But if you are fancying more of an indulgent night out The Avenue tickets are all priced £17.95.

For exactly what’s included in that and menu options, see here.

The bar at The Avenue is just for Avenue customers | Sunderland Echo

Head upstairs or in The Avenue lift and it’s a very fancy affair up there that would make a stylish bar in its own right, with its mood lighting, plush sofas and original posters from iconic films such as Scarface and A View to a Kill.

Only Avenue ticket holders can use this bar and it’s a dapper place to hang out post or pre film with a wider range of drinks available than those downstairs, from a popcorn espresso Martini to draught beers.

I sank into my two-seater sofa in Avenue One, with its honey and teal hues and art deco-inspired design accents. There’s five Avenue screens in total and this is one that can be hired for a private screening or to present for corporate events.

There’s great attention to detail in there from premium sound to the footstools which double up as storage for your bags.

Gone are the days of soggy hot dogs with cinemas like this dishing up a more premium food offering delivered to your side table ahead of the film. We were given some tasters from the small plates menu.

I actually didn’t have high hopes for the small plates but they were surprisingly good - especially the cauliflower wings with a proper lip-tingling kick - and, importantly, easy to eat in the setting.

As a wine drinker, I got used to cinema wine being served in those plastic cups with a lid and being not great. (I always drank it anyway. Gets better after the third sip) So it feels like an altogether different experience to drink a decent wine in an actual glass glass.

Food isn’t served during the films to minimise disruptions but you can pop to the bar throughout, with The Avenue also housing its own toilets.

Our film on the night was a screening of Jaws to mark the classic’s 50th anniversary. Five decades later and Spielberg’s iconic film - and that creeping fin - still holds its own as a cinematic landmark - one you can appreciate all the more in a cinema such as this, designed with premium sound, light and comfort in mind.

Cinema is one of the few mediums left which offer true escapism and when those lights dimmed, we were transported straight to the lapping waves of Amity Island. It’s a sanctuary of sorts, no phones, no distractions (aside from the odd rustle of popcorn), it’s storytelling at its most immersive.

I’d never actually seen Jaws on the big screen, but the masterclass in suspense and its iconic two-note soundtrack had me on the edge of my seat - good job it’s the comfiest one in the North East.