Our office is a sociable place, with lots of young people happy to finish a day churning out news with a drink at the pub. Four of us – all girls – have made a habit of having a bottle of wine (or three) at Wetherspoon’s in Millennium Square once a week or so, because it’s cheap. But over recent months, we’ve been trying to branch out and go to different places and do other things. So we’ve had some wine and cheese evenings, went to a Champagne tasting event at Epernay, ventured to Derbyshire for a night, taken a trip to the Grand Theatre or paid a visit to whatever pub or restaurant we could find a good Groupon voucher for.
Cocktail Teapots at Dock Street Market
Last Wednesday, it was the turn of Dock Street Market. The deal was cocktails served in teapots and a collection of nibbles for two for £18. I’d never been to Dock Street Market before and was quite looking forward to it – I do love a good teapot and I like that the market is a collection of independent retailers who’ve come together to create a venue with a difference.
It looks good and eclectic – with lots of brightly-coloured metal and plastic furniture, as well as artwork for sale on the walls. I can see what they’re trying to achieve with the decor, but lots of spaces look like this now and I feel they’ve missed out on creating something special.
Meat board at Dock Street Market
We order our teapot cocktails – Storm in a… and Prohibition Punch – and took a table behind some selves, where board games could be found. The cocktails were great – the place is worth a visit for these alone. They also brought us over two large platters of bits and pieces – lots of different breads that are baked on site, ham sandwiches and a veggy option for our fussy friend, hummus, different cheeses, olives and lovely little cakes. There was plenty of food and it was tasty, although they were a bit heavy handed with the mustard.
The atmosphere, especially when we first arrived, was a bit dead. I’ve had lots of discussions recently about how the level music is played at in pubs and restaurants can make or break an evening. This was definitely a case of way too low. It was so quiet and with few other customers around, our conversation dropped to almost a whisper. Another negative was the staff weren’t particularly friendly, but maybe that was just a once off.
Veggie board at Dock Street Market
It’s still early days for Dock Street Market and they definitely have some stuff right already – like really good cocktails and decent food – but I think there is room for improvement.
Dock Street Market, 22 Dock Street, Leeds, LS10 1JF
Presentation: 8/10
Food: 7/10
Value: 7/10
Venue: 6/10
Service: 5/10
Average: 6.6/10
