Tag Archives: Leeds restaurants

The final supper at the Town Hall Tavern

Posted on July 27, 2011 | Leave a comment

It’s just days now until we make the move from Leeds to St Albans/London, so I’ve been out for a couple of meals with friends as a kind of last supper. Last Friday, the work girls and I ventured to the Town Hall Tavern, after I’d read a review of the pub’s food, which said it was very good – we weren’t disappointed.

Pork belly and black pudding hash at the Town Hall Tavern

Pork belly and black pudding hash at the Town Hall Tavern

We didn’t have starters or desserts, just really good mains. A and C opted to split a duo of spring lamb – basil-crusted rack and crispy belly with olive crushed potatoes and Provençale vegetable – and a pasta dish.

H had pie and mash – slow-braised beef and red wine with seasonal vegetable, which came without the mash. After asking for her spuds, she was told the menu had changed and no longer included this. They apologised and said she should have been told when she ordered, promising to have potatoes with her in a few minutes.

Lamb at the Town Hall Tavern, Leeds

Lamb at the Town Hall Tavern, Leeds

Pasta at the Town Hall Tavern

Pasta at the Town Hall Tavern

I got the sticky Yorkshire pork belly, served with black pudding hash and marjoram crushed peas. This really was amazing – easily one of the best meals I’ve had in ages.

Beef pie at the Town Hall Tavern

Beef pie at the Town Hall Tavern

The pub itself seems to be stuck between two worlds. It wants to be a gastro pub, and the food certainly suggests it is, but the venue isn’t quite there yet.

Pork belly at the Town Hall Tavern

Pork belly at the Town Hall Tavern

Overall, it was a lovely meal and came to about £65 for four mains and a bottle of wine. I’d recommend visiting it.

Town Hall Tavern, 17 Westgate, Leeds, LS1 2RA

 

Presentation: 9/10

Food: 9/10

Value: 7.5/10

Venue: 7/10

Service: 7.5/10

Average: 8/10

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Saturday night at Zizzi

Posted on July 13, 2011 | Leave a comment

I’m nosy – when The Light’s Valley of the Dolls, or whatever it was called, closed down, I kept an eye on the unit and read the planning permission once I saw it on a window. It was from Ask, looking for permission for a new restaurant, but the space has since been filled with a Zizzi. I think both chains have the same owners.

Sorbet at Zizzi

Sorbet at Zizzi

There’s already a Zizzi in Leeds, down by the Corn Exchange, which I ate at once with my sister, her boyfriend and a few friends and we had a nice meal.

Three of us were going to the cinema on Saturday night – to see Bridesmaids at The Light’s Vue – so A and I decided to grab some dinner at the new Zizzi beforehand. The first thing I noticed was the friendly staff – even as we were being taken to our seats, another waiter said hello and welcome. Our waitress throughout the night was both attentive and warm, though there was an awkward moment when it came to change and the bill.

Pasta dela Cassa

Pasta dela Cassa

Thanks to its location in The Light, it’s a very bright venue, with cream walls, stripped-back lighting and the odd tree scattered around. We were given a table towards the very back, near the open kitchen, and we set about ordering – the cheapest bottle of white (which actually was nice), plus the Penne dela Cassa for A – smoked pancetta, chicken and baby spinach in a creamy mushroom sauce topped with Grana Padano – and Pollo Limone for me. A dislikes penne and they said it was no problem to give her another type of pasta.

Pollo Limone

Pollo Limone

Both our dishes were good, particularly the potatoes, cooked with tomatoes, red onion and Grana Padano that accompanied my chicken.  But they weren’t amazing – I’ve probably been spoilt by Salvo’s!

Chocolate melt at Zizzi

Chocolate melt at Zizzi

We also ordered dessert – a scope of blood red orange sorbet for me and a chocolate melt for A. Again, both were good, but the sorbet didn’t compare to Nardini’s efforts. It tasted too much of red-orange flavour and not of red oranges themselves.

The bill came to about £42, including wine, though there are always vouchers around for Zizzi, so I’m sure you could eat there a lot more cheaply.

Zizzi, The Light, The Headrow, Leeds, LS1 8TL

Presentation: 7/10

Food: 6.5/10

Value: 6/10

Venue: 7/10

Service: 8/10

Average: 6.9/10

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A cocktail tea at Dock Street Market

Posted on July 11, 2011 | Leave a comment

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

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

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

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

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Noodles at Fuji Hiro

Posted on June 30, 2011 | Leave a comment

Things have been a bit hectic here – my older brother was over from Ireland for a few days, I handed in my notice at work and himself and I have been house hunting for the move down south.

Still though, I managed to fit in a couple of meals out – including two trips to Fuji Hiro. Himself is slightly obsessed with this place and loves the yaki soba. We arrived on Saturday the 18th at lunch time – it was busy, but we got a table in front of the kitchen. If you’ve never been before, don’t expect a fancy interior or typical (UK) Japanese-style decor. Instead, it’s all slightly-battered old chairs and tables, dotted around a long row of even more tables in the middle. The same woman who always seems to be there – she’s got beautiful salt and pepper hair – served us and we ordered some yaki soba and beef Fiji men. The latter was my dish and it really was great.

Fiji Hiro

Beef Fiji Men at Fiji Hiro

Last Friday, my brother and I also went to Fuji Hiro for lunch, getting a table by the window. He was also suitably impressed with the food, but pointed out the main problem with the place – it’s quite pricey for noodles. Dishes are around £9 or £10 and, although they’re large, this is quite a lot when they mostly consist of quite a cheap ingredient! Still though, it’s about the same as you’d pay in Wagamamas and at least you know you’re supporting a local restaurant.

 

Fuji Hiro, 45 Wade Lane, Leeds LS2 8NJ.

 

Presentation: 8/10

Food: 8.5/10

Value: 6/10

Venue: 5/10

Service: 9/10

Average: 7.3/10

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Returning the favour at Leeds Seventeen

Posted on June 5, 2011 | Leave a comment

My wages as a journalist and my love of going out for food aren’t a good fit. So, I end up eating in far too many chain restaurants, heading to whichever one happens to have the best voucher on offer that day or hoping himself is feeling generous and treats me – which to be fair, he’s been doing quite a lot recently.

Panna cotta at Leeds Seventeen

Panna cotta at Leeds Seventeen

This week, Groupon had an offer for Leeds Seventeen – spend £12 and get £25 off the bill, plus two glasses of sparkling wine. I know – another voucher, but at least this time it was for an independent restaurant.

Located in a very residential area of Alwoodley, Leeds Seventeen has already netted a number of awards since it opened a couple of years back. We arrived on Saturday evening for a 7pm reservation – I’d booked it the day before, but they didn’t have any record of my booking. Only a couple of tables were full, so it wasn’t a problem and the waitress was very friendly and apologetic about it.

She explained that, because we had a Groupon offer, we could only have food from the a la carte menu, which was fine by us. A couple of minutes later, she came back, bringing us our complimentary wine and some bread, with both butter and olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and said we could have the specials if we wanted.

For starters, himself ordered one of the specials – crispy pork berry, with smoked paprika lentils and mustard dressing – and I got the lightly grilled mackerel, pickled rhubarb and watercress salad from the a la carte menu. Both were good, especially the lentils and the pickled rhubarb.

I went for the confit of duck leg for mains. This was really tasty, although I was surprised to see some raspberries, alongside shallots and baby beetroots. As random as it was, it worked.

Confit of duck at Leeds Seventeen

Leeds Seventeen's Confit of duck

The boy ordered rib eye steak, fat chips and green peppercorn and brandy sauce – again, this was good and the meat was tender.

Steak and chips at LS17

At this stage, the restaurant was after filling up and I was pretty full, but having already seen some desserts heading to other tables, I was really tempted. Initially I was going to have the creme brulee and blood red orange sorbet, because of an obsession with this flavour, but I’ll be in Scotland next weekend, enjoying this is Largs, so I decided to go for the panna cotta, served with rhubarb jelly and rhubarb sorbet. This was a great desert – definitely one of the best I’ve had for ages and it looked so pretty, as you can see above.

Himself ordered the restaurant’s signature dish, the Leeds 17 treacle sponge with creme anglaise – “served in the tin”. I think mine was better, although the presentation was good – very Great British Menu.

Leeds 17 treacle sponge with creme anglaise

Leeds 17 treacle sponge with creme anglaise

Overall, the food was very good, service was excellent, atmosphere was fine and it wasn’t too expensive. Total bill, including a beer, was about £55, with our £25 discount knocking this to £30, so I was able to return the favour for once!

Presentation: 9/10

Food: 8.5/10

Value: 8/10

Venue: 7/10

Service: 8.5/10

Average: 8.2/10

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